For decades scientists have been warning of longer, hotter, drier summers as a result of the changes we humans have caused to our climate.
In the final week of June we all got an unwelcome teaser of the future as a “heatdome” settled over B.C. In Whistler, many of us flocked to nature’s cool lakes or shaded forests for sanctuary—or just hid inside—as we collectively hunkered down to sweat it out.
In the same week the community of Lytton, B.C. recorded the highest temperature ever recorded for Canada, not just once, not twice, but three days in a row! Peaking at a whopping 49.6 degrees Celsius (or 121°F) on June 29, the community simmered just 7°C shy of the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth (56.7°C recorded in the aptly named Death Valley, California).
The very next day Lytton was destroyed by a fire that, like close to half of B.C.’s wildfires, was human-caused.
The pain and panic was palpable as community members called in to an emergency broadcast to alert others to closed roads, refuge centre locations and reflect—on how there simply wasn’t time: to check on neighbours; evacuate animals; or gather personal belongings.
As temperatures and the number of active wildfires across B.C. remain scarily high for early July, many in Whistler who have long been aware of the link between climate change and the increasing number, scale and intensity of fires are on edge. It is clear that in the immediate term, we all need to be ready. Pack your grab-and-go emergency bag and check out Whistler’s emergency preparedness and evacuation plans. These plans are created for the community, but they are only useful if we know what they say ahead of time.
Once our emergency bags are packed, we must focus on root causes and ramp up our collective action on climate.
Proven climate solutions already exist and we must each find ways to support changes that lessen our emissions impacts at all scales—community, business, and individual. Change will absolutely not always be easy or convenient (timely example being user-pay parking fees in parks), and we may ask why some changes are happening ahead of others, but the goal must be progress rather than perfection, and many changes will bring opportunities to become a healthier, more resilient community.
If there is one thing COVID-19 showed us it is that change can happen quickly, and on a massive scale, when we work together to protect what we love.
At the time of writing this, the BC Centre for Disease Control highlights the tragic fatalities resulting from COVID-19 at 1,759 in 18 months. Current counts from the BC Coroners Service highlight last week's heat wave as having killed over 700 people in seven days.
If we want to have a liveable planet—for current and future generations of all species—we have to focus on the long game. Let’s push and/or keep pushing employers and governments at all levels to do more. Let's push ourselves—to speak up, support initiatives focused on the collective good and to examine our own choices—because quite literally every action counts.
In humility and hope.
Claire Ruddy, Executive Director | AWARE Whistler
