Last week, the hot weather broke several temperature records on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast.
According to meteorologist Ken Dosanjh from Environment Canada, these extreme weather events align with what scientists have predicted about climate change.
“In Canada, we’ve already observed more extreme heat and less extreme cold events. These changes are relatively consistent with what scientists said we should expect as a result of global warming,” Dosanjh told My Comox Valley Now.
During the heat wave last week, we witnessed the following temperature records being either matched or broken in different areas: For example, on July 5th:
- Campbell River reached 32.3 degrees, surpassing the previous record of 31.1 degrees set in 1958.
- Comox Valley reached 30.3 degrees, beating the previous record of 30.0 degrees from 1958.
- Nanaimo reached 31.8 degrees, surpassing the previous record of 31.7 degrees set in 1975.
- Qualicum Beach reached 30.2 degrees, beating the previous record of 29.4 degrees from 1972.
- Sechelt reached 31.5 degrees, surpassing the previous record of 31.4 degrees from 2015.
Dosanjh says these temperature records highlight the impact of global warming and the need to address climate change.
