Just in Time for Flood and Wildfire Seasons: New Interactive Climate Maps of British Columbia’s Southern Interior.
Released by Interior Health on Friday, the maps show detailed information on heat, flood, smoke and cold data for 10 regional districts.
Each regional district has its own map and users can select separate layers showing vulnerabilities, capacities and sensitivities for each climatic aspect.
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For example, in case of heat, users can select maps indicating:
- Heat vulnerability
- Exposure to heat
- Heat sensitivity
- Ability to adapt to heat.
Each climate aspect has four layers, for a total of 16 layers that users can view.
Interior Health says the maps, created by its Healthy Communities program, focus on four climate-related hazards commonly encountered in British Columbia.
“Recent events have demonstrated the importance of planning and preparing for natural disasters associated with climate change,” said IH President and CEO Susan Brown.
“These new community health and climate change maps will support the safety and well-being of people living in the region and we encourage everyone to take the opportunity now to plan for the effects of climate change.”
Interior Health says the maps project the risk and probability of weather events in the interior.
“The maps will not only help with urban planning, but can also effectively define resource allocation during natural disasters,” Interior Health said.
Similar maps were also created for Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Valley Health.
“The maps show the communities most vulnerable to different climate hazards and allow us to focus our efforts and work together to plan and prepare,” said Interior Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sue Pollock.
“For example, the maps show communities that may be most affected by heat; this information helps us identify appropriate actions communities can take to keep people healthy and safe.
The maps are available on Interior Health’s Community Health and Climate Change website.
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