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Municipalities Develop Heat Watch Warning Systems

April 6, 2009

News Release

For immediate release
September 26, 2007

Municipalities Develop Heat Watch Warning Systems

TORONTO - The Clean Air Partnership has released a scan of municipal responses to extreme heat across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Executive Director, Eva Ligeti announced today.

“Heat waves pose a risk to all citizens, especially the elderly and infirm,” said Ligeti. “As southern Ontario continues to warm, heat will become more and more of a public health concern.”

A Scan of Heat/Health Watch Warning Systems and Hot Weather Response Plans documents the scope of hot weather responses of 26 jurisdictions in the GTA and beyond. The Scan found that two of five public health units in the GTA (those in the Region of Peel and City of Toronto) have developed heat watch-warning systems based on the spatial synoptic classification method developed at the University of Delaware. In comparison, Halton Region issues heat alerts based on Environment Canada’s Humidex while the Regions of Durham and York have not yet implemented heat alert systems of any kind.

The Scan also identified considerable variability in the implementation, scope and consistency of hot weather response planning in lower-tier municipalities. A lack of resources and a lack of direction from more senior-level governments were cited as barriers to creating comprehensive protocols for responding to heat. As a result of this variability in both heat alert triggers and intervention strategies, vulnerable populations across the GTA may be more or less at risk of heat-related illness, depending on where they live.

Based on this Scan, it is recommended that a minimum standard for hot weather response be developed and implemented and that a comparative analysis and cost/benefit study of various heat alert systems be conducted.

Contact:
Eva Ligeti
Clean Air Partnership
(416) 392-6672

Download the A Scan of Heat/Health Watch Warning Systems and Hot Weather Response Plans at: www.cleanairpartnership.org/heat_report.pdf

The Clean Air Partnership is a registered charity that works in partnership to promote and coordinate actions to improve local air quality and reduce greenhouse gases for healthy communities. A Scan of Heat/Health Watch Warning Systems and Hot Weather Response Plans was made possible with the financial support of the Greater Toronto Area Clean Air Council and the Toronto Atmospheric Fund.