Hello, friends!
Canada is considered to be one of the oldest countries in the world. Temperature falling as low as -20°C or -30°C is 'normal' there.
But for the past few days, there has been such an awful heatwave in Canada, that in some areas of Canada, the temperature reached 49.6°C. Almost 50°C.
Even Delhi hasn't had summers this hot. You'd normally expect 50°C temperature in Dubai or some Middle Eastern country, but now it can be seen even in countries like Canada.
How is it possible?
Come let's try to find out in today's article. Let's talk specifically of the place where the previous record temperature was smashed. There is a State in Canada, British Columbia. It's in southwest Canada. In this State, there is a village named Lytton. If you'll see the latitude of this village, It lies on the 50°N Latitude. Approximately the same latitude as London. The distance between the equator and London, the UK in the North, is the same as the distance Lytton village is North of the equator.
It is important to know this fact because the farther you go from the equator towards the north, the colder it gets. Most of the homes in this village do not have air conditioners. Because the climate of this area is described as mild Climate.
On the graph, it is shown the maximum, minimum, and average temperature that one might expect in this village. In July and August, the maximum temperature that can be expected on average is around 28°C. Though when summer arrives in this place it has been seen several times that the temperature had exceeded 40°C. But in winter, it can be as low as -5°C or -10°C. The record minimum temperate here is at -31°C. Now compare this with a city like Delhi. Because summers in Delhi are so hot that 45°C is often seen. But Delhi's record high temperature is 48°C.
So a village in Canada has beaten even this. The heat was so intense, that power cables melted. The roads cracked in the heat. Because most of the people didn't have air conditioning in their homes, people went to public places with air conditioning to take shelter from the heat.
Some people slept in their cars throughout the night with the AC turned on. But this was only for a few days. After this, because of this heatwave, the nearby forest caught fire. A wildfire encroached on this village. And this wildfire burned down 90% of the village. Burned to ashes. 90% of the village has been destroyed. You can see some photos here.
Experts say that the root cause behind this extreme weather event is Climate Change. But in technical terms, it happened because of a Heat Dome. We're talking technically here. The hot air normally rises upwards. There was a situation of high pressure in the atmosphere. That high pressure pushed down the hot air back towards the surface. And because this hot air is pushed down, it becomes denser by getting compressed and becomes even hotter.
When you'll try to read about it from several sources, some of them will blame only the Heat Dome. But the truth remains, that because of Climate Change, such extreme weather events, become more frequent. Meaning that they occur more and become more extreme. They become more intense.
Often people have this misunderstanding about Global Warming that because of global warming, there will be more heat. But we cannot conclude with this always. Because due to climate change, there is an increase in extreme weather events. It means that summers will become hotter. And winters may become colder. And unexpected weather events and natural disasters will become more frequent and more severe.
Michael Mann is a Professor of Atmospheric Science. He says that the frequency of the heat waves has tripled now as compared to the 1960s. And the record-breaking hot months that we get to see, their frequency has gone up to five times. As compared to a scenario without climate change.
In the famous 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, which was signed by almost 200 countries, these countries had pledged that the temperature in the pre-industrial era, that is the time between 1850-1900, compared to then, the countries would ensure that the global average temperature would not rise by more than 2°C. It would preferably be maintained at an increase of 1.5°C. The more the average temperature of the Earth increases, the more we'll get to see these extreme weather events. With every increase of 1°C, very disastrous effects follow.
When I used to read about Global Warming as a child, I used to think,' What's the big deal?' 'Even if the temperate of the Earth increases by a degree or two, who'd care? It'll only be two more degrees, it'll still be bearable.' But the reality is much more dangerous than this, friends. Because with the rise of 2-3°C, the extreme weather events rise exponentially. Summers become very hot. The chances of a heatwave developing increase a lot. The tornadoes, floods, and droughts become exponentially more likely. And the bio-diversity is harmed. I'll discuss the effects on the Earth with a steady rise in temperature in some other article in detail. Because there is a lot to say about it.
But for now, all I'd like to say is that compared to pre-industrial levels, the temperature has already risen by 1°C. If we're to see the average of the Earth.
But the more interesting thing to know is that this temperature rise is not equal in all parts of the Earth. In some places it is more, At others, it may be less. And Canada is a place where is it more than the average.
In 2019, the average temperature in Canada had increased by 1.7°C. Between 1948 and 2016. If we talk about Northern Canada, where the temperature has already increased by 2.3°C.
A 2015 study had found that in the mountainous areas, above the height of 2,000 meters there the effects of Global Warming will be felt more as compared to at lower elevations. Climate change, global warming, will be 75% faster there as compared to the lowlands.
Before we talk about solutions, I'd like to clear another misconception. For some people, this temperature of 49°C will seem to be not a big deal, especially for healthy and fit people. That they can bear even 50°C as they're very healthy and fit. That they can even bear up to 52°C. But if I tell you friends temperatures above 35°C can be deadly for all types of people in certain conditions.
How do you feel now?
This is the truth, friends. Because humidity is a very important factor here that needs to be considered when talking about the temperature. 35°C temperature at 100% humidity can be deadly irrespective of how healthy and fit you are.
The thing is that friends when it's hot, all of us sweat. Sweating is our body's way to keep us cool. The sweat evaporates due to the heat. And because of the process of evaporation, our skin can remain cool. But if there is 100% humidity in the air, then the sweat will have no place to evaporate into. As the air is already saturated with all the water vapor that can be carried by it. So the evaporation will not take place. And our body will not be able to cool down itself.
Technically speaking, the term Wet Bulb Temperature is used here. It is the lowest temperature that can be achieved by evaporative cooling. A Wet Bulb Temperature over 35°C is deadly. This is the reason why the 45°C of Dubai and Rajasthan where there is dry heat with little humidity in the air seems more bearable as compared to the 40°C on the beaches of Kerala.
Anyway, my purpose behind telling you this is that the scientists predict that in the coming years, due to climate change in some areas of the world, we'll get Wet Bulb Temperatures of over 35°C. It is deadly for human lives.
When it comes to the solutions to fight against climate change, books often suggest turning off the lights in the unoccupied rooms, to stop wasting electricity. Using bicycles instead of motor vehicles. Doing all these are good. You should practice these. But the problem is that all this information is quite outdated for today's era. Had everyone been asked to practice these 20 years ago and had everyone followed these then, it might've made any difference.
But for now, on an individual level, even if everyone starts following these little practices, it will have a negligible effect on climate change. Today, the situation has deteriorated so much that only policy changes at the Governmental level can bring in a real change to save the World.
What kind of policy changes am I talking about?
- The subsidy on fossil fuels needs to be removed.
- All the governments in the world, need to push for Electric cars. Irresistible incentives have to be given for the purchase of Electric cars.
- They need to levy Carbon Tax. So that the companies get motivated to use fewer fossil fuels.
- And, on an individual level, we need to raise awareness regarding climate change. So that the public policy of the Government will be affected.
Some researchers from MIT developed this interesting stimulator to show the rise in the global average temperature by 2100 and how that temperature will react to various policy changes across the world. In all the countries of the world.
If renewable energy is heavily incentivized or taxes get levied on fossil fuels, then what will be the change?
You can check this on the stimulator. I will put the link to it below.:
It is very interesting to see. The conclusion from this is that the biggest impact is from Carbon Taxes. From the price of Carbon. Try to move the indicator of the carbon price and see the impact it has on climate change. Carbon Tax means that the energy sources that we have and the carbon present in them will be taxed proportionately.
Meaning that if the carbon content is more it will emit more carbon dioxide, and add more to climate change. So more tax should be levied on it. Coal pollutes the environment the most. So coal will have the highest rate of Carbon Tax. After that are the petroleum products that pollute marginally less than coal, After that is Natural Gas, which does not have as much carbon in it, so it will have an even lower tax on it. And then are the renewable energies that have no carbon content. So it will have zero tax.
And who will bear the burden of this tax?
The good thing about a carbon tax is that all the experts that propose this think that this tax shall be levied at the source. Meaning the companies that are mining coal. Or the companies that extract oil. They should be taxed. If the coal or oil is imported into the country then the companies importing coal or oil should be taxed. The common people will not be very affected by it because companies will bear the burden. If those companies are unable to compete with renewable energy at the price point then the common people will move towards renewable energy.
And when these companies will be taxed, they will be motivated when looking at their balance sheets, that activities like coal mining will no longer remain feasible for them. So they will shut down the coal mines. And shift to renewable energy.
So overall, scientists and experts around the world believe that this is the most effective policy change. That will have the largest impact on this fight against climate change.
Several countries across the globe have already introduced a Carbon Tax. Like Canada. $20 (CAD) per tonne of CO2 emissions is charged as tax. I hope that it will be introduced in countries like India. The government will take an action only when the people pressurize them to.
Today, this may be the most impactful way to control Climate Change. Else we may get to see 50°C+ temperatures in India in the future.
I hope you found this article informative, friends. Let's meet in the next article. Thank you very much!
