Seniors and low income earners are most vulnerable when it comes to extreme heat: UW study
CBC
Lack of access to cooling among older adults and low income earners is increasing their vulnerability to the heat waves sweeping across southwestern Ontario, according to multiple studies done by the University of Waterloo.
The studies examined the danger of heat waves, especially to those without proper air conditioning. One study suggests naming heat waves in order to bring about more awareness, while another found heat waves can be more deadly than wildfires.
Blair Feltmate, head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, examined the effects of the heat waves and says access to cooling is a human right.
"When they're exposed to extreme heat, it's not just discomfort. They can actually die," said Feltmate.
He says the extreme heat is breaking records, and it will keep getting worse.
Seniors are the most vulnerable group, and "we need to make sure that they have at least one cool room that they can go into that has air conditioning," he said.
With a heat dome in June, an average temperature of 26.9 C in July, and an average temperature of 27 C so far in August, vulnerable Canadians are at risk. Having access to air conditioning is only the first step when staying safe.
Access to air conditioning may not solve the problem, according to Peter Crank, assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo.
Many seniors are still living in older homes, "that haven't needed air conditioning before," said Crank.
He said many older adults have an "inability to be able to pay for or use their air conditioning without any concern" due to the cost of running the units.
Even if older adults have air conditioning units they may still face an increased risk of heat and ozone related symptoms during the summer, he said.
Crank's study of Houston, Phoenix, and Los Angeles found that central air conditioning was the most effective way to reduce heat risk.
He said policy reform is needed to ensure that people have access to central air conditioning.
Long-term care homes are required to have air conditioning under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act of 2021.
It's small things, like a cigarette or a pair of clean socks, Rachel Montour says, that can go a long way to make you feel more human when you’re out on the street.
Several dozen members of Windsor's Chaldean community and its supporters celebrated in the cold at the corner of Marentette Avenue and Wyandotte Street East Friday, as city officials gave a secondary name to the section of Marentette between Wyandotte and Tuscarora Street: Chaldean Way.
Allison Hill says she tries to make people’s experience at the Thunder Bay Food Bank “as pleasant as possible.”
Two years after a man went missing in Scarborough, Toronto police are renewing the investigation in hopes that the public will bring forward more information.
A musical instrument created in Guelph, Ont., has been thrust onto the international stage — or rather, screen.
More than 1,000 Maritime Electric customers are without power after high winds blew across the Island Friday night into Saturday.
The Supreme Court of Canada is deliberating a case that could shape the way sentences are handed down in cases where both the offender and victim are Indigenous, which some Nunavut lawyers say could have ramifications for the Inuit-majority territory.
A man barricaded in a former church in Welland, Ont., was taken into custody early Saturday, nearly 24 hours into a standoff that began over a fence dispute.
Peel police are investigating after a Friday night shooting in Mississauga left one person dead, police said.
Another busy construction season has come to an end in London, and the city is already looking ahead to next spring when a slew of new projects are expected to begin.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has begun to lay out publicly what he sees as boundaries when dealing with China, as his government wades into a new relationship with the economic giant.
Ferry crossings are cancelled and over a thousand households are left without power Saturday morning, due to high winds and severe weather conditions.
Tens of thousands of Nova Scotia Power customers are waking up without power on Saturday morning after high winds and rain hit the province on Friday night.