![]() ![]() Inland along the Fraser River delta, due to high humidity, climatologists said it felt like 111 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday. Vancouver on the Pacific coast has for several days recorded temperatures above 86 degrees Fahrenheit (or almost 20 degrees above seasonal norms). Temperatures in the US Pacific Northwest cities of Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington reached levels not seen since record-keeping began in the 1940s: 115 degrees Fahrenheit in Portland and 108 in Seattle Monday, according to the National Weather Service. Globally, the decade to 2019 was the hottest recorded, and the five hottest years have all occurred within the last five years. It is primarily climate change that is causing this record-setting temperatures to become more frequent. How have we contributed to this? What does the future hold? However, chances of this happening sooner are high due to artificial heating of the environment due to man-made reasons. Under normal circumstances, statisticians say, this phenomenon would occur a once-in-a-1,000-years. Why is it referred to as ‘once-in-a-millennium? Will it not occur for another 1000 years? ![]() In addition, winds are moving downslope from the mountains downward into cities like Seattle and Portland that downward motion causes heating as well.Įxperts opine that the high temperatures should ease within this week. This compresses the air on the ground and through compression it heats the air column. How is this causing high temperatures?Īreas of high pressure, like heat domes, have sinking air. It is acting as a block in the atmosphere, not allowing the weather to move. In this case, a ridge of high pressure, which is the heat dome, has become lodged in the Pacific Northwest. When the jet stream - a band of strong wind in the upper levels of the atmosphere - becomes very wavy and elongated, pressure systems can pinch off and become stalled or stuck in places they typically would not be. What exactly is a heat dome?Īccording to a report by CBC, a heat dome is a essentially a mountain of warm air built into a very wavy jet stream, with extreme undulations. What is causing this unprecedented spike in temperature?Įxperts suggest that besides years of man-made climatic erosions in the ecological balance, there is a once-in-a-millennium heat dome behind the weather phenomenon. “Vancouver has never experienced heat like this, and sadly dozens of people are dying because of it," police sergeant Steve Addison told AFP. The deaths came as Canada set a new all-time high temperature record for a third day in a row Tuesday, reaching 121 degrees Fahrenheit (49.5 degrees Celsius) in Lytton, British Columbia, about 155 miles (250 kilometers) east of Vancouver, the country’s weather service, Environment Canada, reported. The Vancouver Police Department alone said it had responded to more than 65 sudden deaths since Friday, with the vast majority “related to the heat." As Canada bakes in an unprecedented hot spell, here’s how the condition developed and how long it will last: How did more than 130 people suddenly die? At least 134 people have died suddenly since Friday in Canada’s Vancouver area, according to figures released by the city police department and the Royal Canadian Mounted police. ![]()
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