Future of heat waves in Canada presents challenges to human health
Every Canadian has a different idea of what makes a “hot” day. For some, waking up to 28°C is too much while others bask in the Sun at 35°C.
No matter your threshold, we all could soon live in a Canada that is too hot and puts people at risk for developing issues with their lungs, heart, liver and kidneys. There is no doubt that climate change will bring more heat waves. Our summers could become unbearable and there are now numbers to paint the picture.
Prairie Climate Centre created a forecast to help us understand the future of heat waves. They gathered data that predicts a scenario that would play out if greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rate.” data-reactid=”30″>Researchers at the Prairie Climate Centre created a forecast to help us understand the future of heat waves. They gathered data that predicts a scenario that would play out if greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rate.
report’s key findings:” data-reactid=”31″>See below for the report’s key findings:
Click here to view the video” data-reactid=”41″>Click here to view the video
These predictions do not take into account the urban heat island effect, essentially cities being so packed together that they generate their own heat.
The heat alone will be tough to withstand, but another thing to remember is when temperatures become this hot it can also be a catalyst for more air pollution. Wildfires may also become more common, which will add more smoke and particulate matter into the air.
It’s important to remember that even though this projection seems far away, we are already seeing little glimpses of this happening. In 2018 many Canadian cities experienced extreme heat, especially in the province of Quebec. There were dozens of deaths and it was evident that the elderly were at a higher risk.
Some of the changes to our climate are inevitable, we’ve put too much carbon into the atmosphere already and will experience the effect of this as a result, but existing solutions still have time to curb some characteristics of future heat waves.
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