With the recent news that 2024 is likely to become the hottest year ever for the planet, it definitely is no surprise then that Canada’s extreme heat waves this past summer were worsened by climate change.
During the summer, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) scientists reviewed the extreme heat waves that affected millions of Canadians. After analyzing the data, they revealed that human-caused climate change made nearly all of the country’s most intense heat waves hotter, and more likely.
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To help with the examination, ECCC established a rapid extreme weather event attribution system to compare today’s climate with the pre-industrial state. It uncovers a tool to uncover how human-caused climate change has affected the chances of an extreme weather event.
“This helps Canadians understand how human emissions and activities are affecting our lives and weather today, as the changes unfold,” ECCC said in the news release.
The frequency and severity of heat events are on the rise globally as a result of climate change.
“As the global climate continues to warm because of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, Canada is warming at roughly double the global average rate. Spring and summer are becoming hotter, and this means earlier snowmelt, dangerous heat waves and conditions that are ripe for wildfires,” said ECCC.
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From June to September 2024, climate scientists with ECCC reviewed 37 of the hottest heat waves in 17 regions across Canada. Of those heat waves, scientists found that human-caused climate change made:
Five were more likely to occur (at least one to two times more likely)
Twenty-eight were much more likely to occur (at least two to 10 times more likely)
Four were “far more” likely to occur (at least 10 times more likely)
Starting this winter, ECCC will be able to incorporate its attribution system to examine the connection between human-caused climate change and the probabilities of extreme cold temperature events. The organization noted that work is underway to expand the system to analyze extreme precipitation, as well, with the anticipation it will become functional sometime in 2025.
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ECCC said the “direct and indirect” price tags of extreme weather are significant, ranging from the loss of productivity to loss of life.
“Better understanding the causes and effects of extreme weather––such as heat waves, extreme cold, and extreme precipitation––can help us better plan for, respond to, and rebuild from weather emergencies,” said ECCC.
The federal agency cited a number of Canadian studies that show the so-called “once in 100 years” climate-related weather events are becoming more frequent, severe, and costly.
2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 all rank in the top 10 years based on insurance claims, exceeded only by the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfires, the 2013 flooding in Calgary, Alta., and Toronto, Ont., and the 1998 Quebec ice storm.
From 1983 to 2008, insurers spent on average $400 million per year on damaging-weather claims in Canada. Since 2009, the yearly average has risen to almost $2 billion.
2023 was the second-warmest year on record in Canada since 1948 (when countrywide estimates began).
From 1948 to 2023, the annual average temperature in Canada increased by 2 C.
Thumbnail courtesy of mesh cube/iStock/Getty Images Plus.
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