New heat wave in the United States; Canada takes action against fire

Western America and its 30 million people are under a second heat wave in a few weeks.

The thermometer soared over the Pacific coast and inland at the western edge of the Rocky Mountains this weekend, with high forecasts for this Sunday.

“Dangerous heat wave will affect most of western America, with record temperatures,” the National Weather Service said Sunday, while Canadian meteorologists forecast some parts of the west of the country to be as close as 32 degrees Celsius. Above seasonal terms.

In Canada, as the number rose to 298 on Sunday in the province of British Columbia, authorities announced emergency measures to prevent wildfires in “extreme weather” conditions, 50 of which began in the past two days.

According to the US National Weather Service (NWS), Las Vegas equaled its all-time high of 47.2 degrees Celsius, the first time a city in the middle of the Nevada desert was recorded in 1942 three times.

Sunday is expected to be a few degrees colder, with Death Valley in California reaching 52.2 degrees.

Forecasters have issued a warning bulletin for the metropolitan area in the center of Silicon Valley near San Francisco and several urban centers, including Phoenix (south) and San Jose.

The new heat wave comes three weeks after it hit the western United States and Canada in late June, with three consecutive days of high temperatures in the Canadian province of British Columbia.

“Unprecedented weather conditions in British Columbia continue to pose a serious threat to public safety and rail operations,” Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alcabra said in a statement on Sunday.

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In Canada, a ministerial decree declared “preventive measures … against wildfires,” including reducing the speed of trains when temperatures exceed 30 C and “serious” the risk of fire in that area.

In addition, until October 31, no locomotive will operate in these areas unless inspected in the previous 15 days to ensure that “exhaust systems (…) are free of combustible materials”.

Trains are a common source of wildfires, usually due to lack of maintenance of their anti-sparking equipment.

Many roads and highways in British Columbia have been closed as the government calls the wildfire risk “serious.” A dozen towns or villages are under eviction orders.

The Canadian government has sent investigators to see if a freight train passing 250 kilometers northeast of Vancouver could have destroyed 90% of the city by the end of June, causing a fire.

Last month was the hottest June in North America, according to data released by the European Union’s Climate Monitoring Service.

So far, human activity has caused global warming to be around 1.1 degrees Celsius, resulting in more devastating storms, more intense heat waves, increased drought and wildfires.

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the British Meteorological Service, there is a 40% chance that annual global average temperatures will temporarily exceed 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial temperatures over the next five years.

The last six years since 2020 are the hottest ever.

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