Heat deaths in Canada and the United States now exceed half a thousand

The historic heatwave that ravages the Pacific Northwest continues to claim victims. Hundreds of deaths in Canada, Oregon and Washington state may have been caused by extreme temperatures in recent days, which have far exceeded heat peaks seen so far in cities with generally temperate climates and where many homes lack air conditioners. A phenomenon that experts directly associate with man-made climate change and warn that it will continue.

The state of Oregon yesterday reported that more than 60 deaths in the past week were linked to the heat. From Canada, British Columbia Coroner Lisa Lapointe said they had received reports of at least 486 “sudden and unexpected deaths” between last Friday and yesterday. Authorities in Washington state have linked about 20 deaths to the heat wave, but believe the number could be higher.

Although temperatures dropped significantly yesterday in the worst-affected points so far, Canadian weather officials have issued warnings for southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. Alerts were also issued for parts of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.

The remote town of Lytton, which this week recorded the highest temperature in Canadian history – 49.5 degrees Celsius – has been evacuated due to a blaze that has spread at full speed. “The whole town is on fire,” Mayor Jan Polderman said.

We are warming the climate and it should not surprise us to see repeated records of oppressive heat ”, explained the French-Canadian researcher of the Royal Society, expert in climate change Corinne Le Quéré, consulted by La Vanguardia. “These records will occur whenever there is a combination of climatic conditions that favor a warm climate and the underlying trend of climate change. As long as global emissions do not drop to almost zero, these extreme and unusual events will continue to appear, ”he warned.

“If the world does not rapidly eliminate the use of fossil fuels and other sources of greenhouse gas emissions such as deforestation, global temperatures will continue to rise and deadly heat waves like these will continue to rise. these will become even more common, ”added Friederike Otto, Associate Director. from the Institute for Environmental Change at the University of Oxford.

Source: La Vanguardia