More than 13 days per year of temperatures above 86F pose a threat to Canadians’ health – Watts Up With That?
Essay by Eric Worrall
If this deadly global warming continues, Canadians may have to invest in T-shirts and shorts.
Broken temperature records are alarming but it’s not too late to limit global warming
Published: 3 September 2024 11.51pm AEST
Alex Crawford
Assistant Professor, Department of Environment and Geography, University of ManitobaJuly 22, 2024 is hottest day in recorded human historywith the average global temperature being 17.16 degrees Celsius.
This follows hottest June ever recordedfollowed by the hottest May on record. All of this comes after 2023, the hottest year on record, which was 1.48 degrees Celsius warmer than the 1850-1900 average, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
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… 1.48 C of total warming doesn’t sound like much. So while these numbers are useful global benchmarks for scientists and policymakers, most Canadians are likely to feel the effects of climate change only through specific (often extreme) weather events.
For example, Global warming means more sweltering heat waves. leaving Canadians sweaty, tired and — in some cases — requiring medical attention.
Consider the city of Montréal. Between 1900 and 1923, Montréal averaged six days per year with temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius. Since 2000 (2000-2023), The average number of days per year reaching 30 degrees Celsius has doubled to 13.
Any hot day can be just a hot day — that’s the weather. But doubling the number of hot days in 24 years compared to a century ago? That’s climate change.
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As an Australian living three hours from the southern edge of the tropics, I want to reassure Canadians that we’re doing just fine in this deadly warm climate. Some of us even like it. You won’t die if Montreal starts experiencing 14 days above 30C/86F each year.
But some people may live longer if global warming eases your harsh winters.
Cold weather kills more people than warm weather, even in hot countries like India.
The fact that cold weather poses a much greater threat to human health than heat should come as no surprise to anyone except climate scientists.
Humans are a tropical species. In the environment where our ancestors originally evolved, clothing was optional. Everywhere else, we need clothing to protect us from anything other than the harsh tropical conditions, or we would die from sun exposure.
As if Indian Studies I linked above to demonstrate that the biggest threat to human health from ambient temperature is people ignoring temperatures that are just a little cooler than comfortable. How many Canadians have died prematurely because green policies increased energy prices and they hesitated to turn on the heat in their rooms?
The evidence is clear. Our bodies are medically stressed by even mild cold, stress so severe that it causes significant increases in mortality, strokes, and heart attacks. Cold weather causes a much greater increase in mortality than hot weather, even in hot countries like India.
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