Heatwave in North America - 7th July 2021

There is a heatwave in North America. The temperature is nearly 50 degrees Celsius in some places.

People are going to special cooling centres. Jenny Carver works at one centre.

Jenny Carver: On Friday around 1pm, we opened three cooling center locations throughout the county. Currently we’re serving about 350 people across all three of those locations."

The temperature is a record. Schools and medical centres closed. Athletes delayed their competition for the Olympic team.

Ashley’s at the cooling centre.

Ashley: "I, I came here because – I, I have an apartment and I have box fans and ice, a freezer and everything – but it just, like, wasn’t enough to keep everything cool. Especially at night, because it was like 90 degrees at midnight or some – or 80 degrees or something – it was crazy.

Many people in Canada died in the heatwave.

There are extra water stations in Vancouver. These help people to get cool.

Ian Widgery has a good idea: eat ice cream.

Ian Widgery: "My gosh! The heat is crazy at the moment. And there’s only one way to stay cool, which is by eating a lot of ice cream."

The heatwave is moving across North America.

People are worried about climate change. Climate change brings heatwaves.