This situation has already led experts to warn of the danger of climate change.
Lisa Lapointe, director of forensic medicine for British Columbia, the area hardest hit by this hot summit, which began to hit the Pacific coast on June 25, said Friday night that the number of deaths recorded in the past week had risen. 719.
This is three times the normal value, Lapointe noted, so the nearly 500 deaths are a direct result of the heat wave that has sent thermometers up to temperatures of 49.69 degrees Celsius.
“We are releasing this information because it is possible that the severe weather conditions in British Columbia last week were an important factor contributing to the increase in the number of deaths,” Lapointe said in a statement.
This specialist acknowledges that this number tends to increase and will be updated in the coming days, because many of the deceased are elderly, live alone and in homes without air conditioning, which are not prepared for high temperatures.
According to data released today by the British Columbia Forest Fire Service, there were 245 fires last week and 176 are still active, 76 of which started in the past two days.
Roughly 70% of the fires were caused by lightning, which found dry conditions ideal for starting wildfires. Within 15 hours, between Wednesday and Thursday, 113,000 lightning strikes were recorded in British Columbia.
“We have proof that global warming is real. Unfortunately, we’ve already experienced it, it’s not the future. It is.” Natalie Hassell, a meteorologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada, explained to local television station CTV, so I hope that People are getting ready, as we will likely see her more often.
