To Climate Change Deniers: It’s Hot Outside

Like most things these days, the issue of global warming is politicized and debated. I’m not going to wade into any of these waters. However, I will say one thing.

It’s hot outside. Like really hot outside.

The town (or perhaps city) I live in is called Chilliwack, which is an hour outside of Vancouver, BC. It’s further away from the coast than Vancouver, in the last heatwave it got up to temperatures over 45 Celsius (113 F). That’s hot. Like really hot. I walked down the street to get the mail at 4 pm and it was like the apocalypse had happened. Not a soul was out. My brain screamed at me “get back inside, you are going to die, you, idiot!”

I have lived in coastal BC my whole life. I have played outside in the summers as a kid in my bare feet. I have on the occasional hot summer night even jumped into a lake. But hot nights in BC are rare. It’s rare to be able to enjoy sitting outside after 7 pm in just a t-shirt.

But lately? It’s been hot. Uncharacteristically hot. Hot enough that people died. Hot enough to kill off shellfish that couldn't survive the temperatures. Hot enough to rapidly melt the snow in the mountains to make our rivers run dangerously high. Hot enough to cause forest fires.

I’m not an expert in climate science. I can’t debate with Facebook facts on what is going on in the world. What I can tell you is that in my time spent on this earth, in living in this area, it’s hot. Really hot. Uncharacteristically hot. The times they are a changing and the climate is as well.

If you don’t believe in climate change I’m not going to debate with you or try to tell you that it’s happening. I’m simply going to leave you with one undeniable truth, it’s hot outside. Hotter then it’s ever been as far back as the records go, and it’s not normal.