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The “very long and prolonged” heat wave raises concerns for the elderly, the homeless and other particularly vulnerable people.
Authorities in the western United States and Canada have warned residents to take action as a historic heat wave hit Saturday, prompting temperatures to rise and prompting local officials to open emergency cooling centers.
All states in Washington and Oregon in the U.S. and all parts of Idaho, Wyoming and California were under a warning of excessive heat, as temperatures will rise dramatically over the weekend and next week, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.
“This event will be one of the most extreme and longest heat waves in inland northwestern history,” the NWS said.
Across the region, dozens of high temperatures are expected to be set every day, with services at risk of falling monthly as well as permanent records, the service said.
Some affected areas are usually accustomed to warm weather – and many residents do not have air conditioning, which has raised concerns about the safety of the elderly, the homeless and other people who are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat.
Before the hot weather began to rot the vines the berry farmers struggled and the fishery managers were working to keep the endangered salmon sockeye safe from the stagnant waters of the river.
Shops that sell air conditioning and portable fans, some hospitals have shut down outdoor vaccination clinics, cities have opened cooling centers, baseball teams have suspended or raised weekend games, and electrical services useful for power outages.
Officials in Oregon’s Multnomah County were asking for volunteers to help with cooling centers, and Portland General Electric announced over the weekend that about 120 crews were working to respond to any disruptions, though public service said it did not anticipate service interruptions.
In Seattle, Washington, local neighbor James Bryant took to the air in anticipation of the extreme heat. Most homes in the city do not have air conditioning. “My house is already hot, so with the heat for the next few days – I have kids, I need to make sure they don’t get too hot,” Bryant said.
“Pulverizing” records
To the north of the border, also the Canadian government extended a warm warning for the western provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, as well as the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
“I like to break the record, but it’s like breaking and crushing,” said Environment Canada chief climatologist David Phillips. tell local news CTV News. “It’s warmer in some parts of western Canada than in Dubai.”
After the heat wave showed official data earlier this month, 88 percent of the western United States the climate change was in a state of worsening drought. The lakes have historically been at a low level and limits have been placed on water use throughout the region.
WA expects a heat record next week. We are increasing the capacity of many cooling centers by removing restrictions on the number of people who may be in these locations. This is a way to temporarily correct the effects of heat wave health.https://t.co/R2L9sKpKPv
– Governor Jay Inslee (@GovInslee) June 25, 2021
Experts told Al Jazeera that the drought caused by climate change is drying up the reservoirs and is also contributing to the start of the fire season.
“The southwestern United States is in a similar drought or long megadrought that we haven’t seen on the observation record in recent millennia.” said John Abatzoglou, Associate professor of climate and weather at the University of California.
Kristie Ebi, a professor at the University of Washington who studies global warming and its effects on public health, said the extended “heat dome” is a taste of the future in the Pacific Northwest as climate change shapes global weather patterns.
“Based on evidence from around the world, we know that climate change is increasing the frequency, intensity and duration of heat waves. We will have to get used to that in the future,” he told the Associated Press.
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