Montreal

Montreal was the very first city we investigated concerning Urban Heat Islands development. Our team, represented by PhD Yves Baudouin, from the Department of Geography of Université de Québec à Montréal has been discovering important facts and researching on this topic for more than 5 years.

Source: NASA World Wind, 2007

Our main challenge has been to prove that the urban sprawl has been spoiling the standard way of life for Montrealers. In Montreal, the lost of urban vegetation is a daily matter. Every day, we lose some green areas and the worst is that most of our communities are doing nothing about this problem. How are the neighbours organizations struggling against this issue?

Huge parking lot at Boulevard Angrignon, Montreal. Source : Google Earth, 2008

Philippe Martin, from Marseille, France studied heat island in Montreal very deeply. He took into account many environmental approaches, and we are waiting for his master piece: his master document about Montreal.

The following short documentary made by Philippe himself shows why urban heat islands are an important concern in Montreal. In his own words : "I've been living in Montreal for the last 5 years and I realized that urban heat islands must be considered by all of us" :

The next image shows Montreal urban heats islands (July 10, 1984):

Source : Perez C., 2008

The next image shows Montreal urban heats islands (July 15, 2003). Temperatures are increasing every year and this is not only for global warming; we are working for it! All new peripheries are consuming old green areas.

Source : Perez C., 2008

The evolution of heat islands between 1984 and 2003 was the least significant among the biggest CMA in Canada.