64% of Canadians have air conditioning. Is it enough for climate change?

globalnews.ca:

Climate scientists proclaimed July 3, 2023, the hottest day in human record keeping.

Canada has seen a swathe of heat warnings in the past week, warning of elevated risks for heat-related illnesses and air quality. And the return of El Niño, a naturally occurring climate pattern, is bringing even warmer weather than the country has seen in the past seven years.

But data shows many Canadians don’t have air conditioning.

According to Statistics Canada, 64 per cent of Canadian households had some kind of air conditioning in 2021, the most recent year for which figures are available.

The numbers vary by province, as low as 19 per cent in Newfoundland and Labrador and as high as 90 per cent in Manitoba.

Dr. Melissa Lem, president of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, told Global News those numbers were likely appropriate, based on local climates, in the past. She said they likely aren’t enough for the future as climate change brings about more heat waves.

“Our bodies are designed to operate in a really narrow temperature range,” she said, speaking from Vancouver, “and when we go past that temperature range, we start to get sick.”

Lem said it’s important for people to have access to cool indoor environments, either in their own homes or via public transit, and to keep in contact with others.

“One of the major risk factors for death during the 2021 heat dome on the West Coast was social isolation,” she said, adding that many seniors — who are among those more vulnerable to extreme heat — are socially isolated.

With that said, how we create cooler environments matters too, she noted. Adapting in the wrong way could make things worse.

“People talk about air conditioning as being the solution, but in fact,