This July was the Earth’s hottest month ever officially recorded by humans, and it was felt in the Parksville Qualicum Beach area.
The Qualicum Beach Airport weather station recorded an average temperature of 19.4 C, said Environment Canada Meteorologist Matt MacDonald, compared to the 17.1 C norm.
“Two point three degrees higher, that’s quite exceptional for an entire month,” he said, with neighbouring stations in areas like Nanaimo showing a similar trend.
The U.S.’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Aug. 20 that at a global average of 16.5 C, this July was the hottest month in their records, going back to 1880, and it may have been the hottest month in 4,000 years.
That beat a record set in 2010 and they said the first seven months of 2015 are also the hottest January-to-July span on record.
Nine of the 10 hottest months on record have happened since 2005, said NOAA climate scientist Jake Crouch in a news release, adding that “it is quite likely that 2015 will end up the hottest year on record, beating last year.”
Crouch said this reaffirms that the Earth is warming, with a boost this year from an El Nino warming of the Pacific Ocean.
“The climate changes constantly, it’s just changing more because of what humans are doing to it,” MacDonald echoed.
“This will be the new standard weather in 100 years,” he said.
MacDonald said a low pressure trough off the coast over the next two weeks will moderate temperatures a little, but that we will have to wait well into the fall to get significant enough cooling and rain to impact things like the wildfire situation and watering restrictions.
The Coastal Fire Centre reports there are currently 85 fires burning across B.C., including eight in the Coastal Fire Centre but none in the Parksville Qualicum Beach Area. See a story about people contravening the burning ban here.
There are watering restrictions in place with Qualicum Beach residents allowed to water between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. and watering almost completely banned in Parksville and the Regional District of Nanaimo where residents are only allowed to hand water vegetable gardens between the hours of 6-10 a.m. and 6-10 p.m.
For more info contact your municipality: Parksville (250-248-6144), RDN (250-390-6560) or Qualicum Beach (250-752-6921) or visit their websites. To report a wildfire or for more info call 1-800-663-5555 or *5555 on a cellphone and check www.bcwildfire.ca.