‘THERE IS NO TIME TO LOSE'

Record-breaking temperatures in Canada are a warning that governments need to take urgent action to address climate-change

IT’S the kind of place that conjures up images of soft, snowy landscapes and fur-lined winter coats that can keep even the most sensitive among us warm. Canada is certainly not the kind of place that makes you think of off the-charts soaring temperatures nor out-of-control fires that wipe out entire villages.

Yet the dramatic scenes from the North American country showed this is very much the reality there right now. Temperatures soared to almost 50°C in parts of the country and more than 180 wildfires have spread through the province of British Columbia (BC).

One village, Lytton, was practically burnt down, with 250 residents affected and more than 90% of their homes destroyed. And at the time of going to print, various reports put heat-related deaths in BC between 130 and 230 people.

The record temperatures in a country that usually records maximums of between 24°C and 28°C can squarely be blamed on one thing, says Simon Lewis, professor of global change science at University College London and the University of Leeds, England: climate change.

“Amid temperatures more typically found in the Sahara Desert, dozens have died of heat stress, with roads buckling and power cables melting,” Lewis says. And it’s not the only indication of a world in trouble, he warns.

Another heatwave earlier in June saw five Middle Eastern countries top 50°C. The extreme heat reached Pakistan, where 20 children in one class were reported to have fallen unconscious and needed hospital treatment for heat stress. They all survived.

Additional warming from greenhousegas emissions mean that such extreme heatwaves are more likely, Lewis says.