The summer of 2021 has been brutal in the western portions of North America, as the oppressive heat has resulted in record high temperatures, extreme drought, raging wildfires, and death. In five weeks, the fourth searing heatwave is set to strike the west of the United States and this weekend, aggravating wildfires that are already ravaging an area larger than Rhode Island.
1. Acres of land burns
The impending heatwave comes as 12 states are already battling 71active wildfires. In Oregon, the massive Bootleg Fire has burned more than 200,000 acres. Over a million acres of the western US and Canada are now in flames. In northeastern Washington state, hundreds of residents of the Colville Indian Reservation were forced to evacuate after a wildfire sparked by lightning grew rapidly. Washington Governor Jay Inslee said Wednesday climate change is to blame. The Kremlin has ordered heavy-lift military aircraft to join firefighting efforts as massive wildfires scorch northeastern Siberia in Russia. A heatwave and strong winds have left about 2 million acres of Siberian forest and tundra burning. This week, yet another heatwave broke records in western Russia, with high temperatures in Moscow forecast to approach 90 degrees Fahrenheit each day throughout the weekend.
2. Hundreds of heat-related deaths
Hundreds of deaths have been attributed to the record-breaking temperatures that scorched Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia the last week of June. These areas, where average temperatures are usually in the 70s this time of year, left them unprepared to face the heat, which proved fatal for many residents. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, the combined area of the blazes is about 1,553 sq miles (4,021 sq km). Officials in Oregon put the death toll at 116. Most occurring in Multnomah County, the state’s most populous county, where officials inform many victims, had no air conditioners or fans and died alone. Washington State’s death toll from the heatwave has risen to 78. British Columbia’s heat-related deaths proved even more staggering.
3. Mass extinction of wildlife
The calls flooded into Blue Mountain Wildlife first thing on June 28; dozens of baby hawks, desperate to escape the blast of early summer heat, bailed from their nests and plummeted to the ground. Over the weekend, researchers estimated that as many as 1 billion sea creatures might have died due to the combination of heatwave and drought. An analysis by scientists from prominent universities across the world, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2020, found more than 500 species of land animals are on the brink of extinction and likely will die off within 20 years. The research shows that with interdependent species dying one after another, that will have a domino effect, causing extinction rates to accelerate.
A study last month estimated the percent and number of heat deaths each year attributed to human-caused climate change. To reduce this, humans should be more careful and show their love towards the world to be a better place to live for humans and wildlife.
