The Canadian Press
Fri, July 7, 2023
TORONTO — As summer heat waves intensifyand advocates sound the alarm on the lack of protections for the most vulnerable populations, one extreme weather expert is calling for access to cooling to be treated as a human right.
Much of Ontario experienced a multi-day heat event this week, with the humidex reaching up to 40 C in some areas. The planet's average temperature hit new records in the last few days, rising to an unofficial high of 17.18 C on Tuesday and Wednesday, breaking Monday's short-lived record of 17.01 C, according to the University of Maine's Climate Reanalyzer.
Blair Feltmate, head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo, has sought to bring attention to the need for greater heat adaptation as Canada is set to experience higher daily temperatures and longer heat waves under climate change.
Feltmate's research projects that between 2050 and 2080, almost all major Canadian cities will see an increase in maximum daily temperature between 3 C and 5 C, and the number of summer days above 30 Cwill double, triple, or quadruple in some cases.
In Toronto, that looks like maximum daily temperatures increasing to around 38 C, and the number of days exceeding 30 C rising from 15 to 16 days per summer up to 60.
"We need to think of access to cooling as a fundamental human right because if we don't make that provision literally people are going to die, Canadians are going to die, not just in the hundreds but potentially into the thousands," said Feltmate. He pointed to extreme heat events that led to more than 600 deaths in B.C. in 2021 and more than 80 deaths in Quebec City in 2018.
"As hot as it is now, and (Wednesday) set a new global record for the planet in terms of overall temperature, things are going to get hotter going forward."
Feltmate said there are approximately 500,000 people in the Greater Toronto Area who live in apartment buildings that are at least 40 years old and eight storeys or higher. If a major heat wave happened to coincide with an extended electricity outage, residents of those buildings could be without air conditioning, fans, elevator access or even water flow.
"The results could be lethal," he said.
Avoiding those deadly situations requires immediate steps to reduce heat stress. Feltmate said that could look like backup electricity generation for a couple of days for all apartment buildings, or subsidies for small,portable air conditioners,similar to a new B.C. program offering such ACs to low-income households.
Awnings over windows, window glazing to limit direct sunlight, trees and vines planted in and around buildings to provide shade can all reduce the impact of heat on residential buildings, Feltmate said.
Improving insulation and airtightness can also cut heating and cooling costs, he said.
Municipalities should play a large part in improving cooling access, he said, in particular to mitigate the "heat-island effect," in which urban areas are significantly warmer than surrounding areas. Dark and tarred buildings, roads and other infrastructure absorb and retain more heat from the sun than natural landscapes, contributing to warming between 3 and 5 C.
The heat-island effect could be combated with white, "cool" roofs or more trees and vegetation, among other design considerations.
But these actions require a combined response from all levels of government, particularly on the federal level, Feltmate said, as cities and towns would be better equipped to make such changes if directed by Ottawa.
Last week, Canada released its new national climate adaptation strategy, which will tie future federal infrastructure transfers to the provinces to projects that incorporate adaptation efforts.
One of the targets is for 80 per cent of health regions to have a plan to protect people from extreme heat by 2026, something officials said could include making sure there are adequate cooling centres available during heat waves. Another is the elimination of all heat-related deaths by 2040.
Some municipalities are getting ahead of the curve. Hamilton is poised to become one of Canada's first municipalities to require landlords install air conditioning to ensure indoor temperatures don't exceed 26 C, after an "adequate temperature" bylaw was passed by council in May.
Changes can't come fast enough for people most vulnerable to extreme heat, such as those who live and work outside and are already bearing the brunt of climate change, advocates say.
Chris Ramsaroop, an organizer with advocacy group Justice for Migrant Workers, called on Ontario to enact immediate emergency measures to protect the province's farm workers from the heat, including sheltering and cooling periods, access to free water, shade requirements and shutting down farms in extreme crisis events.
He said many of those workers, who fear threat of deportation for speaking out, are facing hot working conditions in greenhouses and are experiencing headaches and near-fainting due to the heat, but have been expected to keep up theregular pace of work.
"It's imperative the province enact steps and measures to protect all workers who have to endure this heat," said Ramsaroop.
In a statement, provincial Labour Minister Monte McNaughton called Ontario's farm workers "heroes" who are protected by health and safety laws, "regardless of their passport."
"As we experience increasing heat waves and the hazards of forest fire smoke, and a changing nature of outdoor work, we will not hesitate to take further action to protect those who put food on the table for families across our province," he said. The Ministry of Labour added it conducts inspections to ensure employers are meeting health and safety standards and urged workers who feel unsafe to report their concerns.
In response to this week's heat alert, Toronto activated its Heat Relief Network, which includes cooling locations such as libraries, community centres, private malls and municipal pools.
However, community worker and longtime advocate for the homeless, Diana Chan McNally, said many of those spaces are inappropriate for people experiencing homelessness, who may be subjected to harassment.
"Having an unhoused adult, for example, cool off in a children's splash pad is obviously going to set off some alarm bells," she said, criticizing the city for not having dedicated emergency cooling centres as it did in the past.
The City of Toronto said it "recognizes the need for additional services to help meet the complex needs of those living outdoors during heat warnings but the city continues to face significant financial pressures."
Chan McNally said emergency weather will come in all seasons, so there needs to be a shift from thinking of seasonal spaces in the summer or winter to year-round, 24-7 dedicated emergency weather spaces.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2023.
Tyler Griffin, The Canadian Press
If you’re not terrified, ‘you’re not paying attention’: Politicians, activist urge action amid record-breaking temperatures
Local Journalism Initiative
Fri, July 7, 2023
This week, average global temperatures are smashing records left and right, which “should fill everyone with anxiety,” says Green Party deputy leader Jonathan Pedneault.
The previous record of 16.92 C from 2016 was surpassed on Monday, which clocked 17.01 C. Tuesday was hotter still at 17.18 C, and The Associated Press reports that Wednesday could continue this upward trend.
The heat records come as 334 fires across Canada are burning out of control, in part exacerbated by a changing climate.
In June, the federal government warned this year’s wildfire season may be especially severe, and that prediction has come to fruition as forest fires have caused tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes over the last month.
“The fire season here has been devastating to so many communities and people who struggled with asthma and other lung conditions,” Pedneault told Canada’s National Observer in a phone interview.
“It's a public emergency, it's a health emergency, and yet we have a government that continues as though all of this was reversible and as though we were going to meet the urgency of the time with the half-assed measures that they have in place,” Pedneault said.
The federal government recently released its final climate adaptation strategy, which includes $1.6 billion over five years to put measures in place to reduce the risk of climate-related disasters; protect human health, nature and biodiversity; build resilient infrastructure; and support both the economy and workers.
At a time when we need drastic action to change our economic system and adapt our communities, the Liberal government continues to “subsidize Big Oil and praise Big Oil for their wonderful contribution to the building of their so-called green economy,” said Pedneault.
One of the main drivers of climate change is the burning of fossil fuels, like coal, oil and gas. The fires that are destroying the homes, livelihoods and health of Canadians are intrinsically linked to the continued expansion of oil and gas production, said Canadian climate activist Tzeporah Berman in a phone interview with Canada’s National Observer.
“If you're not terrified right now and angry, you're not paying attention,” said Berman, who is the international program director with Stand.earth and chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative.
“But it's also so frustrating,” she added. “Because we have the ability to address this crisis … we have the technology and capabilities to create a cheaper, safer and cleaner future,” said Berman, pointing to the reduced cost of renewable energy sources like wind and solar that can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.
“But the oil companies are holding us back from the policies that will save lives in the future,” said Berman.
“It's not a tragedy, it's a scandal.”
Canada’s oil and gas production is forecast to increase between now and 2030. To keep global temperature rise from exceeding 1.5 C (at which point, there will be irreversible consequences for both humans and the environment), the world’s greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 at the latest and be reduced by 43 per cent by 2030, according to research by the world’s leading climate scientists with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
In 2022, the federal government approved a major offshore oil project off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, which has since been postponed partly due to cost increases in the oil sector.
Constructive criticism is part of the process and when it comes to climate change, “we always need to do more,” said Manitoba MP Terry Duguid. He says his government is “working very hard,” certainly harder than any previous administration.
“We are the only government, I think, in our history as a country that has taken climate change and emissions reduction seriously, and it’s working,” said Duguid, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Alongside the newly announced National Adaptation Plan, Duguid pointed to his government “investing billions in emissions reductions and building … the clean energy economy.”
“We always need to do more, but we've got a plan, and we are on track with that plan to meet our emissions reductions by 2030 on to net zero by 2050,” he said. The climate plan is “evergreen” and “being adjusted all the time to meet the changing landscape,” Duguid added.
The federal government is banking on a suite of proposed investment tax credits to usher Canada into a low-carbon economy. Over the next 11 years, more than $80 billion is earmarked for these tax credits, which target clean electricity, hydrogen, carbon capture, critical mineral extraction and manufacturing of clean technology related to electric vehicles, nuclear and energy storage.
While it's easy to become desensitized to constant reports of record-breaking heat, it's impossible to ignore the “extremely scary” impacts of climate change: from hurricane Fiona’s destruction to flooding in B.C. to severe wildfires across the nation to the deadly heat dome that killed more than 600 people in B.C. two summers ago, said NDP MP Laurel Collins.
“It's really the inaction of governments that has put us on a path where we are going to see these occurrences more and more,” said Collins.
“Those over 600 people who died in B.C. from the heat dome … the vast majority of them were low-income folks, seniors who do not have cooling options in their homes,” said Collins, pointing to the need for widespread building retrofits, including programs for low-income people and apartment buildings.
Berman urged Canadians “who are choking from smoke” and watching fires sweep across the country to hold our elected officials accountable and demand the government “stand up to the influence of the fossil fuel industry, who are making this crisis worse.”
“We don't currently have a plan. The government at a provincial and federal level has bought into the oil industry's delusion that we can continue to expand production while introducing some technologies to reduce emissions,” said Berman.
Carbon capture technology is a key part of the federal government’s plan to reduce emissions produced from oil production, and it has proposed a tax credit worth an estimated $18 billion over the next decade to help companies adopt this technology. It does not address the vast majority of emissions that are produced when fossil fuels are burned, and environmentalists warn the costly technology could lock in fossil fuel production at a time when all the science points to a speedy phaseout.
“Even if you've never done it before, we need people to be writing and calling their MLAs and MPs, telling them it's a priority that we stop expanding oil and gas,” said Berman.
— With files from The Associated Press
Natasha Bulowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada's National Observer
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