P.E.I. needs to prepare for deadly heat, says climate change expert

There's nothing P.E.I. can do to stop more hot weather from coming, says climate change researcher Prof. Blair Feltmate, but there are things that can be done to help keep Islanders safe.

P.E.I. is already seeing an increase in the number of days in the year where temperatures exceed 30 C, and that trend is going to continue, said Feltmate, head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo.

"Climate change is now here to stay. It's irreversible and we have to prepare for more extreme weather. Extreme heat, floods, fires — they're all going to be more problematic," he said.

In the last decades of the 20th century, Charlottetown Airport averaged less than one day a year with temperatures above 30 C. Since the turn of the century the average is closer to two, and in the last two years there were nine.

Projections by the Intact Centre suggest that by 2050, these unusually hot days will become something close to normal in the summer, with 20 days a year topping 30 C after 2050.

This kind of extreme heat can be deadly — as was seen last summer when a heat wave in B.C. was blamed for 619 deaths.

Cooling as a human right

While it is too late to stop the heat, Feltmate said the Island can start preparing.

Canadians need to start thinking about the dangers of heat in the summer the way we think about the risks of cold in the winter, he said.

That would include establishing cooling centres, just as there are warming centres during winter storms, and even subsidizing air conditioners and fans for homes.

"Treating them almost as a human right," is how Feltmate describes it.

"It's the same way we expect in the winter that people have the right to a certain amount of heat in their home for safety purposes."

Some people more vulnerable

There are vulnerable groups the province could focus on, including the elderly and people with certain medical conditions.

"We've got to make sure that before these heat waves hit, we've mapped out where these people live and somebody's checking on them on a regular basis during a heat wave, one or two times a day," he said.

The elderly are often vulnerable partly because they live alone. Wellness checks could ensure that any air conditioning they have is working properly, that they are staying hydrated, and that someone can take them to a cooling centre if that's required.

The homeless are also vulnerable, he said, because they often have nowhere to escape from the heat. Feltmate suggests establishing roving teams to check on people living on the street, making sure they know where cooling centres are and offering them a ride to one if they need it.

The need could be urgent. P.E.I. is moving into the summer months on a run of 11 months in a row with above-average temperatures at Charlottetown Airport.