Laval becoming hotter and hotter, despite the snow

The Sainte-Dorothée and Duvernay Megacentres, the Chomedey Industrial Park, Carrefour Laval, Centre Laval and the Cosmodome-Colossus-Centropolis recreation/amusement area, to name just a few, are all hot spots in Laval.

This is not a compliment. These places of intense consumerism and recreational and economic activity popped up red on a Laval map of hot spots published recently in Montreal.

This satellite imaging is a rather modest element in a vast study initiated by the <@Ri> CRE (Conseil regional de l’environnement de Laval – Regional Environment Council of Laval) <@$P> on the evolution from 1985 to 2005 of the green cover and hot spots within the Greater Montreal Metropolitan Area (CMM).

By definition, these hot spots are areas where in summer the mercury jumps 5 to 10 degrees Celsius higher than in neighbouring locations. For residents in good health, living near these hot spots generates discomfort during heat waves. For people of more fragile health such as those suffering from pulmonary or cardiovascular complications for example, or for infants and the elderly, the oppressive heat can quickly result in a visit to the Emergency Room, cautions Norman King, epidemiologist at the Montreal Public Health Administration.

Mr. King joined 20 other environmental experts at a recent Montreal conference looking into the green cover, greening strategies and the fight against urban hot spots. The gathering was jointly sponsored by the Regional Environment Councils (CRE) of Montreal and of Laval.

The results of the work undertaken by researchers at the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM), the Institut de recherche en biologie végétale (Plant Biology Research Institute) and the University of Montreal, are available on DVD containing the equivalent of 700 pages of maps, pictures, text, and diagrams.

The most shocking conclusion: the loss of 18% - the equivalent of 319 hectares or 575 American football fields – of wooded areas in the Greater Montreal Metropolitan Region just in the period from 1998 to 2005.

At this rate, the prediction made in 2001 by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, that the green cover of the metropolitan region would disappear by 2029, is on schedule, noted Guy Garand at a recent press conference.

For the directors of CRE Laval and CRE Montreal, to stop the warming generated by development, it's a must for municipalities to adopt models of management that lend themselves to protection of vegetation.

“We’re not here to yell ‘stop’ to all development,” specified André Porlier, director of CRE de Montréal. There are ways and means of development without having to destroy everything.”

"With less than 1% of Laval’s natural spaces protected by law, we have to conserve what’s left," insits CRE de Laval director Guy Garand.

Will the results of the study eventually find their way into the 'tool box' used for urban planning and development in Laval?

City hall reserves comment for the moment, with officials stating that it will require a few weeks to examine the report and evaluate its conclusions. The city says it will respond in due time.