Allison Hanes: Summer is not as carefree as it used to be

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It was only a matter of time.

After a warmer-than-usual winter with much less snowfall than normal and a 12-month stretch from May 2023 to April 2024 that was the hottest on record globally, the first heat wave of the season has settled over Montreal.

In fact, much of North America is under a heat dome, an unscientific term many meteorologists use to describe a large hot air mass where a high pressure system prevents warmer air from rising and amplifies the roasting conditions on the ground.

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With temperatures set to soar as high as 35 degrees C for the next few days, the humidex will make it feel more like 40.

So students and teachers will have to sweat out the last few days of class in Quebec’s poorly ventilated schools.

Any patch of green space or expanse of parkland will serve as an escape from the concrete jungle, where asphalt creates a heat-island effect that causes the mercury to soar even more.

The city is preparing to open cooling centres in public buildings like libraries to give people without air conditioning at home some relief.

Montreal and other municipalities are also trying to expedite the opening of swimming and wading pools, and ensure the water is flowing in splash pads and misting centres. Because we’re going to need them sooner rather than later.

Environment Canada is forecasting a warmer-than-average summer across Canada.

But what does that even mean anymore, in an age when climate change is happening before our very eyes? Month after month, international temperatures blow past previous benchmarks, scientists’ alarming prognostications about how much — and how fast — the planet is warming grow grimmer, and long predicted disasters from fires to flash flooding become tragic realities.

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This is not a very cheery note on which to begin the highly anticipated summer season. But let’s face it, summer is not as carefree as it used to be.

Sure, there have always been heat waves and droughts. But now they are more intense, longer, deadlier and sometimes disastrous.

An early summer heat wave in 2018 killed 66 Montrealers, many of them vulnerable seniors who died baking in their oven-like apartments. It was a wakeup call that the climate crisis was already here — now — lurking in our own backyard.

In 2021, the mercury in Lytton, B.C., obliterated the Canadian heat record of 49.6 C. The town burned to the ground a day later.

Last summer, northern Quebec was ablaze. Plumes of suffocating smoke not only blanketed Montreal, but drifted as far away as the Big Apple, forcing New York City to close schools.

The risk of more catastrophic forest fires is so high that Environment Canada is launching a new dashboard to warn the public about the location of infernos and the trajectory of smoke clouds. Stay tuned for those bulletins to become regular daily fare starting in July, alongside the usual weather forecasts, storm warnings, ultraviolet index and air quality advisories.

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Summer now carries risks that mirror those of winter. Instead of frostbite, we have to worry about dehydration. Rather than hypothermia, we have to fear heat stroke. We trade in the toques and boots for lightweight clothing and sun hats.

Public health officials are warning Montrealers to drink lots of water in the coming days, even if we’re not thirsty. They also suggest spending at least two hours a day inside where there is air conditioning on and avoiding heavy exertion during the peak hours of the day. Don’t leave kids or pets in sweltering cars. Get in touch with elderly family members, friends or neighbours who might be more susceptible to the effects of heat exhaustion. Those who work outdoors, be it landscaping, farming or doing road construction, should take special precautions. Athletes and sports teams need to be extra careful.

There’s a whole new checklist to cope with dangers that may have always existed in extreme situations, but have become the new normal. There’s so much more work to be done to make Montreal and other cities more resilient to the impact of the climate emergency.

No one wants to think of doomsday on a sizzling June day. We’d rather have a drink on a terrasse, picnic in the park, or visit one of this island city’s many beaches. Summer is fleeting! Life is short!

But Mother Nature has dropped in for the next few days to remind Montrealers just how perilous life can be on a scorching planet. Then we’ll go back to enjoying summer until the next heat wave, tornado, flood, mudslide or wildfire triggers our alarm.

ahanes@postmedia.com

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