Heat warnings persist across much of Canada
June was world's hottest month on record, European Union scientists say
As Canada sweltered under a persistent bout of intense heat, weather warnings were issued Thursday from coast to coast to coast.
Southern parts of Ontario and Quebec were entering the third day of a multi-day heat event that Environment Canada has warned could make it feel anywhere from 35 C to 40 C, when the humidity is factored in.
People fled stuffy apartments for air-conditioned food courts in Toronto's downtown, where the agency forecast a Thursday high of 30 C, feeling like 37 C.
"It's hot and [my apartment] is very small, so I come here and I feel fresh with the air conditioning and it feels good," said 58-year-old Valia Ruano, inside the Eaton Centre food court.
On the other side of Yonge Street, a custodian at a neighbouring food court said she had noticed an uptick in the number of visitors during the heat wave.
"It's too hot outside and people need a break," Carnen Macias said. "People come in, freshen up in the bathroom and maybe grab some ice cream on their way out."
Some relief on Friday
The weather agency says temperatures are expected to taper off in those regions by several degrees on Friday, while northern Ontario will see relief starting Thursday.
A heat warning is also in effect in British Columbia, from the north to central coast and in the Fraser Canyon area east of Vancouver, where daytime highs between 30 C and 35 C are expected through Sunday.
A similar warning is in place for the Fort Liard and Fort Providence regions of the Northwest Territories, where temperatures are expected to rise to the low 30s by Friday or Saturday and into next week.
Inuvik, south of the Beaufort Sea in the Northwest Territories, remained under a heat warning after the temperature hit 33 C on Tuesday, a local daily temperature record, according to Environment Canada records dating back to 1957.
A restaurant in town closed due to the heat, and a harpoon-making workshop was postponed at a local drop-in centre servicing homeless and underprivileged people.
Samanntha De Coteau, a roofer based in Ontario's Niagara Region, was on the job on Tuesday but found some relief while visiting family in Edmonton on Thursday. She told CBC News that she's from Alberta, where it's typically less humid during heat waves, so she had to adjust to conditions once she started working in muggy Ontario.
"Working up on the roof is a lot hotter than what it would be on the ground, because the shingles radiate the heat, so yeah, it's definitely hard," she said.
De Coteau recommends that outdoor workers take frequent breaks, get under some shade and stay hydrated, especially if they're feeling light-headed or dizzy.
On the East Coast, Environment Canada says a period of similarly hot temperatures is expected to start on Thursday and stretch into the weekend in New Brunswick, as well as the Churchill Falls region of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Warming oceans
Scientists have warned that 2023 could see record heat as human-caused climate change — driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and oil — warmed the atmosphere. They also noted that La Niña, the natural cooling of the ocean that had acted as a counter, was giving way to El Niño, the reverse phenomenon marked by warming oceans.
Earth's average temperature on Wednesday remained at an unofficial record high set the day before. According to a tool using satellite data and computer simulations at the University of Maine, the average global temperature was 17.18 C (62.9 F).
That matched a record set Tuesday, and came after a previous record of 17.01 C was set Monday. While some countries had colder weather than usual, heat waves hit cities from Peru to Canada.
The United Nations' World Meteorological Organization said in May that there was a 98 per cent likelihood that one of the next five years, or the five-year period as a whole, would be the warmest on record.
June's heat record
Meanwhile, last month was the hottest June globally on record, with abnormally high temperatures recorded on both land and sea, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Thursday.
Last month smashed through the previous temperature record for the month of June — which was in 2019 — by a substantial margin, Copernicus said.
Globally, June was just over 0.5 C above the average temperature for the same month in 1991-2020, Copernicus said, as climate change pushes global temperatures to new records, and short-term weather patterns also drive temperature movements.
Above-average temperatures swept through countries including Canada, India and Iran, while extreme heat in Mexico last month caused more than 100 deaths and Beijing recorded its hottest June day.
Environment Canada is warning of elevated risks for heat-related illnesses and deteriorating air quality. It urges people to drink water before feeling thirsty, check on the elderly and watch for the effects of heat illness such as fainting, swelling, heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
Researchers have repeatedly noted that people experiencing homelessness, people with disabilities, the elderly, people of colour and low-income households with little access to air conditioning and outdoor parks bear the brunt of heat waves.
With files from CBC News, Reuters and The Associated Press