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TThe recent heat wave that rocked the U.S. Pacific Northwest not only erased temperature records in cities like Seattle and Portland – it also set fire to a heartwarming bromide that the region would be a gentle, safe haven. against the ravages of the climate crisis.
Unprecedented temperatures baked the region three weeks ago, as part of a procession of heat waves that hit the parched western United States, from Montana to southern California, over the past month . A “heat dome” that settled over the region took Seattle to 108F (42.2C), smashing the previous record of 3F (1.7C), while Portland, Oregon, hit its peak. own record of 116F (46.7C). Some interior areas have managed to reach 118F (47.8C).
Conditions in a corner of the United States known for its moderate, often lukewarm summers, baffled residents.
The roads have cracked and twisted in the heat, electric cables have melted, restaurants have closed their doors. Hospitals suddenly found themselves overwhelmed, with several hundred people dying in the heat. A little north, off the coast of Vancouver, an estimated 1 billion sea creatures perished, in the form of helpless mussels and clams cooked in their own shells.
“We saw the forecast and it was hard to believe because we don’t really have heatwaves like this. In Seattle, the weather is usually so overcast in June that we call it June, ”said Kristie Ebi, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington who knew the heatwave was severe when she woke up at 6 a.m. with a temperature already of 80 ° F. “You see the heat waves hitting other places and you know it’s bad, but there is no sense of urgency until they hit you. knock. “
An old joke in Seattle is that you’ll know more people with a boat than people with air conditioning, and the latest figures show that only 44% of the city’s households have air conditioning. The Pacific Northwest’s image as a place of rugged natural beauty, comfortable climates, and forward-thinking politics helped attract many newcomers – Seattle was America’s largest growing city. faster last year – but the frightening heat wave provided a sobering reality check of its flourishing refuge status.
“There are a lot of people who leave California with the idea that there are a lot of natural amenities and a lot of cheap space, but all of those factors are changing,” said Jesse Keenan, climate adaptation expert at Tulane University. “It’s getting less and less affordable and more and more burdened by forest fires, terrible smoke, flash floods and those heat waves that suddenly make things a matter of life and death. “
The Pacific Northwest has warmed by an average of 2 ° F (1.1 ° C) over the past century, with increasing forest fires, failing inshore fishing, a shrinking snowpack and increasing heat wreaking havoc in a region historically unprepared for such extremes. The recent heat wave would have been “virtually impossible” without the human-induced degradation of the climate, the scientists said.
Communities in the Northwest face a “monumental task” to adapt to this changing reality, Keenan said, requiring homes, businesses and public buildings to be upgraded with proper cooling, increasing shade with more tree cover, making urban surfaces more reflective for heat and retooling of an ill-equipped electrical network for huge surges in summer.
“There is a very rapid climate change going on and at the moment they are not well prepared for the extreme heat,” Keenan said. “People are finally feeling the pain of this. “
Oregon was supposed to be a safe haven for Steven Mana’oakamai Johnson, who moved to the state in 2017 after seeing his home in Saipan, part of the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean, threatened by typhoons made more and more powerful by the warming of the ocean. and atmosphere.
But when the heatwave hit, Johnson, his partner and their dog had to flee their apartment in Corvallis, which has no air conditioning, to stay on the Oregon coast in an attempt to cool off. The rising heat, which followed the wildfires that raged nearby last year, forced Johnson to revise his previous assumptions.
“I always thought it was a comfortable place, that it could even be a host country for climate migrants,” said Johnson, a biologist. “But there was this big awakening that things are moving faster than expected. It was shocking how hot it was and how long it took to cool down.
Several of Johnson’s friends are among the many people who are now inundating local contractors with requests to install air conditioning.
“In just a few days you have seen this big change in the way people think about adjusting,” he said. “It changed my view of Oregon. I’ve been hammered home that climate change is inescapable – no matter where you are or when you go, you have to think about it. Nowhere is safe, nowhere is really a refuge.
The math for some people is even more existential. A few hundred miles north of Seattle, the small Canadian town of Lytton was almost completely consumed by a rapid wildfire on June 30, the day after it set a new national temperature record of 121F (49, 6C), a huge leap from the previous record and higher than any temperature ever measured in Europe or South America.
Lytton is located in an interior area more arid than the windier coast of British Columbia and therefore often experiences scorching heat in the summer, although nothing comes close to the incredible extremes endured this year. It forces some to think about their presence in what is supposed to be a safe corner of the world.
“I firmly believe that there will be more and more fires until there are no more trees here,” said Jim Ryan, a computer programmer who lives in Spence’s Bridge, a small town near Lytton for 30 years. “Even if I don’t burn myself, do I want to spend every summer living in smoke, in a more polluted place than in the big cities? “
Ashes are still falling around Ryan’s house and in the most recent summers a nearby wildfire has suffocated his town, leaving his clothes smelling of smoke. “There have always been fires before, but never so big, they have never taken off so fast,” he said.
“For me, it’s climate change in action. I don’t really want to move but I don’t want to live here and shorten my life either. It is something that we struggle with. The question, however, is: where would we go?
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