Hot temperatures
27/08/25 01:49
It has been extremely hot in the Fraser Valley, British Columbia. On Monday, Lytton was the hottest spot in Canada, recording a temperature of 41.3 °C. I know the math to translate Celsius to Fahrenheit, but I also know off the top of my head that 40 is over 100 degrees, so 41.3 is HOT. To be specific, I’ll do the math. Let’s see: 1.8 x 41 is 40 plus 33 or 73. Add 32 to that number, and you get 105°F. The extra 0.3 probably adds another degree, so I’ll say 106°F. Anything over 100°F is hot in my book. The temperature also set a record for the maximum temperature on August 25, which had previously been 37.2 °C, set in 1934.
The people in Lytton, a small town of a couple of hundred people east of Whistler, have a right to be nervous when the weather gets hot. In 2021, Lytton set the record for the hottest temperature ever recorded in Canada at 49.6 °C. That’s 121 F! The next day, a wildfire destroyed most of the village.
We live south of that place, but we also live on the coast, so our temperatures have not been that extreme. However, the region is definitely in the grips of a heat wave. Sections of British Columbia are under a heat warning, and a special weather statement covers much of Vancouver Island. The good news is that the days are getting shorter, and the general trend for daytime temperatures is downward at this time of the year. The bad news is that the stalled high-pressure system is preventing cooler temperatures from the west from entering the region.
One expects high temperatures in the southern United States, but most of Canada is located north of the 49th parallel, and its climate is generally cooler than that of the US. Western Canada, with spectacular mountains, is used to cooler temperatures. No part of the world, however, is immune to global climate change. Higher temperatures, combined with tinder-dry forests, are a recipe for explosive wildfires. Currently, about 70 wildfires are burning in British Columbia, which is about average. In general, the summer has been slightly wetter than average, which has helped alleviate the wildfire situation.
The stalled high-pressure system, however, has resulted in more smoke from BC wildfires drifting south and remaining in our area. We haven’t been able to see the islands or mountains clearly for a couple of days, and we can smell the smoke in the air when we go outside. We shouldn’t be complaining; however, we haven’t had as much wildfire smoke as other areas. Many of Canada’s most intense wildfires have been in Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan this summer, resulting in more smoke for midwestern and eastern states than we’ve experienced in the Pacific Northwest.
Whenever it gets smoky, however, I wonder about the future. As climate change accelerates and temperatures continue to rise, it is predicted that wildfires will intensify and increase in frequency. Already, the concept of a fire season is fading, with fires that burn throughout the calendar year. There are fires in BC that have been burning for more than a year. Even with deep snow, fires can continue to smolder underground throughout the winter and flare up again in the spring.
Air pollution is a significant contributor to premature human mortality. Each year, between 7 and 8 million people die from the effects of air pollution. It is a considerable risk factor for stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and lung cancer. Particulates in the air are the most hazardous, and wildfire smoke is laden with them. The World Bank estimates that premature deaths and decreased productivity collectively result in air pollution costing the global economy over $8 trillion annually.
National laws aimed at improving air quality work. The 1956 Clean Air Act in Britain and the 1963 US Clean Air Act made notable improvements in air quality worldwide. The effects of the sudden rollback of federal regulations of the current US Administration have not yet been measured, but scientists predict that they will have a global impact. Burning fossil fuels is a significant source of air pollution and the leading contributor to global warming. The administration’s attacks on alternative energy sources will exacerbate the global climate crisis. National boundaries do not restrict pollution. Just as people in the US have suffered from the effects of wildfires in Canada, Canadians have also suffered due to changes in US policies. Living on the border has heightened my awareness of how closely our quality of life is tied to that of our neighbors.
In the short term, those seeking to escape the heat by heading north into Canada will need to be willing to travel a bit farther, perhaps to the Yukon or Northwest Territories, to find cooler temperatures. Getting there, however, is dependent on the roads being open. Wildfires have frequently closed sections of highways in recent years.
For the people of Lytton, I hope that the temperatures cool soon and that they remain safe from wildfire this year. They’ve endured too much in recent years. A break is in order. For all of us, I pray that we become educated not only on the sources of climate change, but also about what we can do to reduce our impact on our neighbors. We’re all in this together.
The people in Lytton, a small town of a couple of hundred people east of Whistler, have a right to be nervous when the weather gets hot. In 2021, Lytton set the record for the hottest temperature ever recorded in Canada at 49.6 °C. That’s 121 F! The next day, a wildfire destroyed most of the village.
We live south of that place, but we also live on the coast, so our temperatures have not been that extreme. However, the region is definitely in the grips of a heat wave. Sections of British Columbia are under a heat warning, and a special weather statement covers much of Vancouver Island. The good news is that the days are getting shorter, and the general trend for daytime temperatures is downward at this time of the year. The bad news is that the stalled high-pressure system is preventing cooler temperatures from the west from entering the region.
One expects high temperatures in the southern United States, but most of Canada is located north of the 49th parallel, and its climate is generally cooler than that of the US. Western Canada, with spectacular mountains, is used to cooler temperatures. No part of the world, however, is immune to global climate change. Higher temperatures, combined with tinder-dry forests, are a recipe for explosive wildfires. Currently, about 70 wildfires are burning in British Columbia, which is about average. In general, the summer has been slightly wetter than average, which has helped alleviate the wildfire situation.
The stalled high-pressure system, however, has resulted in more smoke from BC wildfires drifting south and remaining in our area. We haven’t been able to see the islands or mountains clearly for a couple of days, and we can smell the smoke in the air when we go outside. We shouldn’t be complaining; however, we haven’t had as much wildfire smoke as other areas. Many of Canada’s most intense wildfires have been in Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan this summer, resulting in more smoke for midwestern and eastern states than we’ve experienced in the Pacific Northwest.
Whenever it gets smoky, however, I wonder about the future. As climate change accelerates and temperatures continue to rise, it is predicted that wildfires will intensify and increase in frequency. Already, the concept of a fire season is fading, with fires that burn throughout the calendar year. There are fires in BC that have been burning for more than a year. Even with deep snow, fires can continue to smolder underground throughout the winter and flare up again in the spring.
Air pollution is a significant contributor to premature human mortality. Each year, between 7 and 8 million people die from the effects of air pollution. It is a considerable risk factor for stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and lung cancer. Particulates in the air are the most hazardous, and wildfire smoke is laden with them. The World Bank estimates that premature deaths and decreased productivity collectively result in air pollution costing the global economy over $8 trillion annually.
National laws aimed at improving air quality work. The 1956 Clean Air Act in Britain and the 1963 US Clean Air Act made notable improvements in air quality worldwide. The effects of the sudden rollback of federal regulations of the current US Administration have not yet been measured, but scientists predict that they will have a global impact. Burning fossil fuels is a significant source of air pollution and the leading contributor to global warming. The administration’s attacks on alternative energy sources will exacerbate the global climate crisis. National boundaries do not restrict pollution. Just as people in the US have suffered from the effects of wildfires in Canada, Canadians have also suffered due to changes in US policies. Living on the border has heightened my awareness of how closely our quality of life is tied to that of our neighbors.
In the short term, those seeking to escape the heat by heading north into Canada will need to be willing to travel a bit farther, perhaps to the Yukon or Northwest Territories, to find cooler temperatures. Getting there, however, is dependent on the roads being open. Wildfires have frequently closed sections of highways in recent years.
For the people of Lytton, I hope that the temperatures cool soon and that they remain safe from wildfire this year. They’ve endured too much in recent years. A break is in order. For all of us, I pray that we become educated not only on the sources of climate change, but also about what we can do to reduce our impact on our neighbors. We’re all in this together.
