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Latin America includes the island nations of the Caribbean Sea, Central America, and South America. The countries of this region are highly diverse and have unique histories.  They also continue to have different social and economic systems. Some features of the environments of the nations in this region are similar.  Countries tend to have extremely diverse animal and plant life, major water bodies, and ecosystem heterogeneity. A great deal of poverty pervades many Latin American nations.  Population growth is intensifying this problem, and creating other problems as well. Many people in Latin America are beginning to move to the cities.  The high degree of urban population concentration has meant rising levels of pollution throughout the region.  Also, increased numbers of people require more food, and natural ecosystems are giving way to farmland. Some environmental problems are common to the area.  The problems have usually come as a result of population growth and industrialization, and are threatening many nations in the area. In 1992, the United Nations identified the major problems faced by Latin America and the Caribbean to be land use, forest resources, ecosystems and biological patrimony, water resources, sea and shoreline resources, the environment in human settlements, energy, non-energy mineral resources, and industry.North America includes the United States and Canada, two of the world's most modern and wealthiest countries. Together, the United States and Canada account for 14% of the world's land, covering 18.8 million square miles. Canada and the US happen to be tremendously rich in natural resources.  Vast supplies of resources of all types have contributed heavily to economic growth in the region. Economic growth, industrialization, and major production of goods have all meant that North America is a leading contributor to waste and pollution.  Now, however, the area is working towards limiting degradation of the environment. When the Europeans came to North America, they carried out practices that were devastating for animal life on the continent. Previous Indian populations inhabiting North America often hunted animals which later became extinct due to Europeans’ indiscriminate hunting practices.  The limited hunting by the Indians usually did not kill enough of the animals to outweigh the population increases resulting from natural replacement. Before the Europeans came, bison numbering between 40-60 million lived in North America.  As European traders began to hunt heavily for meat and later hides, the bison population dwindled.  Now, only a small number of herds remain. As many as 5 billion passenger pigeons are said to once live in North America.  The Indians and early colonial settlers hunted the pigeons, but not until the late nineteenth century did massive commercial hunting severely reduce the population.  The last passenger pigeon died in 1914. European settlers brought many new animals with them to the Americas.  Pigs, horses and cattle were brought to many areas of Latin America, from across the ocean. Plant life was also introduced from Europe.  Ferns, thistles, nettles, and plantain all came to the United States from European countries. Shortly after Lewis and Clark's exploration of the West, beaver and otter populations nearly became extinct due to hunting.  Other animals with fur quickly went into extinction as well, as their skins were used domestically or exported to foreign markets. In Canada, about 40 million seals were killed between 1800 and 1915.  Even before then, Russians had hunted seals in large numbers on the West coast. By the end of the nineteenth century, opposition to the extinction of so many species was beginning to build.  This led to the establishment of National Parks and environmentalist groups, which remain important in the United States even today.Now in both Canada and the United States, a great deal of public attention has turned towards the environment.  Many environmental organizations have sprung up and have educated people about the possible dangers of current ways. The governments of these nations have also taken a strong interest in the environment.  For many years the United States wrote environmental laws such as the Clean Air Act, and these two nations restricted pollution and other harmful processes. Now, the countries are beginning to work together to save the environment.  When NAFTA came into force in 1994, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) was established. The CEC works on environmental conservation, protecting human health and the environment, trade, and economy, enforcement co-operation and environmental law, and information and public outreach. 

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