Heat warnings issued for Metro Vancouver as temperatures set to soar
Environment Canada extended the warning to the Lower Mainland early Monday after heat warnings were announced for wide swaths of southern B.C. and Vancouver Island over the weekend.
The new warning covers the inland and eastern sections of Metro Vancouver, including central Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster, where daily highs are expected to reach 33 C along with overnight lows around 17 C.
'A ridge of high pressure is bringing elevated temperatures to the South Coast,' said the weather agency. '
'Due to strong northwesterly wind over the Strait of Georgia, the southwestern section of Metro Vancouver as well as areas near the water will likely get a reprieve from the heat.'
But the northeast and inland sections of the Lower Mainland and the Fraser Valley, including Hope, will see daily highs in the low 30s C.
Warnings also continue for inland Vancouver Island, the South Fraser Canyon and parts of the B.C. Interior including the South Okanagan and South Thompson regions.
Temperatures are expected to ease starting on Wednesday.
Environment Canada warns that heat affects everyone, but seniors, people who live alone, those with pre-existing conditions such as diabetes, heart or respiratory disease, and people with mental illness or substance use disorders are especially at risk.
'Check on family, friends and neighbours who are at higher risk, particularly if they live alone, to make sure they have a cool space,' advised the agency.
Early signs of heat illness include feeling unwell, tired, thirsty and having a headache or unusually dark urine. 'These can rapidly evolve into life-threatening emergencies. Move to a cooler environment immediately, such as a shaded or air-conditioned space.'
Drink plenty of water, even before you feel thirsty, to avoid dehydration.
If you have concerns about heat illness, call HealthLinkBC at 811 or check the resources at healthlinkbc.ca.
jruttle@postmedia.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Medscape
28 minutes ago
- Medscape
Diet Rich in Ultraprocessed Grains Ups Risk for IBD
Diets high in packaged breads, cookies, and other highly processed grain products may raise the risk for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), while minimally processed grain products may offer some protection, a large study has found. The sweeping analysis of 124,590 adults from 21 countries found that those eating at least 19 g of ultraprocessed grains a day were about twice as likely to be diagnosed with IBD as peers eating less than 9 g daily. 'Our study adds robust evidence from a large, diverse global cohort that frequent consumption of ultraprocessed grains is associated with an increased risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease,' Neeraj Narula, MD, MPH, gastroenterologist and associate professor of medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, told Medscape Medical News. The study also 'further clarifies that not all grains carry risk — minimally processed grains like fresh bread and rice were associated with lower risk even. These results build on and specify previous findings linking ultraprocessed foods more broadly to IBD,' Narula said. The study was published online on August 4 in The American Journal of Gastroenterology. Diet Matters to IBD Risk According to the latest US data (2021-2023), ultraprocessed foods made up 62% of daily calories for young people and 53% for adults in 2021-2023. The Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study has followed participants aged 35-70 years for a median of nearly 13 years. At enrollment, volunteers completed country-specific food-frequency questionnaires, enabling researchers to quantify usual intake of more than 130 food items and track new cases of IBD reported at biennial follow-ups. The researchers classified packaged breads, sweet breakfast cereals, crackers, pastries and ready-to-heat pizza or pasta as ultraprocessed grains because they are refined and typically contain additives such as emulsifiers and preservatives. Fresh bakery bread and plain rice were analyzed separately as minimally processed grain references. During a median of 12.9 years, 605 participants developed IBD; 497 developed ulcerative colitis (UC) and 108 developed Crohn's disease. Increased intake of ultraprocessed grains was associated with a higher risk for IBD, with hazard ratios (HR) of 2.08 for intake of ≥ 50 g/d and 1.37 for 19-50 g/d compared to intake of < 19 g/d. The increased risk was largely driven by a significantly increased risk for UC (HR, 2.46) and not Crohn's disease (HR, 0.98). Among the different ultraprocessed grain products, packaged bread stood out: Consuming ≥ 30 g/d of packaged bread (a little more than one slice) was associated with a greater than twofold increased risk for IBD (HR, 2.11) compared to no intake of packaged bread. In contrast, greater consumption of fresh bread was associated with a reduced risk of developing IBD (HR, 0.61 for ≥ 65 g/d and 0.45 for 16-65 g/d compared to < 16 g/d). Increased intake of rice was also associated with a lower risk of developing IBD (HR, 0.63 for ≥ 1 serving/d and 0.99 for < 1 serving/d). When the researchers widened the lens to all ultraprocessed foods — from sodas to salty snacks — the risk for IBD climbed further. Participants eating at least five servings a day had nearly a fourfold greater odds of IBD than those eating fewer than one serving (HR, 3.95) — a finding consistent with other data from the PURE study cohort. What to Tell Patients? The authors acknowledged in their paper that it's difficult — if not impossible — to completely avoid ultraprocessed food in the Western diet. They said their findings support 'public health strategies to promote consumption of whole and minimally processed foods while reducing the consumption of highly processed alternatives.' 'I tell my patients that emerging literature shows an association between ultraprocessed food intake and IBD risk, but it's not yet clear whether simply cutting out those foods will improve disease activity once IBD is established,' Narula told Medscape Medical News . 'However, I still encourage patients to reduce ultraprocessed foods and to follow a Mediterranean-style diet — focusing on minimally processed grains, fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, and lean proteins — to support overall gut and general health,' Narula said. Reached for comment, Ashwin Ananthkrishnan, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, who wasn't part of the study, said it 'adds incrementally to the growing data on how ultraprocessed foods may affect the risk of IBD.' 'They (and others) have previously shown a link between general ultraprocessed food consumption and risk of IBD. Others have shown that some of this is mediated through refined grains. This study more specifically studies that question and demonstrates an association,' said Ananthkrishnan. 'This should not be used, however, to counsel patients. It does not study the impact of grain intake on patients with IBD. It may help inform population level preventive strategies (or in high-risk individuals) but requires more confirmation since there is significant heterogeneity between the various countries in this cohort. Countries that have high refined grain intake are also enriched in several other IBD risk factors (including genetics),' Ananthkrishnan told Medscape Medical News .
Wall Street Journal
29 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
Meet the Parents Raising ‘Carnivore Babies,' Swapping Puréed Fruit for Rib-Eye
When Dariya Quenneville's infant daughter was ready for solid food, she skipped the mushed up avocado and banana. On the menu instead? Raw egg yolk and puréed chicken liver. The child, named Schizandra, then moved on to sardines, butter and ice pops made out of bone broth. She gnawed on leg of lamb.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Hoping to catch the Perseid meteor shower in the GTA? What to know for your best chance
Catherine McWatters typically watches the Perseid meteor shower from the comfort of her Toronto backyard with friends. The annual phenomenon is something the former astronomy educator looks forward to. But this year, due to the bright moon, she's not banking on a great view. "Always when something interferes with something you want to observe, it's a sense of disappointment," she said. The Perseid meteor shower typically takes place once a year when the Earth plows through the debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, sending it into our atmosphere. This year, the shower peaks overnight on Aug. 12-13 and is expected to produce as many as 100 meteors per hour. The best conditions to see the shower are dark skies, clear of clouds and smoke. But this year, lower your expectations, say experts like Elaina Hyde, an astronomy professor and director of the Allan I Carswell Observatory at York University. A full moon, smoke and clouds One reason: We just had the sturgeon full moon. "The brighter the moon is, the harder it is to see things next to the moon," Hyde said. "If you're in a really, really dark sky [and] you've got this bright moon, the very faintest meteors will be harder to see." And for residents in areas north of the Greater Toronto Area where wildfires are burning, like the Kawartha Lakes region, local smoke might make it even harder to see the shower. "When those little tiny specks of dust come into the Earth's atmosphere and they make their little streak, it might be behind the smoke cloud and you're just not going to be able to see it," Hyde said. "It really is literally a smoke screen that comes up and depending on the thickness of the smoke, that will limit how many meteors you're going to be able to see." For those in Toronto and elsewhere in southern Ontario, it'll be the clouds that affect the view, according to Crawford Luke, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. "We've got a cold front that's coming through [Tuesday] evening, [Tuesday] night," he said. "So with that, there is a chance for some showers and thunderstorms." Luke says smoke won't interfere with the visibility for those in the GTA, but it could if stargazers are viewing in dark sky preserves, such as Algonquin Park, or in zones where fires might be burning nearby. Where and how to watch Most meteor showers get their name from the constellation from which the meteors seem to originate, called the radiant. In this case the radiant is the constellation Perseus. "If you're looking in the sky, if you're a stargazer, all you have to do is get your little constellation or star map out and find the constellation of Perseus," she said. "Then look in that direction and look for shooting stars ... and they'll streak out obviously across the sky." For those in the GTA eager to get the best views, Luke says head east. "Down towards Kingston and even Brockville … they might be the best place in terms of being away from smoke and hopefully clear later into the evening, before they get into the rain and clouds," he said. Hyde warns avid watchers wanting to get out of the city to check the Ontario Forest Fire Map before heading out to ensure you aren't travelling into restricted zones. She also encourages people to check the smoke and cloud conditions online before travelling out. "Sometimes, going to your own local park and just finding a corner that does not have any street lamps in it might be your best option," she said. "Obviously a dark sky preserve with no fire, no smoke at all is the best option." Despite the bright moon and possible clouds, McWatters says she's not losing all hope and she encourages others not to either. "It might not be as bright as you've seen it in the past … but if you can see stars, you'll be able to see meteors, so look carefully," she said.
