Canada breaks nationwide heat record again at 49.5°C

Canada recorded the hottest temperature in the country for the third day in a row since records began. “At 4:20 pm (local time), the Lytton Meteorological Station recorded 49.5 °C,” the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change said on Twitter on Tuesday. Police and communities reported dozens of deaths related to an unprecedented heat wave in western Canada and the northwestern United States.

At least 69 people died in downtown Vancouver, including several elderly people with previous illnesses, according to the national police agency RCMP. “While it is still under investigation, heat appears to play a role in most of the deaths,” a police officer said. There were many deaths in other communities as well, but no official figures are available yet.

“British Columbia is in the midst of the hottest week ever,” John Horgan, the head of government of the province on the country’s west coast, told a news conference. He called upon people to be careful about the risk of keeping cold compresses in the refrigerator and staying in the coldest part of the house.

The environment ministry issued a warning to several provinces that “the ongoing, dangerous and historic heat wave will continue this week”.

The US cities of Portland, Oregon and Seattle in the northwest of the United States have also recorded the highest temperatures since records began in 1940. Air conditioning and fans were sold in many places. Some were looking for protection from the heat in underground garages or in their air-conditioned cars.

The phenomenon of “heat dome” is responsible for extreme heat, meaning that high pressure in the atmosphere keeps warm air in the region. According to Washington Post meteorologists, this heat dome intensity is “statistically so rare that it can only be expected on average once every few thousand years”. However, man-made climate change “made these types of extraordinary events more probable”.

AFP