EJQ4 - Spring 2025 - Journal - Page 25
growing proportion of people being diagnosed with lung cancer who have
never smoked as reported in the Guardian earlier this year, a story that
points to air pollution as a leading contributor to this trend.
Apart from taking a proactive approach to addressing air pollution
concerns at the local level before those sources negatively impact
both public health and healthcare costs, the gorilla in the room which
municipalities can no longer ignore comes down to what if anything
they can do to reduce the incidence of wild昀椀res. A seemingly impossible
challenge.
Unlike tackling air quality issues emanating from a local manufacturer,
addressing pollution associated with major wild昀椀re events in the short
term is well beyond the control of municipalities. But there remain
potential long term ways to at least reduce the frequency of wild昀椀res,
politicians at all levels of government have known about for some
time but have struggled to implement: reducing the carbon emissions
responsible for global warming.
Depending on whether you take a half empty or half full perspective,
a 2023-24 study 昀椀nds that by the end of the century, the likelihood of
Canada’s 2023 monster season of wild昀椀res recurring will be 6.3 to 10.8
times more likely if carbon emissions continue on their current pace.
However, if the world 昀椀nally wakes up and begins to curtail carbon
emissions, the likelihood of those 昀椀res—while still more frequent than
what we now see—will be greatly reduced.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities places the challenge that
lies ahead into proper perspective, with the observation that: “Climate
change is the single biggest challenge of our time. With municipalities
in昀氀uencing roughly half of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions, it’s
essential to scale up local solutions to transition to a resilient low-carbon
future by 2050.”
We have a clear choice moving forward, whether we see what’s in the air
or not. If we value the long-term livelihood of Canadians, now is the time
to take the task of mitigating air pollution more seriously.
Mark Douglas Wessel is an Urban Journalist and
Communications Consultant. He writes a regular
column called Green Living for Postmedia.
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