What is the future for North America’s
environment? Much of the answer is up to us.

A new report examines the major
forces and underlying trends likely to shape the environment of
North America in 2030 and outlines nine areas where decisions today
will affect our environmental future in varying degrees.

In fact, while the pressures on
North America’s environment will continue to increase over the next
20 years, the report emphasizes that it would be a mistake to
assume that our choices today can’t influence environmental quality
down the road.

North American Environmental
Outlook to 2030, released today by the Commission
for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), scans environmental data and
projections by the United Nations Environment Program, the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and others to
examine a range of different environmental scenarios for North
America.

The nine areas to watch fall
under three categories:

Greatest potential
for impact by 2030

• style=”margin: 4.8pt 0in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;”>
  Energy use and associated emissions, especially from
  transportation and buildings



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  Water use and treatment of wastewater

Most significant
coming changes

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  Continued and accelerated warming, especially in the
  Arctic



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  Continued loss of terrestrial biodiversity



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  Persistent ground-level ozone in urban areas

Issues deserving
greater attention

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  Growth in urban and built-up land area



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  Freshwater quality and groundwater availability and
  quality



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  The specific economic and health effects of environmental
  change



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  The impact of consumption in North America on the environment
  in other regions and vice versa

“The year 2030 is well within our
planning horizon. The scenarios examined in this report suggest
taking actions to confront those changes we can best affect in the
short term, preparing for environmental change that is almost
inevitable but amenable to action in the longer term, and finally,
strengthening our knowledge concerning emerging changes about which
we know the least,” said Evan Lloyd, CEC Executive
Director.

About the North American
Environmental Outlook to 2030 report:

The full report,href=”http://www.cec.org/Storage/64/9458_Outlook2030_en.pdf”
target=”_blank”> North American Environmental
Outlook to 2030  (pdf), is available online at
target=”_blank”>www.cec.org/outlook.