World
Canada Heat Wave Scientists say extreme heat wave in West Canada to become common in future due to climate change
Vancouver, July 1: The unprecedented heat wave in Western Canada would become more common with climate change, scientists predict.
Known for its mild, sunny forecasts, people of British Columbia (B.C.) have endured extreme punishing weather events during three of the past five summers.
Canada's all-time weather record over three consecutive days was shattered when the village of Lytton in B.C.'s Interior surpassed 49 C on Tuesday.
Temperatures recorded in the B.C.s Fraser Valley were in the mid 40s.
As this week's historic heat wave with punishing temperatures on the Pacific Northwest moves eastward to Alberta, the realities of climate change and global warming become more evident, say some scientists.
"As a climate scientist, we expect to see more extreme heat waves going forward into the future because we're adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. But this is even beyond my expectations. To have a heat wave last this long and be this hot in Canada is completely unprecedented in history," said Simon Donner, a professor of climatology at the University of British Columbia, CBC News reported.
According to the World Meteorological Organization since industrialization, there has been an increase of the global temperature by 1.2 C.
Canada is warming twice as fast, a 2019 report commissioned by Environment and Climate Change Canada found, with the highest rates occurring in the North, the Prairies and northern British Columbia.
Temperatures in the Arctic are increasing three times the global rate.
