Energy & Science
Climate Change Juiced the Deadly Pacific Northwest Heatwave
Such extreme heat could strike every five to 10 years if warming continues without climate action, scientists concluded.
Wildfire spread across the Fraser River Valley near Lytton, British Columbia on July 2.
Photographer: James MacDonald/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Last week’s deadly heat in the northwestern U.S. and British Columbia would not have reached the highs it did in a world without greenhouse gas pollution, according to climate scientists who conducted a rapid-response study of the heatwave.
“We’ve never seen a jump in record temperature like the one in this heatwave,” said Geert Jan van Oldenborgh, a weather and climate researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute.