Is climate change the single most threatening environmental crisis facing the world today? I don’t know, but I’ll tell you what I do know. In today’s parlance, and especially in government circles it seems (witness the government of Ontario, Canada’s new Add-it-up website) that climate change is now interchangeable for environment. And that is a mistake.

On the face of it, the website speaks to the “Choices we make everyday affect our environment”. And the link on the side goes to “Our Environment”. But, once you click, lo and behold, up pops “what is climate change?”. It’s only once you start to drive down that you come across ONE link that is not about climate change, and that is about pesticide use.

Why am I being so critical? Is this not a good start? Sure, why not. I applaud the effort behind the development of this site and its utility in listing tips and various government incentives for individuals (obviously the second of limited use to those living outside of Ontario and of no use to those living outside of Canada).

What I am worried about, and perhaps so should you, is the willingness of government and media to conflate climate change and the environment. While climate change dominates headlines, and perhaps has knock-on effects on many other environmental challenges, I question whether or not there are any linkages between solid-waste pollution, oil effluent pollution (etc.) and climate change. However, by linking climate change and the environment in such a tight manner, the media, government, and as a result the general public are forgetting other important environmental challenges. For example, species loss due to habitat degradation in the Amazon is probably of a more immediate threat than species loss due to climactic change.

Climate change is a challenge, and not one that should be undervalued. I would just caution that it’s not the only environmental challenge facing us, nor will it be the last.

For more reading on climate change:

Media: Rpeschetz via Flickr’s media commons