When foreigners hear the word Canada the first thing that comes to their mind is snowfall and cold weather. White people and tall buildings. But did you know that in 2021 Canada is facing its worst summer ever. Rising temperatures, heat domes and heat waves along with COVID-19 is destroying the eagerly awaited summer activities of the Canadians.

The initial temperature to cook a shrimp is 49.C and so has been the temperature of Lytton (Canada) in the past week. Heat dome is the weather phenomenon behind this extreme rise in temperature.

What is a heat dome?

The Pacific Ocean can be divided into two parts: west and east. The west side aligns with Mongolia and China and the eastside aligns with Canada and USA. In the past few years, the temperature in the west side, i.e. the Asian side, is rising which leads to the formation of hot air that rises and gets blown towards the east side by the prevailing wind where it gets trapped on the land.

When it gets trapped on the land due to a high pressure system it creates a dome like structure. Think of the hot air as “dough” and your “hands” as the high pressure system. With circular motion by your hands you create a dome like structure on the dough, similarly a high pressure system creates a dome like structure of the hot air over the land.

This condition also obstructs the formation of clouds hence more UV rays penetrate the ground.

It leads to extreme rise in temperature and it may take several days to a week for this natural dome to dismantle, meanwhile creating the environment almost unbearable to sustain life. Drought, wildfires, and sudden death are some of the consequences of heat dome.

How has the heat dome and heat waves affected Canadians?

In Canada almost 800 people have died due to extreme rise in temperature and the creation of a heat dome.

Scientists have been conducting research to find out the relation between climate change and heat domes but right now there is no conclusive proof to back the theory. Climate change cannot be linked to one specific weather event however climate change certainly influences hot weather.

Even cities close to the Arctic Circle in Russia broke temperature records this month. In Canada after a week of rising temperatures a slow decline was experienced.