Here’s a frightening example of climate destruction: Lytton, British Columbia. That poor little Canadian town hit 49.6 °C (121.3 °F) just a few days ago. Lytton saw the highest temperature ever recorded in Canada. It was in all the papers and every network report.
Dude, we’re talking about Canada here! That’s temperature is insane. If you thought Seattle was unusual, think Canada and 121 °F. That was all-time record-breaking heat. If your head doesn’t hurt, you’re not paying attention.
Here’s the odd part. On that very same horrible day, a wildfire swept through the town and destroyed 90 percent of the community. That part wasn’t in the news as much. Here’s a quote from the Washington Post:
Jeff Chapman told Postmedia News that his parents, a couple in their 60s named Janette and Mike, took cover in a hole in the ground as the area went up in flames.
Chapman, who was nearby getting ready for a family barbecue, then saw an electricity pole topple and fall on his parent’s hiding spot. They did not make it out, he told a reporter, speaking from a motel in a nearby town on Thursday.
“It’s their grave now,” he said.
Washington Post, “‘Lytton is gone’: Accounts of death, destruction in Canadian village that caught fire in record heat,” July 2, 2021
“Lytton is gone.”
Was that a surprise for you? I know I barely heard about it. I didn’t see the fire reported in the network news or the local coverage, despite those same media outlets dedicating endless stories to the heatwave. Almost none of my sources mentioned that Lytton burned to the ground on that same day. Kudos to the Washington Post, but even they barely covered it.
That’s weird, right? We’re seeing climate destruction right now. But even as the smoke rises, we can’t make ourselves look.
I’m sure we’ll deal with the reality of rising temperatures with the adult intellectual capabilities we’ve demonstrated so recently.
