Finding safe haven in the climate change future: The Pacific Northwest
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The catastrophic heat dome that descended over the Pacific Northwest during the summer of 2021 was unlike anything the region, which includes Washington, Oregon and Idaho, had experienced in living memory. It smashed temperature records by as much as 30 degrees Fahrenheit in some locations, left more than 1,000 people dead, and killed more than 1 billion sea creatures in the U.S. and Canada, transforming a region accustomed to mild summer weather into a kiln-like oven in which nighttime temperatures provided little relief.
Given the extremity of what was described as a 1-in-10,000-year heat event, it proved tempting for some who dismiss climate change as a “hoax” to discount the 2021 heat dome as a one-off, but then came the summer of 2022 and another deadly, albeit less severe, heat dome.
In late July, Portland, Ore., saw temperatures above 95°F for seven days straight, a new record. Seattle, where many residents don’t own an air conditioner, also set a new mark for enduring miserably warm weather, with more than six straight days of temperatures above 90°F. More than a dozen people in the region died from heat-related causes and dozens more were hospitalized.
For climate change deniers, hot summer temperatures are proof of nothing, even in regions unaccustomed to extreme heat. Less easy to discount, however, was what happened in autumn in the Pacific Northwest. On Oct. 16, Seattle broke its temperature record for that day by 16 degrees, hitting 88 degrees at a time of year when residents usually rely on sweaters and fleece to keep warm.
Portland hit 87°F on Oct. 15, one of seven high-temperature records set that month, and the city exceeded 80°F on 12 different days, double the previous record of six in the month of October.
The ratio of record-high temperatures to record-low ones is one of the clearest indicators that the planet is warming, and a 2009 study conducted by the National Center for Atmospheric Research found that new record-setting high temperatures were then outpacing new record-low temperatures by a ratio of 2:1. In the 13 years since that study was published, temperatures have continued to rise in places like the Pacific Northwest, and computer models have shown that that disparity will grow to 20:1 by 2050 and by 50:1 by 2100.
One more way that we're screwed. Ironic (or karmic?) that New Mexico had such devastating wildfires this year.