News

As climate emergencies intensify, the health needs of pregnant and postpartum individuals and young children remain an overlooked consideration in emergency planning. A new policy brief from the Waterloo Climate Institute, led by Kyla Wright and Prof. Hannah Neufeld, highlights how climate hazards and structural discrimination intersect to create disproportionate health risks for Indigenous Peoples, racialized communities and gender-diverse individuals. 

Climate resilience is often discussed through plans, targets and technologies. On October 3^rd, the Waterloo Climate Institute hosted the Climate Resilient Building Tour in downtown Kitchener to explore what climate resilience looks like on the ground. The event brought together students from Architecture, Engineering, Planning and Environmental Studies and included a tour of four different Kitchener sites: Reep House, Making Home at The Working Centre, Cowan Recreation Centre, and the Southwest Branch Library.

A new policy brief from the Waterloo Climate Institute, led by Lowine Hill and Prof. Simron Singh, stresses the need to approach climate-related risks in Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) through a risk governance lens that recognises the interconnected nature of social, ecological and economic systems.

A new technical brief from the Waterloo Climate Institute led by Luna Khirfan is showcasing lessons from Seoul’s Cheonggyecheon and Zürich’s Bachkonzept to explore the potential urban stream daylighting – the practice of uncovering culverted streams and restoring them to the surface – as a nature-based solution.

University of Waterloo researchers are turning years of climate risk and adaptation research into real-world solutions with the launch of ULYSSES Climate Intelligence. The AI enabled platform is designed to help organizations better anticipate climate risks, strengthen supply chains and make more informed decisions.

A new series of policy briefs led by the Just Transitions Collective highlights a new approach to strengthening community-policy relationships, drawing on the experiences of communities in Phoenix, Bogotá and Toronto.

New research led by the University of Waterloo Climate Institute is calling for urgent, equity-focused action to address public health risks from extreme heat.

Developed in partnership with Southwestern Public Health, A Policy Guide of Best Practices: Addressing Extreme Heat Through a Health Equity Lens brings together international research, Canadian case studies and regional expertise to help communities respond to one of the fastest growing climate risks. 

A new policy brief from the Waterloo Climate Institute led by Nesma Hassan and Prof. Amr ElAlfy is calling for a more consistent approach to airline sustainability reporting.

Aviation contributes significantly to climate change, and its emissions could triple by 2050 without stronger mitigation efforts. Airlines are facing growing pressure from regulators, investors, and the public to demonstrate credible sustainability performance, yet current reporting remains inconsistent and incomplete.

Researchers have created the first map of a network of subglacial lakes in the Canadian Arctic showing 33 bodies of water under glaciers.  

Using a decade of ArcticDEM satellite data of the Earth’s surface height, a team of researchers including the University of Waterloo developed a method that allowed them to track the draining and filling of active subglacial lakes in unprecedented detail.  

New modelling shows almost one in three Americans will routinely breathe air considered unhealthy for sensitive people by the year 2100 due to climate change, a sevenfold increase compared to the turn of the century. 

The international study, led by the University of Waterloo, found that about 100 million people in the United States will live in areas where average air quality during smog season is poor enough to trigger alerts advising vulnerable people to stay indoors.