Extreme heat events are increasing in Canada and are projected to continue to increase in the future, not only in intensity and duration, but also in geographic extent. Greater efforts to prepare for these events are therefore required as threats to individuals, communities and health systems from extreme heat increase with greater warming. Communities not currently exposed to extreme heat events may also become vulnerable to them in the future. To help public health authorities understand how vulnerability may change, this session will outline how the web portal, ClimateData.ca, can be used to explore projections for extreme heat. We will also introduce the new projections for humidex, and discuss the challenges of communicating future extreme heat risk. In addition, this interactive session will demonstrate climate data analysis tools, using specific community examples, to boost audience confidence in the use of climate data. This will help communities identify their…

In the face of worsening heat waves, typical weather, power outages, urban heat, etc., how will our buildings perform and shelter us over their lifecycle? To capture the health and productivity co-benefits and reduce liability, climate resilience and adaptation must be integrated into low energy, healthy building, and building decarbonization efforts.

This presentation will summarize health risks from climate change and overheating in buildings, and the various design guidelines and standards to limit overheating in buildings. It will also give several examples of how “climate ready” buildings with low overheating risk can be achieved cost effectively in new and existing buildings.

Tom Phillips is a consultant on healthy, sustainable buildings. For over three decades, he worked for California’s air pollution and energy agencies on indoor environmental quality, health risk reduction, and healthy green buildings. Since 2011, he has focused on…

This webinar summarizes findings from the NCCEH/CLIMAtlantic “Sea level rise and public health implications” project. Please see the full project description and companion reports here.

The health impacts of sea level rise have not been well researched in Canada or elsewhere. The objective of this project was to improve understanding of the public health impacts associated with sea level rise, and to demonstrate how public-health-driven actions at the community level can be integrated into adaptation plans to mitigate these impacts. Report 1 of the four-part series identified geographic areas of Canada’s coastline that are most exposed to impacts from sea level rise. Report 2 established the potential health impacts resulting from exposure to sea level rise based on literature.  Report 3 outlined results of a scan of community-based planning documents to determine if and how sea level rise and health were addressed. Given the lack of integration of public health…

Floods have a significant and long-term impact on community mental health and psychosocial well-being. Post-flooding psychosocial and mental health recovery requires public health disaster responders to work alongside affected communities. During this webinar, Maxine Myre and Nicole Glenn from PolicyWise for Children & Families will present an overview of the experiences, challenges, and priorities of post-flooding community recovery, as well as describe public health practices that can be adapted and applied to communities across Canada. Then, they will facilitate a panel discussion with Canadian experts about how the recommended practices are relevant and can be adapted to different contexts. Panelist will include professionals in government and non-profit leadership working in disaster psychosocial and mental health recovery and response.

PolicyWise for Children and Families is an Alberta-based not-for-profit, charitable organization. We have 20 years’ experience…

Climate change is impacting the health of millions of people around the world. From slow onset climate changes to weather and climate extremes, climate change is impacting everything we care about. In this presentation, the health findings from the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on climate change impacts and adaptation will be presented, and then linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP27 and COP28. As one of the Lead Authors on the IPCC report, Dr. Harper will highlight the connections between the IPCC's international science assessment process to the international climate change negotiations that occur at UN Climate Change COPs.

Sherilee Harper is a Canada Research Chair in Climate Change and Health, Kule Scholar, and an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta. Her research investigates associations between weather, environment, and health equity in the context of…

Water distribution lines, premise plumbing in homes and large buildings, and recreational waters (pools, spas, splash-parks), can harbour a range of opportunistic pathogens (OPs), like Legionella spp. that can cause serious infections and disease outbreaks among exposed, susceptible persons. Many interacting elements can affect the presence, proliferation, and likelihood of exposure to OPs in water systems, including climate warming, precipitation, humidity, increased air conditioning and need for cooling, and water efficiency measures. This presentation explores some of the ways that climate change could influence the occurrence of and exposure to OPs in our urban centres, and some of the measures that can be taken to reduce the risks.

Juliette O'Keeffe, MSc, PhD Environmental Health & Knowledge Translation Scientist, NCCEH

Juliette joined the NCCEH team in 2018 bringing with her previous experience delivering research for industry and government in the areas…

Mosquitoes are the world’s deadliest animals due to the pathogens they spread, and these insects are found in a wide variety of habitats, from the tropics to the arctic, from sea level to the alpine, and in heavily disturbed urban environments and intact old-growth forests. There are currently 51 species of mosquito reported from British Columbia, and 33 from the Yukon. However, there are large gaps in our knowledge about the distribution of both indigenous and invasive mosquitoes in northern and rural parts of British Columbia and the Yukon, including for important vector species. If we are to accurately predict where arbovirus transmission will occur, currently or under future climate change scenarios, we need a more accurate grasp of where established vectors occur and may expand to. Here we summarize existing knowledge about the mosquitoes of British Columbia and the Yukon, review recent work and efforts to expand on this knowledge, and discuss its significance to public and…

There is increasing evidence that long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) may adversely impact cognitive performance. Wildfire smoke is one of the largest sources of PM2.5 today and concentrations are likely to increase under climate change. However, little is known about how short-term exposure impacts cognitive function. We aimed to evaluate the associations between daily and hourly exposure to PM2.5 and wildfire smoke and cognitive performance in adults. Scores from 20 plays of an attention-oriented brain-training game were obtained for 10,228 adults in the United States (US). We estimated daily and hourly PM2.5 exposure through a data fusion of observations from multiple monitoring networks. Daily smoke exposure in the western US was obtained from satellite-derived estimates of smoke plume density. We used a longitudinal repeated measures design with linear mixed effects models to test for associations between short-term exposure and attention score. Results were…

Rising temperatures are one of the biggest global health threats of the 21st century. They underscore a critical need for ambitious adaptation and advancement of protective measures to safeguard the health of populations. The threat of rising temperatures is even greater in Canada because the country is warming 2-3 times faster than other regions. The record-setting heat dome that engulfed western Canada in late June 2021 was associated with at least 740 excess deaths among older Canadians, and it strained provincial health services to a near breaking point. This catastrophic event followed on the heels of record-breaking temperatures in 2020, which capped the hottest decade ever recorded in Canada and the planet. While the negative health impacts of heat are predictable and largely preventable, improving population health outcomes requires that policy makers, frontline clinical staff, health managers, and others have comprehensive knowledge of factors affecting heat-vulnerable…

This presentation will highlight the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health’s (NCCIH) collaboration on the 2022 national assessment titled the Health of Canadians in a changing climate: Advancing our knowledge for action, produced by Health Canada’s Climate Change and Health Innovation Bureau. This comprehensive study of current and projected risks from climate change to the health of Canadians included a chapter dedicated to climate change and Indigenous Peoples’ health in Canada. Contributing author, Donna Atkinson will provide an overview of the key findings of this chapter; a summary of specific climate change risks to First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples’ health; the role of Indigenous knowledges and rights in climate change adaptation, research and policy; and knowledge gaps for future research.

Donna Atkinson, MA, National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health

Donna Atkinson is the Manager of the National Collaborating Centre for…