<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">Courtesy of the Washington Post at:<div><br></div><div><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/06/30/canada-record-heat-experts-react/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/06/30/canada-record-heat-experts-react/</a></div><div><br></div><div>—————————————————</div><div><br></div><div><h1 class="
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</style><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/06/27/heat-records-pacific-northwest/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(25, 85, 165); text-decoration: none;">all-time high of 121 degrees set in British Columbia on Tuesday</span></a> has left weather and climate experts all over the world shocked, speechless and deeply concerned about the future of the planet.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">The scorching temperature set in the village of Lytton obliterated Canada’s previous national temperature record, established before this week’s heat wave, by 8 degrees.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/06/29/canada-heat-dome-deaths/?itid=lk_interstitial_manual_5"><span style="color: rgb(25, 85, 165); text-decoration: none;">Canada reports ‘significant’ increase in deaths thought to be linked to heat wave</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">Lytton, located about 60 miles northeast of Vancouver, broke that previous all-time record of 113 on three straight days, soaring to 116 on Sunday, 118 on Monday and finally 121 on Tuesday. Before this siege, it had stood since 1937.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">“To break a national heat record by more than 8F over three days … words fail,” <a href="https://twitter.com/bhensonweather/status/1410061825396273155"><span style="color: rgb(25, 85, 165); text-decoration: none;">tweeted Bob Henson</span></a>, a meteorologist and freelance journalist.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">Claire Martin, a meteorologist for Environment Canada, the country’s weather and climate agency,<a href="https://twitter.com/ClaireMartinWx/status/1410024511718580229"><span style="color: rgb(25, 85, 165); text-decoration: none;"> expressed the same sentiment</span></a> upon learning the news: “Words fail me.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">The 121-degree record stands out as extraordinary on numerous counts:</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:24.0pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:60.0pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;
tab-stops:list .5in"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;
mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol;color:#2A2A2A">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">It’s hotter than any temperature recorded in the Lower 48 states <a href="https://twitter.com/Climatologist49/status/1410021476057587713"><span style="color: rgb(25, 85, 165); text-decoration: none;">outside the Desert Southwest</span></a>. It’s even 4 degrees above Las Vegas’s all-time high of 117 and 2 degrees above Phoenix’s all-time high of 119. Only <a href="https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1410044052934909952"><span style="color: rgb(25, 85, 165); text-decoration: none;">three states</span></a> have seen a higher temperature.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:24.0pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:60.0pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;
tab-stops:list .5in"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:24.0pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:60.0pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;
tab-stops:list .5in"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;
mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol;color:#2A2A2A">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">It’s hotter than any temperature observed in Europe or South America, <a href="https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1410044052934909952"><span style="color: rgb(25, 85, 165); text-decoration: none;">according to world weather records expert Maximiliano Herrera</span></a>. Only 26 countries on the planet have been as hot or hotter, he wrote.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:24.0pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:60.0pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;
tab-stops:list .5in"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:24.0pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:60.0pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;
tab-stops:list .5in"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;
mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol;color:#2A2A2A">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">It is the most extreme high temperature observed north of 45 degrees latitude, according to <a href="https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1410036179320328192"><span style="color: rgb(25, 85, 165); text-decoration: none;">Herrera</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:24.0pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:60.0pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;
tab-stops:list .5in"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:24.0pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:60.0pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;
tab-stops:list .5in"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;
mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol;color:#2A2A2A">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">It was the highest temperature in North America on Tuesday, <a href="https://twitter.com/HeatwaveKGNS/status/1410043240989007875"><span style="color: rgb(25, 85, 165); text-decoration: none;">tied with Death Valley, Calif.</span></a>, notorious for <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/08/16/death-valley-heat-record/?itid=lk_inline_manual_16"><span style="color: rgb(25, 85, 165); text-decoration: none;">holding the record for the planet’s most extreme heat</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:24.0pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:60.0pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;
tab-stops:list .5in"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:24.0pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:60.0pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;
tab-stops:list .5in"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;
mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol;color:#2A2A2A">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">Lytton’s average high temperature at this time of year is a mere 77 degrees, meaning Tuesday’s record high was nearly 45 degrees above normal.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-right:24.0pt;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:60.0pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;
tab-stops:list .5in"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">Herrera reflected on the magnitude of the record <a href="https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1410003959998259204"><span style="color: rgb(25, 85, 165); text-decoration: none;">in a tweet</span></a>: “I am crying really … sometimes i just pinch my skin to make sure it’s not a dream, it’s really happening … 30 years working in this job, never seen anything like this madness …”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">Robert Rhode, a climate scientist for Berkeley Earth, posted a chart on Twitter displaying just how exceptional the record was in the context of Lytton’s temperature history.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">“The reading is so high that it’s hard to comprehend,” <a href="https://twitter.com/mikarantane/status/1410109727237881859"><span style="color: rgb(25, 85, 165); text-decoration: none;">tweeted</span></a> Mika Rantanen, a climate researcher at the Finnish Meteorological Institute.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">The Lytton temperature even topped Sydney’s all-time record of 120 degrees, tweeted Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, a climate scientist at the University of New South Wales. “Sydney sits at 33 latitude, Lytton at 50,” she wrote. “Temperatures this high should not be occurring here!”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">How could it get so hot in Canada? As </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/06/29/heat-wave-pacific-northwest-cause/?itid=lk_inline_manual_26"><span style="color: rgb(25, 85, 165); text-decoration: none;">we explained in an article Tuesday</span></a><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">, weather systems and winds aligned to maximize heat over the region, while climate change intensified the effect.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">Dennis Mersereau, a freelance weather writer, added that Lytton’s microclimate also primed it for exceptional temperatures.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">“Lytton was the perfect spot (in a manner of speaking) to break this record three days in a row,” <a href="http://www.damweather.com/2021/06/pacific-northwest-cools-off-canada.html"><span style="color: rgb(25, 85, 165); text-decoration: none;">Mersereau wrote</span></a>. “The tiny town sits in a tight valley along the Fraser River that cuts longitudinally through the heart of British Columbia. Lytton’s low-lying location makes it an effective heat sink during a record-shattering heat wave.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">Scott Duncan, a meteorologist based in London, was flabbergasted by the record. “I didn’t think it was possible, not in my lifetime anyway,” <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottDuncanWX/status/1410097020912742404"><span style="color: rgb(25, 85, 165); text-decoration: none;">he tweeted</span></a>. “This moment will be talked about for centuries.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">But, as climate change increases the likelihood of exceptional temperatures like this, it’s only a matter of time before even more extreme records are set, replied Robert Brulle, a professor at Brown University who specializes in environmental politics and climate change.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">“It won’t be talked about for centuries,” <a href="https://twitter.com/RBrulle/status/1410206899883106308"><span style="color: rgb(25, 85, 165); text-decoration: none;">he tweeted</span></a>. “These records will fall as climate change accelerates! This is just a mild version of what we can expect in the future.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/06/28/climate-pacific-northwest-heat-wave/?itid=lk_interstitial_manual_34"><span style="color: rgb(25, 85, 165); text-decoration: none;">The Pacific Northwest heat wave is shocking but shouldn’t be a surprise</span></a>.</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><br></div><div>—————————————————<br><br><div dir="ltr"><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/">http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/</a></div><div><br></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><br></div><div>“A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met.”</div><div>- Roy E. Stolworthy</div><div></div></div></div></body></html>