Heat Islands

Lyme disease and other vector-borne diseases are on the rise because of climate change. In the province of Quebec, Canada, Lyme disease has become a public health problem deserving the attention of health authorities. Despite their recognized effectiveness at preventing tick-to-human transmission, rates of adoption of Lyme disease adaptive behaviours (LDAB) remain relatively low in the population. Statistically significant associations were found between the three determinants of the theory of planed behavior (TPB) (i.e., attitudes, perceived social pressure and perceived behavioral control) and the intention to adapt. These findings can be used to guide educational and awareness-raising campaigns to promote LDAB by changing or reinforcing these primary beliefs.

Heat-related mortality is an increasingly important public health burden that is expected to worsen with climate change. In addition to long-term trends, there are also interannual variations in heat-related mortality that are of interest for efficient planning of health services. Large-scale climate patterns have an important influence on summer weather and therefore constitute important tools to understand and predict the variations in heat-related mortality

Given the important role that municipalities must play in adapting to climate change, it is more than ever essential to measure their progress in this area. However, measuring municipalities’ adaptation progress presents its share of difficulties especially when it comes to comparing (on similar dimensions and over time) the situation of different municipal entities and to linking adaptation impacts to local actions. Longitudinal studies with recurring indicators could capture changes occurring over time, but the development of such indicators requires great emphasis on methodological and psychometric aspects, such as measurement validity. Therefore, this study aimed to develop and validate an index of adaptation to heatwaves and flooding at the level of municipal urbanists and urban planners.

As the health consequences of climate change (CC) will likely become more manifest in the future, family physicians have to be knowledgeable about these impacts and the ways in which they can affect their patients. The main aim of this study was to propose a competency framework and questionnaire used to conduct a needs analysis to identify and prioritize family physicians' real educational needs regarding the health impacts of CC.

With climate change, the frequency and intensity of certain climate hazards will increase, leading to greater impacts on the health of urban populations. Although cities can adopt various climate change adaptation (CCA) measures (e.g. urban/land-use planning against the effects of urban heat islands), little is known about the progress made in this regard, because of a lack of valid CCA measurement and evaluation tools, as well as organizational factors leading some cities to action and others to inaction.

In the current context of climate change, climate forecasts for the province of Quebec (Canada) are a lengthening of the thunderstorm season and an increase in episodes of intense precipitations. These changes in the distribution of precipitations could heighten the intensity or frequency of floods, a natural hazard that concerns 80% of Quebec’s riverside municipalities.