Sydney, N.S., stands out for temperatures strongly linked to climate change in recent months: data

It's felt like an unusually hot summer to Mayor Amanda McDougall-Merrill of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

The heat is "not something that we've had to deal with as frequently as we had this summer," she said. "It's been really rough."

With temperatures as high as 33 C in recent months, the CBRM has had to respond to scorching temperatures by doing things like adjusting the times its employees work outdoors and spreading the word of free public spaces where residents can escape the heat, McDougall-Merrill said.

According to new data from U.S.-based climate science organization Climate Central, these conditions in Sydney, N.S., stand out from other places.

Out of 110 Canadian cities studied, Sydney had the third-highest number of days in June and July where temperatures had "very strong" links to climate change.

The organization's Climate Shift Index estimates how much more likely a location is to experience different temperatures due to human-caused climate change.

In June and July, Sydney had 13 days at a Climate Shift Index value of four or higher. According to Climate Central, this indicates extreme or exceptional climate change events.

During that time, Sydney also had the second-most unusually warm daily temperatures out of the Canadian cities studied, averaging 2.1 degrees higher than the baseline from 1991 to 2020.

And there will be more days in the future of uncomfortably warm temperatures, along with longer seasons with the potential to hit them, said Andrew Pershing, a climate scientist and vice-president for science at Climate Central.

"These are the conditions you should expect to have going forward."

McDougall-Merrill said the CBRM has had a large learning curve in recent years when it comes to being prepared for disasters and the effects of climate change.

Since post-tropical storm Fiona hit in 2022, the municipality has secured more than $1 million in funding to help upgrade its emergency management services. 

There is now a dedicated command centre, McDougall-Merrill said, and comfort centres throughout the municipality that have been upgraded with things like large generators. She added these centres could potentially be deployed during extreme heat.

Another separate and new study from Climate Central also found that climate change has led to more warm nights in Nova Scotia and the Maritimes.