Why the need for adaptech solutions is heating up

By MaRS Staff  |  July 7, 2026

Extreme Heat Stress Is the New Normal

It’s getting hot out there—dangerously so. Temperature records are tumbling worldwide, forcing school closures, melting roads, and causing thousands of deaths. Unprecedented heat is no longer an anomaly; it is our new baseline. To survive it, we must adapt immediately.

Nicole Toole, who leads the Adaptech Accelerator at MaRS, has spent years working at the intersection of climate and health. She warns that preparing for this scorching tipping point requires moving from reactive panic to permanent, systemic resilience.

The Human Toll of Rising Temperatures

Following a temperate spring, intense heat recently engulfed major urban centers. Toronto hit $37^\circ\text{C}$ on Canada Day—feeling like $45^\circ\text{C}$ with humidity. Meanwhile, over half of Europe’s major cities endured record heat stress, and South Asia faced catastrophic conditions. In South Asia alone, extreme heat claims 200,000 lives annually—a number projected to double by 2045.

As UN Global Heat Officer Eleni Myrivili notes, extreme weather disproportionately targets the most vulnerable: the elderly, outdoor laborers, and those who cannot afford air conditioning.

Toole emphasizes another major threat: maternal health.

"In extreme heat events, you’re more likely to have a pre-term birth," Toole notes. "You’re more likely to have a complication, and there’s an increased incidence of infant mortality."

From Data to Actionable Systems

Adapting to this environment requires new technologies. While many startups focus on predictive climate models, data alone isn't enough. True resilience means integrating that data directly into essential public services.

For medical systems, climate data must inform everyday operations:

• Hospital Readiness: Forecasting spikes to ensure adequate ER and NICU staffing.
• Power Stability: Developing reliable backup energy plans for pharmacies and clinics.
• Urban Infrastructure: Building permanent cooling measures into urban design rather than relying on emergency patches.

"It’s really about being able to prevent, plan, prepare, and recover," Toole says. "So that when these extreme heat events happen, it’s not so much everyone’s panicking and rapidly putting up cooling centres. It’s, this is the new norm, we know it’s coming, we have a system in place."

Preparing for Tomorrow's Climate Threats

Our cities were built for a climate that no longer exists. Planning for the future is complex, but ignoring it is impossible. While Canada currently faces clear threats from wildfires and flooding, other risks—such as new infectious diseases—are rapidly looming.

Toole stresses that we must look ahead rather than simply reacting to current disasters:

"It’s wildfire and flooding now, but what is it going to be in five or 10 years? We need to start investing in that space now so when those threats do arrive, those solutions are mature enough to push into the ecosystem."