A new initiative led by U of T Mississauga's Centre for Urban Environments (CUE) will create the first large-scale data collection system to understand the complex relationship between cities, the local environment and global climate change.
"More than 80 per cent of the world's population lives in cities, but we really don't understand how cities are changing the environment that we live in, and how this is driving - and being affected by - climate change," says Marc Johnson, CUE's director and an associate professor of biology.
"We hope to learn more so we can make cities healthier and more sustainable."
The centre's Urban Environmental Network, or UrbEnNet, will gather real-time data from dozens of sites across the Greater Toronto Area. "CUE's UrbEnNet will provide unprecedented data about how urbanization and urban development shapes the environment that we live in, including the physical environment, the air we breathe, the temperatures we feel and the quality of water we drink, and the impact of this on life," Johnson says.
"These elements affect every living creature in the Greater Toronto Area, from the salmon swimming up the Credit River to the people living in the urban GTA."
Johnson points to a heatwave that resulted in the deaths of more than 90 people in Montreal. "In urban areas the lack of green cover means the city areas becomes hot," he says.
Buildings absorb the sun's energy and radiate heat, even after sundown. Elevated temperatures can contribute to heatstroke and extra stress on human cardiovascular systems, putting vulnerable people in urban areas at risk.
"If we can better locate the location of heat island or air pollution hot spots, we can create better mitigation strategies and policies to keep people healthier during these events, which are becoming more common as a result of climate change," Johnson says.
The research team - which includes 38 researchers from U of T - has interdisciplinary expertise in geography, biology, chemistry, robotics and more. Regional conservation authorities and municipal and provincial policy-makers are also contributing partners.
"More than 80 per cent of the world's population lives in cities, but we really don't understand how cities are changing the environment that we live in, and how this is driving - and being affected by - climate change," says Marc Johnson, CUE's director and an associate professor of biology.
"We hope to learn more so we can make cities healthier and more sustainable."
The centre's Urban Environmental Network, or UrbEnNet, will gather real-time data from dozens of sites across the Greater Toronto Area. "CUE's UrbEnNet will provide unprecedented data about how urbanization and urban development shapes the environment that we live in, including the physical environment, the air we breathe, the temperatures we feel and the quality of water we drink, and the impact of this on life," Johnson says.
"These elements affect every living creature in the Greater Toronto Area, from the salmon swimming up the Credit River to the people living in the urban GTA."
Johnson points to a heatwave that resulted in the deaths of more than 90 people in Montreal. "In urban areas the lack of green cover means the city areas becomes hot," he says.
Buildings absorb the sun's energy and radiate heat, even after sundown. Elevated temperatures can contribute to heatstroke and extra stress on human cardiovascular systems, putting vulnerable people in urban areas at risk.
"If we can better locate the location of heat island or air pollution hot spots, we can create better mitigation strategies and policies to keep people healthier during these events, which are becoming more common as a result of climate change," Johnson says.
The research team - which includes 38 researchers from U of T - has interdisciplinary expertise in geography, biology, chemistry, robotics and more. Regional conservation authorities and municipal and provincial policy-makers are also contributing partners.
