Taking the Heat

The combined heat dome-related death tolls for the US Pacific North-West and Canada's British Columbia appears to be around 700 (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/08/pacific-northwest-heatwave-deaths). Officials reported 116 extreme heat-related deaths in Oregon and 78 in Washington state. Although the total in Washington was lower, it represented a huge jump in mortalities from this cause, in what is usually a temperate area. Notably, many of the Oregon victims lacked air-conditioning (it's not normally needed). Less detail is available about the roughly 500 extreme heat-related deaths in British Columbia. Models suggest, using current figures, this heat dome effect was a once in a thousand year event. If, however, global heating elevated world temperatures by 0.8 degrees Centigrade, such events could happen every 5 to 10 years. Politicians seem quite happy to aim for an increase in global temperature of 1.5 degrees above pre-Industrial levels (as in the Paris accord). We are not, however, on track (given current rates of 'greenhouse gas' emissions) to achieve a figure as low as 1.5.