Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Despite weather models predicting a ‘normal’ monsoon season this year in India, the much-awaited rains have so far bypassed many states, which are still reeling under a heatwave, while extremely high temperatures have claimed over 500 lives in Canada, the US, and the Pacific Northwest in the last week.
Canada, which is known for sub-zero temperatures, is experiencing its severest heatwave since 1937.
Media reported on Thursday, quoting Lisa Lapointe, British Columbia’s chief coroner, that 486 deaths had been reported there between Friday last week and Wednesday afternoon this week — a period in which about 165 deaths would normally be documented. Deaths were expected to increase, she said.
Hundreds of deaths in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon have been linked to a heat wave roasting the Pacific Northwest for days. It has also broken past Canadian heat records, sending hundreds of thousands of people scrambling for relief.
In the US, the Oregon medical examiner’s office on Wednesday attributed at least 63 deaths in five days to the punishing heat in that state, including 45 in Multnomah County, which includes Portland — where temperatures shot up to a record 116 degrees Fahrenheit (46.6 degrees Celsius).
Officials in Washington reported nearly a dozen deaths due to hyperthermia on Wednesday alone in King County, which includes Seattle. Two heat-related deaths were reported there the day before.
In Snohomish County, Washington, at least three people died this week from heatstroke, as investigations are pending into two more suspected heat-related deaths.
“This was a true health crisis that has underscored how deadly an extreme heatwave can be, especially to otherwise vulnerable people,” Dr. Jennifer Vines, the Multnomah County health officer, said in a statement.
This year a study found that 37 percent of heat-related deaths could be linked to climate change. Global warming has raised baseline temperatures by nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit on average since 1900, experts said.
“Climate change is increasing the frequency, intensity, and duration of heatwaves,” said Kristie Ebi, a professor in the Center for Health and the Global Environment at the University of Washington.
In Canada, British Columbia Premier John Horgan said “the big lesson coming out of the past number of days is that the climate crisis is not a fiction.”
The heatwave sweeping parts of Canada has come at a time when authorities are still grappling with the challenge of the Covid-19 and Canadians are just beginning to enjoy some of the pleasures of summer as restrictions ease.
On Tuesday, for the third consecutive day, British Columbia (BC) shattered its previous extreme heat record; the temperature in Lytton, a small town in the province, climbed to just over 121 degrees F (49.4 degrees C).
Such is the heat that some Vancouverites have fried eggs on their terraces. Others traded in their sweltering homes for air-conditioned hotels or moved their home offices to shady places in their gardens.
The Vancouver Police Department, which usually attends to three to four sudden deaths a day, on average, said it has responded to more than 98 such calls since Friday last week, with 53 of those on Tuesday this week. Two-thirds of the victims are ages 70 years and older.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Surrey, a municipality in metropolitan Vancouver, said it had responded to 35 sudden deaths in a 24-hour period.
The wildfire service of British Columbia was also coping with the effects of the heatwave, grappling with overheated helicopter engines, as it tried to contain severe wildfires.
One had spread over about 5,700 acres as of Tuesday night, at Sparks Lake, about five hours northeast of Vancouver.
Before this week’s record-breaking heat, the last time Canada saw the mercury rise to similar heights was on July 5, 1937, when the temperature hit 113 degrees in rural Saskatchewan.