01/07/2021

(ABC / AFP) Hundreds Dead As Record-Breaking Heat Wave Hits Canada And United States

ABC News - AFP

Canada is reporting record-breaking temperatures thanks to a high-pressure ridge trapping warm air in the region. (Reuters: Jennifer Gauthier)

Key Points
  • Record highs of 49.5C are attributed to climate change 
  • 233 deaths have been reported between Friday and Monday in British Columbia
  • Schools and COVID-19 vaccination centres have been forced to close 
Scores of deaths in Canada's Vancouver area and large wildfires are likely linked to a gruelling heat wave, authorities said Tuesday, as the country recorded its highest-ever temperature amid scorching conditions that extended to the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.

The Vancouver Police Department alone said it had responded to more than 65 sudden deaths since Friday, with the vast majority "related to the heat."

The chief coroner for the province of British Columbia, which includes Vancouver, said that it had "experienced a significant increase in deaths reported where it is suspected that extreme heat has been contributory."

The service said in a statement it recorded 233 deaths in the wider British Columbia area between Friday and Monday, compared with 130 on average.

The deaths came as Canada set a new all-time high temperature record for a third day in a row Tuesday, reaching 49.5 degrees Celsius in Lytton, British Columbia, about 250 kilometres east of Vancouver, the country's weather service, Environment Canada, reported.

Climate change is causing record-setting temperatures to become more frequent.

Globally, the decade to 2019 was the hottest recorded, and the five hottest years have all occurred within the last five years.

The scorching heat stretching from the US state of Oregon to Canada's Arctic territories has been blamed on a high-pressure ridge trapping warm air in the region.

Temperatures in the US Pacific Northwest cities of Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington reached levels not seen since record-keeping began in the 1940s.

Homes are being evacuated due to wildfires

Smoke billows during the Sparks Lake wildfire at Thompson-Nicola Regional District, British Columbia, Canada. (Supplied: BC Wildfire Service)

The extreme heat, combined with intense drought, also created the perfect conditions for several fires to break out.

Evacuation orders were issued in British Columbia's Thompson-Nicola region amid wildfires spanning 750 hectares.

Another wildfire at McKay Creek region spanned 3,700 hectares. 

The British Columbia Wildfire Service tweeted images and attributed the fire to the hot, dry weather.

Another blaze on the California-Oregon border burned some 600 hectares by Monday morning.

'Hottest week ever'

"We are in the midst of the hottest week British Columbians have ever experienced, and there are consequences to that, disastrous consequences for families and for communities," British Columbia Premier John Horgan told a news conference.

The heat wave has forced schools and COVID-19 vaccination centres to close in the Vancouver area, while officials set up temporary water fountains and misting stations on street corners.

Stores quickly sold out of portable air-conditioners and fans, so several people without cooling at home told AFP they hunkered down in their air-conditioned cars or underground parking garages at night.

Cities across the western United States and Canada opened emergency cooling centres and outreach workers handed out bottles of water and hats.

The Salvation Army has been handing out bottled water. (Reuters: Karen Ducey)

In Oregon, organisers were forced to adjust the final day of the US Olympic track and field trials, moving afternoon events to the evening.

"Dubai would be cooler than what we're seeing now," David Phillips, a senior climatologist for Environment Canada, told AFP on Monday.

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