Gradual increase in temperature has been a matter of concern for many countries in the last decades. Due to many reasons and causes, the pollution levels of the earth have increased a lot, resulting in sudden and unprecedented climate changes and natural disasters. In the past few years, the world has seen Australian Bushfires, Sea storms like Amphan in India, and much more. In every continent, natural disasters are occurring rapidly, and all are born from the change in climate and lead to worsening conditions. People are getting homeless, thriving, resources getting scarce, endangered wildlife, and many people lost their lives. All this due to the series of unfortunate events resulting from climate change.
Record Smashing Heat in CANADA
A recent matter of concern is the sudden and unpredicted heat wave in the western parts of Canada. A country well known for its cold climate and snowfall is facing a groundbreaking outrage of temperature. The last week of June 2021 has been the hottest in the history of Canada. On 27 June 2021, Canada broke a national record for the highest temperature in the region of Vancouver when the temperature crossed 115.9° F.
Miserable experiences reported by people who have never suffered such heat trapped to stay indoors and rush to the Air-conditioned facilities to save their lives. The sweater weather country was sweating in that heatwave on Sunday, but that was not enough. The temperature kept increasing in the next couple of days. On 29 June 2021, Lytton, a small town of British Columbia province, recorded the highest ever temperature in Canada. The temperature on Tuesday broke the record of previous days and set a new record of when temperature crossed 49.6°C or 121.28°F. Even in the frozen zones of Northern Canada, the highest temperature of the region recorded to be was 30°C.
As per the Royal Meteorological Society, Canada is warming twice as fast as any other region globally, which is a severe issue to handle. Almost 500 deaths have been reported till now in British Columbia due to the extensive heat. The dry weather is also creating a fear of wildfire.
Why is it being SO HOT?
Scientifically the reason for this increase has been a ‘HEAT DOME.’ A heat dome is an extensive and rigid high-pressure hot air grid that can entrap atmospheric heat in it. It is a very slow-moving heat cloud in the upper atmosphere. This kind of heat trap is the pattern from Southwest of the USA but never occurred in Canada before. In this condition, the atmospheric pressure decreases, and hot gases rise, entrapping the heat within this dome, causing a fatal increase in temperature. Heat, drought, poor air quality, floods, and wildfires are also possible, worsening climate change.
The Death Cases
The BBC recorded a police sergeant, Steve Addison, who said that He had never experienced a situation like this in his 15 years of career when he got such a volume of deaths in such a short period. 3-4 calls a day were expected, according to him. The death count had crossed 700 till now. In British Columbia, many people visiting their relatives ‘found them deceased’ in their homes. Most of the deceased were aged and ill.
The Fire Cases
Mayor Jan Polderman told CBC News, “It’s dire. The whole town is on fire. “It took, like, a whole 15 minutes from the first sign of smoke to, all of a sudden, there being fire everywhere.”
The whole town of Lytton, B.C. in Canada was engulfed in raging flames of wildfire in minutes on the night of Wednesday, 30 June. The condition was out of control, and the town’s mayor had to order the town’s evacuation. It was the same town that recorded the three consecutive hottest days in Canadian history.
Conditions and Public Response
Due to the mild hot temperature in Canada, most of the houses do not have air conditioning. This means they do not have any solid redressal for the ongoing.
Hot days and nights. A resident reported that Hotels had sold out; People are rushing to the hotels for the air conditioning. They have never seen anything like this before. The government has issued heat warnings for British Columbia, Alberta, and some other northwestern territories. People are staying indoors as much as possible. Amazon on Monday turned its Portland, Canada headquarters and Seattle, USA headquarters into cooling centres and let the locals in for relief.
How to be Safe
People need to stay safe in such conditions. What people can do is:
- Stay inside
- Stay inside and in the shade as much as you can.
- Avoid going in direct sunlight.
- Keep the pets indoors too.
- Stay calm
In this situation, the government urged all the residents to stay calm mentally and keep themselves and their surroundings cool by using air conditioning or other methods like fans, cooling gel, ice packs, cold showers, etc. Avoid exercise as it can raise body temperature, and heatstroke can settle in.
- Hydration
Keep yourself hydrated. No thirst doesn’t mean you are not dehydrating. Give rehydration solutions to kids and elders. Eat food with high water contents and light meals which are easy to digest.
- Check for symptoms
Keep a check on heatstroke and dehydration symptoms like feeling hot and dry, stopping sweat, skin irritation, and faintness.
Conclusion
A sudden change in the weather of a cold country is surprising for the whole world. The country has never experienced such conditions in history. People urged to take care of the elders and kids. Difficult Time and we have to get through this. Keep calm and try to help others.
2 comments
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