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A
Air Quality Indicator
The air quality indicator attempts to capture the trends in long-term ozone concentrations at national and regional levels, and to take account of when and where people are exposed to the pollutant.
Air quality data are collected by instruments at monitoring stations across the country. Most stations are located in urban areas in southern Canada.
The indicator uses the seasonal average of daily eight-hour maximum average concentrations, which is population-weighted to calculate trends and averages across stations.
For additional details on the indicator, see Details about the indicator.
C
Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators (CESI)
Canadians' health and their social and economic well-being are fundamentally linked to the quality of their environment. Recognizing this, in 2004 the Government of Canada committed to establishing national indicators of freshwater quality, air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. The goal of these new indicators is to provide Canadians with more regular and reliable information on the state of their environment and how it is linked with human activities. Environment Canada, Statistics Canada and Health Canada are working together to develop and communicate these indicators. Reflecting the joint responsibility for environmental management in Canada, this effort has benefited from the co-operation and input of the provinces and territories.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a gas that occurs and is exchanged naturally in the environment while also being emitted as a result of human activities such as fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and industrial processes.
G
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Indicator
The national greenhouse gas emissions indicator comes directly from Environment Canada's GHG inventory report1, which contains emission estimates for sources categorized by economic sector2. It includes estimates for six GHGs: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride, perfluorocarbons and hydrofluorocarbons.
The emission estimates and sector definitions used for reporting are based on methodological guidance provided by the IPCC and reporting guidelines under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The estimates for each sector are generally calculated by multiplying some measure of the amount of GHG - producing activity by the quantity of GHG emitted per unit of activity (e.g., carbon dioxide released per litre of gasoline burned). Emission estimates for different gases are converted to their equivalent in carbon dioxide based on their impact on global warming compared with carbon dioxide.
For a more detailed description of the indicator and how it is calculated, see Details about the Indicator.
P
Airborne particulate matter (PM) is one of the major components of smog. Particulate matter includes microscopic particles in the air that are divided into two size ranges: PM2.5 and PM10. The term PM2.5 refers to 'fine' particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter - about 1/20th the width of a human hair.
W
Water Quality Index
To report on water quality, experts have measured specific substances in water, and compared the observed concentrations against scientifically established thresholds for potential adverse effects. This is the basis of the Water Quality Index (WQI) endorsed by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment3 (CCME).
The index combines three different aspects of water quality: the'scope', which is the percentage of water quality variables with observations exceeding guidelines4; the 'frequency', which is the percentage of total observations exceeding guidelines; and, the 'amplitude', which is the amount by which observations exceed the guidelines. The results, which are expressed as a number from 0 to 100, are converted into a qualitative scale that is used to rate sites as follows.
| Rating | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Excellent (95.0-100.0) | Water quality measurements never or very rarely exceed water quality guidelines. |
| Good (80.0-94.9) | Measurements rarely exceed water quality guidelines and, usually, by a narrow margin. |
| Fair (65.0-79.9) | Measurements sometimes exceed water quality guidelines, and, possibly, by a wide margin. |
| Marginal (45.0-64.9) | Measurements often exceed water quality guidelines and/or by a considerable margin. |
| Poor (0-44.9) | Measurements usually exceed water quality guidelines and/or by a considerable margin. |
For a more detailed description of the indicator see Details about the Indicator.
[1] Environment Canada. 2005a. Canada's Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990-2003. Greenhouse Gas Division. Ottawa, Ontario.
[2] For the purposes of estimating and reporting GHG emissions, the IPCC has identified sectors of economic activity.
[3] The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment brings together the Ministers of the Environment from the federal government and all provincial and territorial governments.
[4] The formula for calculating the scope, and hence the WQI, is modified in the province of Quebec.
