Extreme and deadly heat in Europe, Asia and across Canada and the U.S.Wildfires in California, British Columbia and here in Ontario, in Parry Sound and North Bay.Tuesday night’s flood in Toronto that saw more than 70 millimetres of rain dumped downtown in two hours.Climate experts say it’s all part of a trend the planet has been experiencing for the past 30 years, one we should expect to continue over the coming decades.“It’s not new weather, just a more extreme (version) of the old weather. The weather seems more energized, more ramped up,” says David Phillips, a senior climatologist with Environment Canada.The sizzling heat and heavy rains fit the pattern of global warming caused by increased greenhouse gases, climatologists say.Read more:Toronto infrastructure overwhelmed by rare storm, experts say Men trapped in flooded elevator describe their rescueIt’s a pattern that has had grave consequences this year.Hundreds have died across the globe this summer, including in Quebec. There’s been flooding in Ireland, fires in Greece.We’ve seen temperatures in Sweden’s northern region, inside the Arctic Circle, reach 32 degrees C (nearly 90 degrees F). Dubai, a hot city to begin with, saw scorching temperatures of 50 C in June.California’s Death Valley topped that in July with temperatures that reached as high as 53 C.That state, which saw it’s hottest July ever with an average temperature of 27 C, has experienced the worst wildfires in its history as a result.Phillips noted that earlier this week, nine out of 10 Canadian provinces were in the grip of a heat wave — and the 10th had a heat warning.It’s something you don’t often see in Canada, he says.Worldwide, it’s the large area covered by the pattern of the heat this summer, plus the intensity of the heat and its duration — we’ve seen hot temperatures across Canada since May, Phillips notes — that all point to ...
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