Communities in Northern Canada are feeling the health system implications of climate breakdown

In the northern regions of Canada the climate emergency is not just some distant worry of something that may happen in the future. It has already had large multi-faceted impacts for years.1 The sub-Arctic and Arctic regions of Canada are warming at three to four times the global rate.2 For the many Indigenous communities that call the region home, the effects have been drastic. The “summer of smoke” in 2014 saw “two and a half months of unabating wildfire smoke exposure for residents within the city of Yellowknife and adjacent communities.”3 It led to double the number of emergency department visits for asthma and an increase of 48% in prescriptions for asthma medication, while cases of pneumonia increased by 57%.3 Spring forward to 2023, and we are seeing yet another unprecedented wildfire season. One community, Inuvik, did not have a day of reasonably healthy air quality from at least 26…
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