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Heat waves are here to stay, but Vancouver community groups are finding new ways to keep people safe The drought has revealed a variety of strange and terrifying objects Coasts need living shorelines to prevent erosion, PEI researcher says
Heat waves are here to stay, but Vancouver community groups are finding new ways to keep people safe
(Rachel Saunders/CBC) What On Earth10:08Vancouver community groups find new ways to keep people safe in extreme heat Gordon Neighborhood House has increased its heat safety work following last year’s heat dome, which broke temperature records and killed 619 people across British Columbia. On a hot summer day in Vancouver’s west end, Jess Coombs stands in a tree-lined square in front of a gray and white building decorated with rainbow flags. He laughs and jokes with passers-by, his voice echoing in the surrounding apartment buildings. “Anyone need some water? Ma’am? You need to stay hydrated,” Coombs calls out, beckoning a pregnant woman to a cooler filled with frozen drinks. “We have free water and Gatorade,” he says. “Everyone is welcome.” Coombs is a new team member at Gordon Neighborhood House, a community organization that works to keep people cool in the summer heat. In the face of climate change, Coombs says, neighbors need to help each other. “It’s basically making sure that in my building I check my neighbors,” he told What On Earth. “And as I’m learning, here at Gordon House, the philosophy… is just to blend in, making sure everyone’s okay.” Gordon House, which has been in the city’s west end for 80 years, is part of a network of eight not-for-profit neighborhood houses around Vancouver that provide services to people of all ages. The agency increased its heat safety work after last year’s heat dome, which broke temperature records and killed 619 people across British Columbia. Executive director Siobhan Powlowski (pictured above) says the heat dome has hit this area hard. The sun beat down on the apartment towers, warming them like greenhouses as temperatures climbed into the 40s. “We had a number of people in this neighborhood that unfortunately didn’t make it through the heat, which was really, really traumatic,” Powlowski said. The loss of community members brought the reality of climate change home, he said. “We knew this was something that was happening in the world around us. [But] it’s not something we built into our daily or even seasonal planning.” The heat dome changed that. Although extreme weather caused by climate change affects everyone, a report on the 619 deaths by the BC Coroner’s Office made it clear that those who are isolated and do not have people regularly checking on them are the most vulnerable. All Neighborhood Houses have been working since last summer to make climate safety plans that fit the needs of the people they serve. In the far west, that means lots of older people – a population particularly vulnerable to the heat. With this in mind, Gordon’s staff are now trained to recognize signs of heat exhaustion. They mobilize to call the 300 seniors on their contact list during the heatwave. Realizing that many may not have the mobility or means to get to city-run cooling centers, Gordon and several other Neighborhood Houses acquired buses last year. The next time temperatures reach dangerous levels, Powlowski said, they will be able to take people out of the house and take them to malls to cool off during the hottest part of the day. Gordon House and other groups are also working with the City of Vancouver and Vancouver Coastal Health to distribute neighborhood “cool kits” — plastic bins filled with supplies such as spray bottles, cooling gel packs and heat safety brochures printed in multiple languages. Plans are also underway to create a route under nearby Comox Street to the air-conditioned Denman Place Mall. They have named it the “Comox Coolway” and are placing coolers, benches and mist stations along the road. Volunteers from the Gordon House Neighbors Network will keep the fridges stocked with cold drinks and other supplies. “Our community, we find, is very, very tight-knit and happy to help whenever we make the call,” Powlowski said. In her view, these kinds of robust networks are what we need to face a future that climate science says will bring longer, hotter heat waves and stronger, more frequent storms. As fall approaches, the possibility of heavy rain, extreme cold or power outages that could knock out the elevators in the tall towers surrounding the Gordon House is on Powlowski’s mind. “The volatility, I think, is what worries me, worries our team,” he said. As Neighborhood Houses work to develop their security plans, Powlowski knows flexibility and creativity will be key. “I think the more we can look at the experience of other communities and prepare as much as we can, hopefully the more we can keep people safe when it matters.” — Rachel Saunders
Reader comments
Last week, What on Earth? Reader James Foley wrote in response to an article about it floating solar installations and suggested another place for huge solar arrays: “Throughout the country there are large tracts of clear land running between cities that have been designed for the sole purpose of transporting electricity. Waterways are everywhere, with a large area of clear space exactly 100 meters below Area that is regularly brushed to keep vegetation down. One would think that lining these areas with solar panels is not trivial at all.” As it turns out, other readers agree. Michael Ritchie: “James Foley has a great view on power lines and solar power mining. Hiding in plain sight.” Jennifer Sanges: “I totally agree with James Foley’s suggestion of solar panels along the hydro corridors. He is absolutely right to say that it is wrong, and to make his finer points, the infrastructure is right there! , the shade below closely spaced solar panels would limit undergrowth.”
Back issues of What on Earth? it’s right here.
CBC News recently launched a dedicated climate page, which you can find here here. Also, check out our radio show and podcast. Climate solutions such as electric vehicles, home retrofits and solar panels are investments that require upfront capital to reap the benefits later. But not every Canadian has that kind of cash. This week on What On Earth, we look at ways we can help those who emit less reduce their own emissions and save money. What the heck now airs on Sundays at 11am. ET, at 11:30 a.m. in Newfoundland and Labrador. Subscribe to your favorite podcast app or listen on demand at CBC Listen.
The big picture: What droughts reveal
Many parts of the world experienced drought this summer, as evidenced by rivers from the Loire (France) to the Po (Italy) to the Yangtze (China) drying up. In addition to production some truly surreal images, the drying up of rivers has huge consequences for people’s drinking water, shipping routes and hydropower. The emptying of rivers and lakes has also revealed some strange objects that were long buried under the water. In the central Spanish province of Caceres, for example, low water levels have exposed the Dolmen of Guadalperal, a stone circle in the Valdecanas reservoir that has been called “the Spanish Stonehenge.” Along the Yangtze near the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing (see photo below), people found a trio of Buddhist statues believed to be 600 years old. Low water in the Danube near the Serbian port of Prahovo has revealed more than 20 German warships sunk during World War II. Earlier this summer, around 3,000 people living near the northern Italian village of Borgo Virgilio, near the city of Mantua, were evacuated after a 450kg World War II bomb was discovered in the low-flowing waters. River Po. More chillingly, the receding waters of Lake Mead, along the Colorado River near Boulder City, Nev., have uncovered many human remains. The causes of death are still a mystery, but it exists rampant speculation that it may be connected to organized crime in Las Vegas dating back many decades. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
Hot and bothered: provocative ideas from around the web
Coasts need living shorelines to prevent erosion, PEI researcher says
(Submitted by Alistair Ozon) Researchers and watershed coordinators are working together to mitigate coastal erosion in PEI using a set of powerful natural solutions to create what they call living coasts. Living shorelines leverage plants that grow naturally on PEI to trap sand and topsoil and prevent shoreline erosion, says Erin Nelson, climate research assistant at TransCoastal Adaptations, a center for nature-based solutions based at Saint Mary’s University in Nova Scotia. “The purpose of my research is to try to get homeowners and property owners away from the hard armor and really think about using natural methods,” he said. In Nelson’s words, “hard shielding” refers to rigid material placed along the shoreline to deflect waves away from the site, including “unnatural rock and unnatural material” such as concrete or steel. He said the practice can end up damaging adjacent properties, as well as only being a short-term fix for the property a city or landowner is trying to protect. As it deflects oncoming waves, the hard armor causes the seawater to hit the adjacent waterfront even harder. Living shorelines, on the other hand, absorb waves, reducing the force of water across the entire coast. A project implemented at Tea Hill Park last year demonstrates the…
