Will Canada see a repeat record-setting heat wave in summer 2022?

Climate experts say it’s hard to clearly predict what will happen next summer, but there are lessons to be learnt from this year’s extreme weather events.

After a summer of record-breaking temperatures and raging wildfires, Canadians should be prepared for more scorching heat waves in the years to come, experts have warned.

The extreme weather events — attributed to climate change — that the country saw this past summer should serve as a “warning sign” that urgent climate action is needed, said Kent Moore, professor of physics at the University of Toronto, Mississauga.

“If we continue to warm the planet up, we’re going to see more and more of these events. They’re going to become more and more catastrophic,” he told Global News.

So, what does this mean for next summer? It’s hard to clearly predict, experts say, as there are many variables at play.

According to the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global surface temperature will continue to increase until at least the mid-century under all greenhouse emissions scenarios.

Global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius and 2 degrees Celsius will be exceeded during the 21st century unless deep reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades, the UN climate panel said in its report published in August.

A “heat dome,” which is a high-pressure system that traps warm air underneath it, raised the mercury to unprecedented levels in Canada, shattering more than 100 heat records across British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon and Northwest Territories this year.

Looking at the summer surface temperature trends, Peter Carter, an expert reviewer for the IPCC, is concerned that Canada like the rest of the world is headed for “hellishly hot summers.”