Cumulative environmental, community and health impacts of multiple land uses and climate change in BC and beyond

Presenter: Dr. Chris Buse is an Assistant Professor with the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University with a focus on environmental health inequities. Dr. Buse’s integrative research program has two areas of overlapping focus: the health impacts of climate change and the public health response, and the cumulative impacts of natural resource extraction on environments, communities and health. Summary: Cumulative impacts refer to overlapping and persistent legacies of environmental change on ecosystems, communities and population health over time. While once primarily within the sole purview of impact assessment practitioners assessing major projects (e.g. dams, smelters, transmission lines), there is now growing recognition that cumulative environmental impacts of multiple land uses and climate change drive broader societal changes with implications for the health of individuals and communities. In light of this expanding discourse, new methodologies are required to quantify the totality of impact across social-ecological systems to support local and regional sustainability goals. Drawing from three regional case studies (Alberta Foothills, Northern Ontario, and British Columbia), this presentation presents an overview of a novel cumulative effects screening tool capable of merging environmental, socioeconomic and health data into a singular assessment architecture to quantify cumulative impacts across time and space. Opportunities and limitations associated with the tool’s utilization will be discussed, as well as future research opportunities to help better understand the relationship between cumulative environmental change and corresponding implications for communities and human health.

Mediasite Presenter

3/7/2023 8:00:00 PM