The Tyee Podcast: Extreme Heat Anxiety Is Rising

Summertime, and the living isn’t so easy anymore. Anyone lucky enough to survive 2021’s heat dome knows the anxiety and stress that now accompany every summer on the West Coast.

But Tyee health reporter Michelle Gamage says that slowly, and hopefully surely, a public shift is happening. We’re starting to recognize the extreme danger that heat is, and that means we’re starting to better prepare for it.

“And the better prepared we are for it, the better we respond to it, the fewer people have to die.”

From icy groin towels to how local and federal governments need to step up, Michelle lets us know what we can do to keep ourselves and our neighbours cool for many summers to come.

Note: Episode transcripts may contain errors. Always check the corresponding audio before quoting any part of the transcript.

Harrison Mooney:

I have to confess, I'm not looking forward to summer.

I used to look forward to summer when I was a kid, but I'm a dad now, so summer is different. More childcare, less time off, and more troubling memories of extreme weather, most notably the heat dome of 2021 in the Fraser Valley.

Temperatures climbed to 40, the town of Lytton caught on fire. There were honestly moments that felt like society fully collapsed.

Like a lot of British Columbians. I flinched when I heard the reports from Environment Canada that 2026 projects to be among the hottest years on record.

I'm anxious. The short term solution, I suppose, is to talk about it with somebody, and I know just who that should be.

This is the Tyee Podcast. I'm your host, Harrison Mooney. Every episode, we dive deeper into the stories shaping the West Coast, because Canada needs more B.C.

From covering climate disasters to the impacts of wildfire smoke on your body, Tyee health reporter Michelle Gamage knows how perilous summers in B.C. have become, and she joins me after the break.

[music]

Harrison Mooney:

Michelle, thanks for taking the time. How are you doing?

Michelle Gamage:

Hi, Harrison. I'm good. I love that we're talking about heat today, because I've been cold all morning, but I know that the climate disaster summer of horror will be with us here so soon, so I'm trying to savor it while it lasts.

Harrison Mooney:

So, you're staying cool? I'm losing it a little bit over here. Are you as nervous about temperatures this summer as I am?

Michelle Gamage:

Yes, yes, I'm terrified. I am terrified that we're going to have something like we did in 2021 but slowly, and I hope surely, we are having a bit of a public shift where we're starting to recognize the extreme danger that heat is, and the better prepared we are for it, the better we respond to it. The fewer people have to die.

Harrison Mooney:

Yeah, were you here in 2021 for the heat dome?

Michelle Gamage:

I was. Yes, like many people, I suffered through it. I survived, and was lucky enough to survive quite comfortably, I'll say. I live in an older building. There's no AC, but we could pull heavy curtains across the windows, and then just sit drinking a lot of cold water throughout the day with fans on us, spritzing ourselves with water.

Yeah, I just remember trying to work that day and finishing work and just feeling ill, and biking down to the beach, to Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver, and finally getting in the water, and the water was like this gross bathtub warm, and it just was like, is there no escape from this?

Harrison Mooney:

Yeah, I kind of assume like my plan this time is just to get in the water, but I forgot that the water was also gross and warm, and didn't really do it for you, huh?

Michelle Gamage:

Yeah, we had a really low tide during the heat dome. There was just so many things that went wrong. It also happened exactly like basically on the summer solstice, which is the longest days, the shortest nights, so no cooling off period. There were so many things that just were catastrophically wrong. Main one being we really didn't recognize heat as dangerous extreme weather.

Harrison Mooney:

Yeah, we definitely do now. Yeah, and sometimes I get the sense outsiders don't understand quite how traumatic that was for British Columbians. I know you mentioned once talking to some Australians who were, I think, a little bit surprised by how surprised we were by the heat.

Michelle Gamage:

Yeah, I also remember hearing when Texas got a cold snap and a bunch of people died, and it was like, but it wasn't that cold, right? And it's, you like, we have to remember that humans are very, we're very delicate creatures, we exist in this very like small range of temperature, and we've built these built environments around us to be able to survive in extreme temperatures, but if we don't have the proper built environment, then we are very vulnerable to extreme weather, and we saw that here in B.C.

The best way I think that I've heard it explained is anyone who has access to cool indoor temperatures is not at risk from extreme heat, but we don't have a lot of people who have access…