A historic heat wave in western Canada is believed to have led to a sharp spike of deaths in British Columbia, with the toll anticipated to climb additional.
The 486 sudden deaths are almost triple the 165 that would typically take place in the province more than a 5-day period, according to the B.C. Coroners Service. The quantity is preliminary and is anticipated to rise as more records are entered into the technique.
“It is believed likely that the significant increase in deaths reported is attributable to the extreme weather B.C. has experienced and continues to impact many parts of our province,” Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe stated in a statement.
A new Canadian record was set this week in Lytton, British Columbia, exactly where the temperature reached 121 degrees Fahrenheit (49.5 degrees Celsius). The heat has stunned residents in a area accustomed to climate so cool and chilly at this time of the year that June is typically referred to as “Juneuary.”
In Vancouver, the province’s most significant city, residents have fled properties without having air conditioning for downtown hotels, queuing for hours in extended lines to verify in. Air conditioners sold out in shops and on the internet, and second-hand transportable units, which generally retail new for quite a few hundred dollars, have been listed for as significantly as C$2,000 ($1,613). Peak energy demand beat all-time highs by more than 600 megawatts, roughly equivalent to the capacity of some coal energy plants.
Temperatures have been soaring some 25 degrees Celsius above typical for this time of the year — a deviation as anomalous as obtaining an ice-forming freeze in late June, according to Tyler Hamilton, a Toronto-based meteorologist for The Weather Network.
Calls to 911 in the province have broken records and emergency responders are getting stretched thin, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth stated at a news conference Wednesday.
“With the reality of climate change, we can’t ignore the possibility of this kind of event happening again in the future,” Farnworth stated.
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