Will your children and grandchildren be able to live in your home in 2050?
Will it be impossible by mid-century to live and work in Mississauga because of climate change?
"Under this scenario, yearly heat-related deaths are projected to increase 370 per cent by mid-century, with heat exposure expected to increase the hours of potential labour lost globally by 50 per cent."
Will the green space adjacent to your home burn in a wildfire?
Will Hurricane Hazel 2.0 flood Erin Mills South?
Resources:
CBC news: Tired of hearing how every month or year is one for the record books? So are some climate scientists
Discussion:
Should we throw in the towel and say?
Our children and grandchildren won't be able to live or work in Mississauga by 2050, but it doesn't affect me. I'll be long gone.
India and China produce far more carbon emissions than anybody in Canada so there is no point in trying to do anything here.
"Don't look up."
Or should we do our best for our children and grandchildren and start to do something small to fight the climate catastrophe, starting now?
By insisting that any new development application at 4099 Erin Mills Parkway include an energy audit: What are the current carbon emissions at the plaza v. the carbon emissions of the contruction and the annual carbon emissions of the 700 new housing units?
By insisting that any new development at 4099 Erin Mills Parkway contain a plan to reduce the carbon footprint of the property below the current emissions.
By establishing an Environment and Climate Change Committee within the Erin Mills South Residents Association.
By changing the carbon footprints of our own homes and households.
a) by turning off the pilot light on our gas fireplaces except during family events or emergencies
b) by continuing to use or switching to an aging hybrid or electric vehicle
c) by getting rid of or reducing our use of Enbridge natural gas for heating and hot water (e.g. install a tankless hot water system)
Resources:
CBC news: How heat pumps work: A visual guide
Mitsubishi video at YouTube:
"Standard vs. cold-climate heat pump
Canadians can generally choose between two types of heat pumps:
Standard heat pumps, which are typically installed with a backup heat source for below-freezing temperatures.
Cold-climate heat pumps, which can heat homes without a backup at temperatures as low as –20 C or –30 C, but are sometimes installed with a backup system."
Notes from Stephen Biss:
I respectfully disagree with some of the analysis in the above CBC story: "Will switching to a heat pump save you money?". They seem to suggest that a standard heat-pump rather than a cold-climate heat pump is slightly more appropriate in the GTA. I suggest a cold-climate heat pump is more expensive to start but there is a $5000 federal government grant. The big difference is carbon emissions produced by the back-up system.
The best time to convert from a natural gas furnace and conventional air conditioning system to a cold-climate heat pump (which is also a very efficient air conditioning system) is when you are replacing both the furnace and the air conditioning system.
The reduction in carbon emissions is dramatic. We reduced our 2000 sq. ft. home's carbon output from about 7 tonnes per year to 2 tonnes.
The cold-climate option generates no carbon except for that required to produce the electricity supplied by Allectra.
The standard heat pump option (the one that an Enbridge representative will probably recommend) generates carbon at below-freezing temperatures, because it continues to use Enbridge natural gas in a natural gas furnace for much of the winter.
If you opt for a standard heat pump, you will still be generating carbon by burning natural gas in below-freezing temperatures. All heat pumps used in Canada have back -up systems. The question is: At what temperature does the back-up system kick in? Is it 0 C., -10 C., or -28 C.?
At -28 C. a standard heat pump uses natural gas or an electric heat strip as back-up. A cold-climate heat pump uses an electric heat strip as back-up. My electric heat-strip backup system never activated in the winter of 2022-2023 because the temperature never dropped below -28 C..
The cold-climate option is amazingly quiet and efficient. Ask me if you would like details of my experience.
See also:
Heritage Mississauga: Remembering Hurricane Hazel
Toronto – A City of Rivers by Toronto and Region Conservation