28 mars 2024

The temperature is over 40°C in the USA and Canada

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"We are the second coldest country in the world and the snowiest, so we are not used to this desert heat, which is very dry," Environment Canada's chief climatologist David Phillips told AFP of the unbearable heat in the country.

Activities suspended due to rising temperatures in Canada and the US. The Olympic selection event has been postponed, the Covid-19 vaccination center closed, and residents have taken refuge in cooling centers. The cold and wet western parts of Canada and the United States experienced a historic rise in temperature caused by a heat dome on Monday 28 June.

Over 40°C

The temperature reached its highest level ever recorded in the United States and Canada since records began in 1940. It was 46.1°C on Monday afternoon at Portland airport. In Seattle, it was 41.6°C, according to information from the National Weather Service (NWS).

It was also too hot in Canada, which holds the record between the two countries. The temperature was 47.5°C in Lytton, a village north-east of Vancouver. In contrast, the highest temperature in Canada was 45°C in 1937. It is now that global warming is happening again.

Disrupted activities

Air conditioners and fans are in short supply in the region. On the one hand, cities have set up cooling centers. Covid-19 vaccination campaigns have apparently been cancelled and schools have been closed.

However, Environment Canada has warned that a prolonged, dangerous and historic heat wave will continue this week in parts of Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon, and the Northwest.

Because of the heat, the Ballard Farmers Market in Seattle had to close the shop. Sometimes it's the snow, but never the heat.

The final events of the US Olympic track and field trials were postponed on Sunday due to the heat wave.

The extreme heat combined with the intense drought in the American West has caused fires, according to reports this weekend. “Lava Fire”, on the border of Oregon and California, had already burned some 600 hectares by Monday morning. As a result, authorities were forced to evacuate some residents and close a state highway.

The heat wave is called a "heat dome". This is due to the fact that high pressure traps hot air in the region.

This "heat dome" is not expected to occur more than once every few thousand years, meteorologists said. But human-induced climate change has caused such events.

Santie

Photo Credit : RTCI