Dozens are dead in Canada amid an unprecedented heatwave that has broken temperature records.
Police in the Vancouver area have responded to more than 130 sudden deaths since Friday. Most were elderly or people with underlying diseases. According to a BBC report, the heatwave has been a determining factor in many cases.
On Tuesday, Canada recorded the highest temperature in its history for the third consecutive day – 49.5 degrees Celsius – in Leighton, British Columbia.
Before this week the temperatures in the country had never exceeded 45 degrees Celsius. The heat wave is due to a high-pressure “canopy” hovering over the northwestern United States and Canada.
The heat is thought to be the culprit in the deaths of 65 people in Vancouver City, according to police. The Burnaby suburb, meanwhile, reported at least 34 sudden deaths, while the Surrey reported 38.
Police say Vancouver has never experienced such heat, and dozens of people are dying because of it.
Many homes in British Columbia do not have air conditioning, as temperatures are usually much milder during the summer months.
The Canadian Environment Agency has issued warnings for British Columbia and Alberta, as well as areas of Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories and Manitoba.
“We are the second coldest country in the world, and the one with the most snow,” said David Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment Canada. “We often see waves of cold and snowstorms, but we do not often talk about hot weather like this; Dubai would be colder than what we see now.”
Experts say climate change is expected to increase the frequency of extreme weather events, such as heat waves. However, linking any single event to global warming is complex.
In the United States on Monday temperatures reached 46.1 degrees Celsius in Portland, Oregon and 42.2 in Seattle – the highest levels since records began in the 1940s. Twelve deaths in Washington and Oregon may be linked in the heat.
Also, the heat was so intense that it caused the cables to melt, resulting in the shutdown of the Portland Streetcar Service on Sunday.
