Supposed list of most extreme temperatures in Canada is wrong | Fact check
The claim: All of Canada's most extreme hot temperatures were recorded in 1937 or earlier
A June 17 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a table titled "List of the most extreme temperatures ever recorded in Canada."
It includes the purported high-temperature record and date for nine provinces. All of the records are listed as having occurred in 1937 or earlier.
"Stop falling for all the BS that 'We have never had temps like this!'" reads text above the list.
The post was shared 10,000 times in a month.
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Our rating: False
Multiple Canadian heat records have been set since 1937. The post omits data from British Columbia, Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Data listed for four of the provinces included in the post does not match official government extreme heat records.
Canadian all-time high temperature recorded in 2021
The most glaring omission in the post is that the hottest temperature ever recorded in Canada came in 2021, in British Columbia.
Official records from Environment and Climate Change Canada, the government agency that keeps them, shows extreme heat records were also set after 1937 in the Northwest Territories, Yukon, Nunavut, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Facebook post's listings for Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta, Quebec and Ontario did not match the official records. Data from British Columbia, Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories were omitted from the post.
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As USA TODAY has previously reported, individual extreme heat records, whether they were set recently or decades ago, cannot be used to determine whether Earth's climate is changing. Instead, researchers have determined that Earth's climate is warming by evaluating global temperature data spanning decades.
On average, Canada warmed nearly 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit between 1948 and 2022, according to the Canadian government. Modern climate change is caused by greenhouse gas emissions associated with human activity.
The Facebook user did not respond to USA TODAY's request for the source of the data in the post.
AFP also debunked the post.
Our fact-check sources:
Ken Dosanjh, July 10, Interview with USA TODAY
Nicole Allen, July 11, Email exchange with USA TODAY
USA TODAY, Sept. 21, 2023, Global warming happening despite 1913 Death Valley temperature record
NASA Vital Signs of the Planet, accessed July 9, Causes
NASA Vital Signs of the Planet, accessed July 9, Global temperature
Government of Canada, accessed July 9, Temperature change in Canada
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Canada extreme temperature list omits recent data | Fact check
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