NCCEH: Impact of Climate Change and Wild Weather on Mental and Physical Health, Lost Time From Work and the Need to Prepare

Impact of Climate Change and Wild Weather on Mental and Physical Health, Lost Time From Work and the Need to Prepare

Speakers: Dr. Blair Feltmate

Images of communities and homes destroyed or damaged following extreme weather events are increasingly familiar.  But after the cameras leave, a less visible, longer-term toll can settle in on the mental and physical well-being of those who have suffered great loss.  That suffering can linger for years.  This talk will quantify these often less considered impacts that follow in the aftermath of large scale flooding, with results that are equally applicable to forest fire related loss.  On the up-side, much work has been done over the past few years to prepare for extreme weather.  Accordingly, the discussion will end by highlighting practical and cost-effective actions that can be taken today, to avoid suffering tomorrow.

Dr. Blair Feltmate is the Head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, University of Waterloo. Previous positions he has held include Vice President, Sustainable Development, Bank of Montreal; Director, Sustainable Development, Ontario Power Generation; Partner, Sustainable Investment Group/YMG Capital Management.  Blair has written textbooks on Sustainable Banking (University of Toronto Press), and Aquatic Ecology (CAB International).

He is a member of the National Adaptation Strategy Task Force (Environment and Climate Change Canada), and Climate Proof Canada (Insurance Bureau of Canada).  Blair is a member of the Sustainable Finance Advisory Council, Global Risk Institute.  He is Chair, Adaptation Committee, Canadian Institute for Climate Choices (Environment and Climate Change Canada). He is on the Advisory Board, Climate Change, Minister of Environment (Ontario). He was Chair, Federal Government of Canada Expert Panel on Climate Adaptation; and, Chair, Electricity Transmission and Distribution Adaptation Standard, Canadian Standards Association. He is former Chair, Pollution Probe, and he was Chair, Sustainable Electricity Program, Canadian Electricity Association.

Blair was an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Waterloo.  He holds a Ph.D in Theoretical and Applied Ecology (University of Toronto), Master’s in Sustainable Development (Wilfrid Laurier University), Master’s in Zoology (University of Toronto), and Hon. Bachelor’s Biology (University of Toronto).  He is generally interviewed by the media 100 times per year on climate change related issues.

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