“Hot town, livin’ in the city”: Fredericton breaks record with eighth Level 1 Heat Advisory

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August 12, 2016

FREDERICTON, N.B – If you live in Fredericton, you know that calling the weather we’ve experienced this July and August “hot” is an understatement.

Five years ago the provincial government’s Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) began the Heat Alert Assistance Program to monitor and issue public heat advisories to the public.

Since its inception Frederictonians have experienced a number of hot summers, each one seemingly hotter than the last. This week EMO issued its eighth heat Level 1 heat advisory for Fredericton, the most in a summer to date. The previous record for the city was seven Level 1 heat advisories in 2014, and in 2012.

Quotes:

“The number of days reaching above 30 degrees Celsius is only going to continue to grow in the province until we get serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions provincially, nationally, and globally.” – Dr. Louise Comeau, Director of  Climate Change and Energy Solutions at the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.

“It’s not just the risks to our health from extreme heat that we need to worry about. The other side of the coin is the extreme bursts of precipitation that we are also experiencing. Extreme rainfall events that dump over 100 mm of rain in less than a 24-hour period, as happened last September, are destructive, disruptive and expensive.” – Dr. Louise Comeau.

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Facts:

On September 30th, 2015 Fredericton and surrounding rural areas bore the brunt of an extreme rainfall event that dropped more than 100 mm of rain in less than a 24-hour period. The storm washed out roads in rural areas, as well as parts of Highway 7 between Fredericton and Saint John.

Since 2010, extreme weather events in every part of the province have cost taxpayers more than $80 million in repairs to public infrastructure.

Links:

Read: A Climate Action Plan for New Brunswick

 

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