SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A southern researcher presented findings this week that may not come as a surprise to Northerners - heat-related deaths are not very likely here nor in the future due to climate change.

The presentations were part of the International Congress on Circumpolar Health taking place in Yellowknife July 11 to 16.

Dr. Tom Kosatsky, an epidemiologist with McGill University in Montreal, presented his findings on heat-related deaths. He compared increases in the mortality rate in various parts of the world due to high temperatures in those areas, with rates in the North.

"There really is little evidence using a 25-year temperature/mortality record" of an increase in deaths due to temperature increases in the North, said Kosatsky. In countries such as Italy and Greece, however, or even Vancouver, once the average temperature reaches a certain point - 18 C in Vancouver - mortality rates start to climb.

"As we move North, the threshold goes down," said Kosatsky, meaning the temperature threshold where mortality rates begin to climb should be lower the further North one goes because people there are less tolerant of high temperatures.

But Kosatsky said that doesn't seem to be the case in the NWT and Yukon - Nunavut was not studied - because residents here don't experience a lot of drastic temperature increases. He speculated that outdoor lifestyles during the summer may also lessen the effect of temperature increases on mortality, as heat is trapped indoors, especially where windows are small and walls are thick, Kosatsky said.

"The gradual warming presents a minimal threat of warm-day death in Whitehorse and Yellowknife," said Kosatsky, though he said afterwards that, "If the climate tips, or changes radically, all bets are off."

After Kosatsky, Dr. Kue Young with the University of Toronto, presented his research on whether colder weather in an already cold environment affects the health of Northerners.

Part of Young's studies compared infant mortality rates to drops in temperature in the month of January in more than 27 circumpolar regions.

He found that when the temperature dipped, infant mortality went up, and when the temperature increased, infant mortality rates went down.

Speakers for four other scheduled presentations on climate change health impacts were absent.