Cool evening breezes and refreshing Ânighttime temperatures have Nature Boy checking the weather stripping around the doors and the seals on the windows.
“Fall is in the air,” he says, “even if it’s just hinting at it.”
A few weeks ago, he did the same rounds to minimize the amount of outdoor smoke and heat leaking into the house.
It’s a challenge many have faced this summer. Many of the region’s buildings are designed for a climate we’re likely to be Âseeing less of in coming decades.
The U.S. National Oceanic and ÂAtmospheric Administration reported that this past July was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth. The combined land and ocean-surface temperature was almost one degree above the 20th-century average of 15.8° C, edging out the previous records that were tied in July 2016, 2019 and 2020. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, the land Âsurface-only temperature reached an unprecedented 1.54° C above the average, surpassing the previous July record set in 2012.
This has translated on the ground into heatwaves, drought and wildfires from B.C. to Ontario, and high temperatures and Âtorrential storms in the east. Not even Toronto and Halifax escaped the extremes, however, those regions have at times this summer been shrouded in smoke from fires burning hundreds or even thousands of Âkilometres away.
“This new record adds to the disturbing and disruptive path that climate change has set for the globe,” NOAA said in its media release.
British Columbia has endured three heat waves to date this year. One ushered in the year’s devastating wildfires at the end of June. Another brought smoke from those fires to the south Island.
According to the B.C. Coroners Service’s latest preliminary statistics, 815 people died in the province during the June heat wave, a nearly 300 per cent increase over the five-year average number of sudden deaths for the same period. Of the June 2021 deaths, the provincial coroner says 569 were the result of the heat.
On 91Ô´´ Island, 97 people died in the June 25-to-July 1 period, more than Âdouble the 2016-2020 average for the week.
The numbers are a small part of an emerging heat-related picture of global health. Researchers reported in The Lancet that heat-related deaths and illnesses are rising around the world as extreme heat becomes an increasingly common Âoccurrence. In 2019, more than 356,000 people died because of heat, and the Âresearchers say the number is expected to grow as Âclimate continues to change.
Researchers, engineers and governments have identified buildings as a key area that can be used to both help slow global Âwarming and to mitigate the effects of a warming global climate.
According to the United Nations ÂEnvironment Program, buildings account for 39 per cent of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions each year.
More efficient, better-constructed Âbuildings will help to address those issues. Net-zero buildings, with thicker walls, more and better insulation, better windows and doors, and efficient heat-and-ventilation systems would also help to keep residents comfortable and safe during extreme-heat and air-quality emergencies like those we’ve experienced this year.
To think, even 15 years ago, it was Âchallenging even finding a place in town that sold and installed triple-pane windows.
“You don’t need them here,” I was told again and again when I sought estimates for replacing the metal-framed windows in our inefficient, poorly designed 1970s-era house.
When we finally did upgrade the Âwindows a few winters ago, the drafts that had whistled down the hallway for decades were immediately stilled and our heating bill dropped sharply. Street noise became Âmuffled, and we later found it easier to keep the house sealed against smoke from the neighbours’ chimneys, firepits and greasy barbecues, as well as from wildfires.
It has also made Nature Boy’s weather-proofing rounds easier.
