The Pacific Northwest's recent heat wave — which overwhelmed communities in both Canada and the U.S. — was at least 150 times more likely to happen because of climate change, new data suggests. They concluded the record-breaking heat wave would have been "virtually impossible" without human influence. While climate change made such an extreme heat wave more likely, the scientists say it was still very unusual. The team came up with two possible explanations for how a heat wave of this magnitude happened. (Ben Nelms/CBC)First, they say a pre-existing drought and the unusual atmospheric conditions that created the "heat dome," combined with climate change, created very high temperatures.

Source: CBC News July 08, 2021 01:07 UTC