“Like someone throwing fire in your face”: the heat wave surrounds the Pacific Northwest and Canada

When Caleb Coder helped establish an emergency shelter in the American city of Portland in February, the goal was to provide a place of refuge during what was a brutal winter storm.

Five months later, the Sunrise Center building itself is used for the exact opposite reason: as a refuge from the devastating heat wave that this week paralyzed not only the state of Oregon, but much of northwestern Oregon. Pacific and Canada.

“People were literally crawling to the Sunrise Center because it was very hot. They were vomited, burned and dehydrated, ”said Coder, who Cultivate Initiatives supports vulnerable populations in the city.

“Hundreds of people passed by because we had water stations, nebulizers and a shower truck,” as temperatures reached 47C (116.6F). “If Sunrise hadn’t been there. . . “, Finished. “He saved his life.”

The unprecedented heat wave in the typically mild region, which has caused hundreds of lives in British Columbia and dozens in Oregon and neighboring Washington state, is the latest in a growing list of extreme weather events that have affected worldwide.

Australia, California and Siberia have recently experienced deadly fires caused by extreme heat. In Death Valley, California, it reached 53.2 ° C (127.7F) last month, a record in June.

The increasing frequency of these meteorological events raises serious questions, such as whether humanity is prepared for the consequences of global warming and whether society can recalibrate viable for a warmer planet.

The United States, in particular, has suffered a wild combination of heat waves, droughts, and wildfires in recent years, putting enormous strain on its infrastructure and getting promises of action from President Joe Biden.

In Canada, British Columbia has endured record temperatures, with the city of Lytton peaking at 49.6 ° C (121.2 F) on Tuesday, the day before residents were evacuated as wildfires went on. sweeping devastated the city.

“There’s an emerging consensus that this is a kind of new normalcy,” said Dr. Jennifer Vines, head of health for the region of the three counties of Oregon. In addition to this week’s heat wave, he noted the “snow focalism” of February and last year’s wildfires that polluted the city’s air heavily.

“How do we structure ourselves in our responses, given the intensity, frequency, and sense of urgency we’ve literally faced every few months over the past year?”

Temperature bubbles in the United States and Canada this week were caused by a high-pressure atmospheric zone known as the “heat dome.” These conditions arise when the jet stream, a band of air that moves rapidly into the atmosphere, develops a large wave pattern that keeps the dome locked in place.

Scientists are studying whether climate change is contributing to the unusual behavior of the water current. Global warming has increased the average temperature of the planet, which is now about 1.2 ° C than in 1850. Although heat waves are not new, they are becoming more extreme due to this trend of wider heating.

On the ground in the northwestern United States, this week’s effects have not been forgiven. According to officials, the heat wave has caused eight lives in Oregon and at least 20 in Washington, according to figures, figures that are likely to increase in the coming days. In Canada, the death toll is believed to be in the hundreds.

The extreme climate has exposed the vulnerabilities of the city’s critical infrastructure and the operations of local businesses. Portland’s tram service had to be suspended for several days this week after its service the wires began to melt in the heat.

In Washington, the roads began to crack and Ciarrah Piller, 18, said the refrigerators in the Subway sandwich chain where he works simply stopped because of the heat. “We had to throw it all away and close soon. It was crazy.”

High temperatures arrived as much of the west coast of the U.S. was already preparing for another season of wildfires. Brad Udall, a climate scientist at Colorado State University, said about half of the area destroyed by wildfires in the western United States in recent years had originated from the effects of the increase. of temperatures caused by climate change.

The heat has also intensified the 20-year “mega drought” that has caused a deep water crisis in the region. In addition to causing more evaporation from the reservoirs, rising temperatures dry out the soil and increase the amount of water absorbed by the plants, reducing runoff.

“What we’re seeing in the American West is long-term warming and drying,” Udall said, with temperature increases accounting for about half of the decline in water flow across the Colorado River since 2000.

The flow of the river, a vital source of water for residents of California, Arizona and Nevada, as well as for farmers, has fallen by a fifth since the turn of the century. “There are agricultural users who will not get enough water. It’s a very harsh reality, “said Udall.

The increasingly frequent disruption has left many American cities and industries wondering if and how they can handle inevitable future weather events.

“How will we make the transition from our built environment to living in a much warmer world?” said Kristie Ebi, a professor at the University of Washington who studies the impact of climate change on human health. He added that the everyday systems we rely on to live must be “designed to work in a much warmer environment.”

Ebi noted that most efforts to address climate change in the Pacific Northwest have focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, rather than adapting to adapt to change. climate change, and there was now an urgent need to focus on the latter.

The transition would likely involve increased demand for materials and construction methods that can withstand extremes, he added, as well as air conditioning, hitherto an unnecessary luxury in his corner of the US.

However, air conditioning is an energy intensive user that contributes to global warming. This week in Portland these units were impossible to buy.

“No air conditioners could be found in the shops, they had all been sold,” said Shamshulla Sharafi, a taxi driver who continued to work during the heat wave because his car, unlike his home, had air. conditioning.

Fearing another heat wave, he described the conditions humanity may have to get used to enduring: “It was as if someone was throwing fire in your face.”

Additional reports from Leslie Hook in London

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