Climate Change is impacting nations in a big way. According to a reports coming today, Canada has recorded its highest ever temperature as the country’s west and the US Pacific north-west frazzle in an unprecedented heatwave.
Officials announced Lytton in British Columbia soared to 46.6C (116F) on Sunday, breaking an 84-year-old record.
Heatwave at dangerous level in Canada
A “heat dome” of high pressure parked over the region has set new records in many other areas.
The US and Canada have both warned citizens of “dangerous” heat levels that could persist this week.
Experts say that climate change is expected to increase the frequency of extreme weather events, such as heatwaves.
The world is about one degree Celsius warmer than before widespread industrialisation, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
It says the past five years, 2015–2019, were the warmest on record.
Across the globe, the average sea level increased by 3.6mm per year between 2005 and 2015.
Most of this change was because water increases in volume as it heats up.
There is about a 40% chance of the annual average global temperature temporarily reaching 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level in at least one of the next five years – and these odds are increasing with time, according to a new climate update issued by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
There is a 90% likelihood of at least one year between 2021-2025 becoming the warmest on record, which would dislodge 2016 from the top ranking, according to the Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update, produced by the United Kingdom’s Met Office, the WMO lead centre for such predictions.
Over 2021-2025, high-latitude regions and the Sahel are likely to be wetter and there is an increased chance of more tropical cyclones in the Atlantic compared to the recent past (defined as the 1981-2010 average).
