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Synopsis There are different types of environmental emergencies. There are natural events such as forest fires, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes or ice storms. As well, there are those that are caused by human activity, such as industrial or transportation-related accidents. Depending on the nature, size and location of an environmental emergency, a wide variety of private and public sector organizations have important jobs in ensuring that damage is minimal to life, property and the environment. Many of these same organizations also play important roles in trying to prevent emergencies from happening in the first place, or to minimize impacts when they do occur. This Web site provides information on the activities and services of Environment Canada’s environmental emergencies program. Human activity has always had a negative impact on the human environment. To make matters worse, the industrial age fostered conditions in which environmental degradation in proportion to productivity became a fact of life.