Should the government assist low-income people with air conditioning?
Also: Mapping PFAS in the Great Lakes
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This week:
- Should the government assist low-income people with air conditioning
- The Big Picture: PFAS in the Great Lakes
- No doubt there's a drought — in Newfoundland and Labrador
Should the government assist low-income people with air conditioning
"I have asthma, I'm diabetic, on insulin. I have six pinched nerves … and I cannot take heat at all," she said.
Fortunately for Abbott, she has a portable air conditioner.
"I can't live without it," she added.
But not everyone is as fortunate as Abbott.
Low-income families living in multi-unit dwellings face the greatest challenges during heat waves and are by far the most affected.
A 2024 study published in the journal Environmental Research: Health found that those living on income assistance were 2.4 times more likely to die during a heat wave during the B.C. heat dome of 2021.
"Ninety-eight per cent of the people who died during that event died indoors," said Jacqueline Wilson, counsel at the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA). "When you look at those findings, the lesson from that is tackling the indoor air temperature because that was found to be the way that people were most at risk."
As fossil fuels continue to be released into the atmosphere, and the climate continues to warm, Canadians will be faced with more frequent and intense heat waves, but having access to air conditioning isn't equitable.
"Access to cooling … we've been thinking of it as a luxury…. But now our heat waves are becoming hotter, longer, more frequent," said Caroline Metz, managing director for climate resilience and health at Intact Centre for Climate Adaptation. "They're happening earlier in the season, so people aren't quite ready, and they're happening in places that haven't had heat."
There's been a push for a maximum temperature bylaw for buildings in cities such as Toronto, Ottawa and Hamilton.
But if something like that is put into place, who would pay for it?
"I think we do need either a federal program or provincial programs," Metz said. "We want to establish providing financial support for cooling assistance."
Theresa McClenaghan, executive director and counsel at CELA said studies show that heat is the biggest threat to life from climate change, particularly for those in under-resourced communities.
And, she notes, climate change doesn't respect borders.
"It's a five-alarm fire, right? It's a major, major emergency. And that means all the jurisdictions have the ability to act and should act, and they should act in concert, but they shouldn't wait for each other," said McClenaghan.
There are some programs at the municipal and provincial level across the country, but they target specific groups.
Most recently, Toronto started a program for seniors, and B.C. has a program where people can receive a free portable air conditioner, but only if they are clients of a Home Care Program or Mental Health Substance Use Program and they've received a recommendation letter. But there's no guarantee someone will receive a unit, as there is a limit on how many air conditioners are available.
If maximum temperature limits are enacted across the country, buildings would have to be retrofitted, but, as many buildings in cities were built in the 1960s and '70s, they may not be able to withstand a power-load increase.
Metz suggested that perhaps the first step would be for municipalities to have an electrical evaluation to assess their capabilities.
Remember Christena Abbott? Well, she's also a leader at ACORN Canada (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), a community union of low- and moderate-income people advocating for better rights.
And that building she's living in? It was built in 1967. But this year, her building owner, WoodGreen — Toronto's largest non-municipal affordable housing provider — is retrofitting the building with new, more efficient windows. Next year? Heat pumps that will provide cooling to all of its residents. Ultimately, WoodGreen is looking for a zero-carbon building certification.
And they have assured residents there will be no rent increase.
The project received funding from the local municipal government and utility, but was mostly funded with federal housing grants and loans.
Wilson says federal involvement is needed to ensure cooling for low-income tenants is affordable, "so that the most vulnerable people are getting the cooling and they're not having this cost burden added to budgets that can't sustain it."
—Nicole Mortillaro
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Reader Feedback
Last week, we shared the story of a woman who moved away from her wildfire-prone community after her home burned down. Lawrence Walker wrote, "I enjoyed reading the article, but I disagree with her choice. I survived the Bush Creek East Wildfire in 2023…. I lost everything but my house, which I stayed behind and saved. Why would you move when there is no fuel left and you are safe from any wildfires for the next 20 years? Who knows when and where the next wildfire is going to happen. It could be right where she moves too."
Traditionally, places that have burned recently haven't been expected to burn again for 10 to 30 years because most of the fuel has been used up. But recent observations show there can be enough fuel left to sustain another, lower-intensity fire as soon as the next year after a wildfire, Canadian Forest Service researcher Marc-André Parisien told Cabin Radio. A study of forests that reburned within two to 12 years found that high-severity fires led to high-severity reburns, but lower-severity fires were found to provide some protection against severe fires for up to 22 years.
Write us at whatonearth@cbc.ca. (And feel free to send photos, too!)
The Big Picture: PFAS in the Great Lakes
Do you know the name of the largest surface freshwater system on the planet?
If you guessed the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River, you're right. The massive watershed supplies drinking water to roughly 40 million people in North America, including eight million Canadians.
It also happens to be tainted by toxic forever chemicals, also known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). There are thousands of different types of PFAS, and some have been linked to pretty serious health risks, including cancer.
It's not just affecting the water — some species of fish are also contaminated, prompting the province of Ontario to issue warnings.
The good news: so far, concentrations of PFAS found in tap water from the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence are within Canada's latest health guidelines.
But forever chemicals are still being used as a common ingredient in everything from non-stick cookware to industrial manufacturing, which is why water quality experts CBC News spoke with are worried PFAS will continue to accumulate in the water. They're hopeful Canada will learn from past mistakes, and crack down on the pollutants before concentrations get too high.
— Jaela Bernstien
Hot and bothered: Provocative ideas from around the web
- Ever wonder where the worms sold for fishing bait come from? The Local goes out with worm pickers in the Canadian region that produces most of North America's and Europe's bait worms for an intimate look at how worms are harvested and why the industry faces new challenges.
- Has your grocery bill gotten huge? Check out a map from Carbon Brief showing climate-linked events behind jumps in the prices of goods ranging from chocolate to olive oil.
- It's been an oddly quiet cyclone season in the northern hemisphere so far. Yale Climate Connections looks at why the systems that do develop haven't been surviving long or intensifying much.
- One of the biggest hurdles in geothermal energy is the cost of drilling — up to 57 per cent of a plant's initial costs. What if we could vaporize rock instead of grinding through it? Millimetre waves are tightly focused beams of radiation, used to super-heat plasma in nuclear fusion experiments. Repurposed for "drilling," they have the potential to slash both costs and timelines. Read or watch more on Undecided.
- How a Massachusetts town stopped tearing up roads to replace gas pipes and went electric instead.
No doubt there's a drought — scientist says N.L. water levels are historically low
Running out of water on an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean may seem like an impossible idea — but that's exactly what's happening in Newfoundland.
Paula Dawe, a scientist with the province's water resources management team, says more than 40 of the division's water monitoring stations are showing lower levels than normal and 10 of them are at all-time lows.
Although that may come as a shock, Dawe says it shouldn't.
"A lot of what we're seeing right now is what was predicted in the climate change projections about ... 20 years ago," Dawe said.
"[We knew] the temperatures were going to be increasing in Newfoundland and Labrador, that stream flow was going to be lower, that waters were going to be warmer in the summer, that there would be less snowpack and it would be melting earlier."
Just this summer, Dawe said she heard about groundwater wells drying up and salmon rivers having to close due to high water temperatures. Northwest River near Terra Nova Park has had to close several times this month for that reason.
The area from Gander to St. John's is experiencing a moderate drought, according to data from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The ground is drier than usual on the central part of the island, while most of Labrador is spared, said Dawe.
Dawe said heat records will continue to be broken in the coming years due to climate change.
"What was once considered extreme ... historically is going to become the new normal," she said.
There is a high potential for water shortages this year, Dawe said, but there are ways people can curb that.
Some of her tips include waiting until it's absolutely necessary to wash a car or water the lawn. Dawe even recommends putting a brick in toilet tanks to displace some of the water.
If communities are experiencing water shortages, Dawe encourages them to contact the province's Water Resources Management Division for support and co-ordination.
—Maddie Ryan
Thanks for reading. We'll be taking a short summer break next week, so see you again on Aug. 7!
If you have questions, criticisms or story tips, please send them to whatonearth@cbc.ca.
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Editors: Emily Chung and Hannah Hoag | Logo design: Sködt McNalty
