{"id":5303,"date":"2009-07-09T12:30:48","date_gmt":"2009-07-09T16:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=5303"},"modified":"2013-01-21T15:22:44","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T20:22:44","slug":"throwback-thursday-beating-the-heat-during-torontos-greatest-heat-wave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2009\/07\/09\/throwback-thursday-beating-the-heat-during-torontos-greatest-heat-wave\/","title":{"rendered":"Throwback Thursday: Beating the heat during Toronto’s greatest heat wave"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

Every Thursday, Spacing will bring you a snapshot of Toronto’s past, looking into what took place that day in the city’s history. Throwback Thursday will address how the city has evolved, with an emphasis on issues that remain relevant for development in Toronto today.<\/em><\/p>\n

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –<\/p>\n

So far this summer’s weather has been nothing to brag about.\u00a0 Not like in 1936 when on this day, Toronto was in the midst of its greatest heat wave ever.\u00a0 An estimated 40,000 Torontonians flocked to the lakeside to escape another record-breaking day of 40 degrees Celsius (not including the humidex, which was invented in 1979).<\/p>\n

“From the Humber on the west side, through Sunnyside Beach, Exhibition Park, Simcoe Park Beach, clear through to Kew Beach, Beaches Park and Balmy Beach, a sightseer could have found thousands of men, women and children barefoot and scantily clothed,” wrote the Toronto Daily Star that afternoon.<\/p>\n

Sidewalks buckled and steel rail lines twisted as surface temperatures reached 65C, enough to bake fruit as hung from trees.\u00a0 Thousands spent the night sleeping on the grass in front of Exhibition Park to escape the stuffy heat of their homes, some bringing blankets, mattresses, pajamas and alarm clocks with them.\u00a0 Others avoided sleeping altogether, with younger adults and kids building bonfires on the beach, swimming, listening to their portable radios or playing guitar.\u00a0 For several nights, cops ignored the old by-law still in place at the time forbidding people from city parks by 10pm.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Not all Torontonians were enjoying the heat, however.\u00a0 The deaths of over 225 people<\/a> – mostly seniors and young children – can be either directly or indirectly attributed to Toronto’s week long heat wave, with causes ranging from heat stroke to drowning.\u00a0 A ban was also imposed on watering lawns that day as the City of Toronto took on the added strain of providing water for the 38,000 residents of East York after Scarborough, East York’s water provider, had to cut them off due to insufficient capacity.<\/p>\n

With the average Torontonian today using 253 litres every day<\/a>, the city’s urban heat islands growing at a rate of 3% every year and climate change continuing to wreak havoc on our environment, increasingly hot urban temperatures may be one of the most pressing concerns facing cities.\u00a0 Luckily, as was made painfully obvious in 1936, “Toronto is a city dominated by water,” providing limitless opportunities to beat the heat that don’t involve blasting air conditioners or endless shower sessions.<\/p>\n

With the Islands harder to reach and City-operated pools closed due to the strike, what lesser known city spots are you heading to this summer for relief?<\/p>\n

Photos by Bobcatnorth<\/a> and Gerry Chu<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every Thursday, Spacing will bring you a snapshot of Toronto’s past, looking into what took place that day in the city’s history. Throwback Thursday will address how the city has evolved, with an emphasis on issues that remain relevant for development in Toronto today. – – – – – – – – – – –Continue reading “Throwback Thursday: Beating the heat during Toronto’s greatest heat wave”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4071,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21759],"tags":[12691,12692,12687,12693,12690,593,89,12689,12688,1689,98,19,496],"class_list":["post-5303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","tag-balmy-beach","tag-bobcatnorth-chu","tag-by-law-still","tag-gerry-chu","tag-kew-beach","tag-location","tag-scarborough","tag-simcoe-park-beach","tag-steel-rail-lines","tag-sunnyside-beach","tag-throwback-thursdays","tag-toronto","tag-york"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThrowback Thursday: Beating the heat during Toronto's greatest heat wave - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2009\/07\/09\/throwback-thursday-beating-the-heat-during-torontos-greatest-heat-wave\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Throwback Thursday: Beating the heat during Toronto's greatest heat wave - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Every Thursday, Spacing will bring you a snapshot of Toronto’s past, looking into what took place that day in the city’s history. 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