Program Co-ordinator: Pierre Gosselin

New benchmark on health and climate change in Quebec: a Web site Mon climat, ma santé.

Context

Different disturbances related to climate change may have significant and generally negative repercussions on public health, particularly among vulnerable populations.

Climate change could lead to increased morbidity and mortality associated with:

• heat waves
• extreme climate events
• air pollution
• water and food contamination
• exposure to ultraviolet rays and to diseases carried by animals, insects and ticks.

To prevent or mitigate the health impacts of climate change, efforts are being made to gather knowledge regarding these effects and develop adaptation measures.

Increasing public awareness is also a key factor.

Objectives

• Develop and disseminate knowledge regarding potential public health impacts of climate change.
• Improve adaptation measures by conducting multidisciplinary studies.

Research projects

• Heat waves and warming
  • Effects of climate on mortality
  • Study of the relationship between morbidity and climate and simulations for future climate scenarios
  • Identification of areas vulnerable to intense heat
  • Expert roundtable to assess the measures required to adapt to climate warming (clinical aspects)
• Air quality
  • Increase in pollen concentrations
  • Estimation of future smog levels, using the AURAMS model and the CRCM
  • Fine spatial variations of mortality and hospitalizations with climate extremes in urban settings
• Water quality 
  • Public health risks resulting from the proliferation of cyanobacteria
  • Vulnerability of Quebec drinking water treatment plants, given forecasts of increased proliferation of cyanobacteria
  • Analysis of low-water levels in future climates and a preliminary assessment of the impacts on municipal drinking water supplies
  • Incidence and distribution of gastro-intestinal diseases among populations at risk and risk factors associated with climate and agricultural practices
• Climate change and adaptations
  • Survey on perceptions, vulnerability and adaptations
  • Report on adaptations (extreme climate events, heat waves, water, zoonotic diseases)
• Integration, communication and strategic support
  • Interactive atlas of vulnerability
  • Knowledge integration, dissemination and transfer