As the Greater Toronto Area continues to feel the impact a heat waveA Toronto researcher and his colleagues are taking a closer look at how communities across the city can adapt.
Karen Smith, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto and a researcher at the School of Cities, says she hopes the information she’s getting now will sow the seeds for a better future.
“Typically now, we have twelve 30-plus-degree days per summer,” she told Global News.
“Thirty years from now, it’s going to be like 30 days per summer, and by the end of the century, we’re looking at 60 days per summer, so basically the whole summer.”
While that time may seem far away, Smith says it’s important for people to be aware that the extremes of summer are not going away.
Smith says that overall the elderly and low-income communities are most affected. When it comes to the specific areas of the city that are most vulnerable to heat exposure, she points to Jane and Finch or Thorncliffe Park. Areas like Glen Stewart Ravine in the east end of Toronto will fare better.
“In low-income neighborhoods, they are likely to have less access to air conditioning, and there is also an association between lower incomes and a greater propensity for underlying health conditions, which may increase a person’s response to heat,” she explained.
Smith says other factors that may determine whether a community can tolerate blistering conditions are access to ravines and green space, and proximity to the lake, which will have a cooling effect on conditions outside.
“These extreme events are going to happen in Toronto. We are not untouched by them and so we need to accelerate our adaptation plan and focus on the communities that are most vulnerable,” she said.
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