50 degrees as in Canada and the US is also possible here? “Two years ago we broke the heat record”

In Canada and the United States, heat record After breaking the heat record, it’s very hot. “But we’re not going to get temperatures up to 50 degrees in the Netherlands right now,” says meteorologist Jonny Willemsen of WeerOnline.

In the village of Lytton, near Vancouver in Canada, the temperature was nearly 50 degrees last week. The country’s weather records were broken by several degrees. A little side note: Willemsen says the records in existence have also been around for a while.

not ready

The temperature was 39 degrees in the Canadian capital Vancouver and 42 degrees in Seattle in the northwest of the United States. This has never happened before. “The area is not prepared for that, you can see it now,” says climate researcher Geert Jan van Oldenburg, who works at KNMI.

This morning, a major wildfire was announced that destroyed all 350 homes in the town of Lytton. No injuries were reported from the fire so far. More than 100 people have died so far from the heat in the Vancouver area, especially the elderly.

heat bell

Fortunately, in the Netherlands we don’t have to prepare for temperatures around 50 degrees right now. Although it is getting warmer here too. Meteorologist Willemsen recalls: “We broke the temperature record two years ago, with a big increase. The record was 38.6 degrees for a long time, but in July 2019, the mercury rose above 40 degrees.”

However, the current heat in Canada has developed differently than in our country. “In the Netherlands, a heat wave occurs due to the supply of warm air from the south, and then all conditions must be ‘good’, such as little wind and peak temperatures. In the current climate, five summers can pass before we can have a Another one in the Netherlands.” He broke the record, but it could also be in a couple of weeks. In Canada, the heat arose in a mountainous place, due to which the air could not escape. The so-called “heat bubble”. “

Search

“Climate change is an important cause of extreme heat in Canada, but such a large jump in temperature is not yet fully understood,” says climate researcher Van Oldenburg of KNMI.

Together with a group of scientists, he’s looking at how the temperature might suddenly rise by several degrees. Yesterday, for example, they were working on the effect of last spring’s drought and whether and how it affects heat wave warmth.

The most dangerous natural disaster

Van Oldenburg hopes that researching the heat in Canada will enable us to discover if we will also encounter these types of heat waves in the Netherlands. “Scientifically this is very interesting, but it is also the most deadly natural disaster of all.”

“Last summer, you also saw a rise in excess mortality in the Netherlands. According to CBS figures, about 600 more people died than usual in heatwave weeks. The temperature stayed 30 to 34 degrees for a long time. This is not true. The case in All these days. Exceptional temperatures in the Netherlands, but the heat lasted for an unusually long time.”