This page documents notable

heat wave A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...

s worldwide in 2021. In June 2021, a heat wave set a record high nationwide temperature in Canada. The event led to thousands of heat-related deaths.

List

February

Across

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and parts of

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, unusually high-temperatures in the late-winter period were reported from 20 February until 28 February 2021.

June

Eurasia

Parts of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

were hit by record-breaking

in June and July, with temperatures in the Arctic Circle above and highest June temperature were recorded in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

. Temperature above average hit central and eastern Europe, with the highest anomalies centered on Scandinavia and parts of western Russia, due to the

heat dome A heat dome is a weather phenomenon consisting of extreme heat that is caused when the atmosphere traps hot air as if bounded by a lid or cap. Heat domes happen when strong high pressure atmospheric conditions remain stationary for an unusual amou ...

effect.

Anticyclone A high-pressure area, high, or anticyclone, is an area near the surface of a planet where the atmospheric pressure is greater than the pressure in the surrounding regions. Highs are middle-scale meteorological features that result from interpl ...

conditions over Russia resemble those in the 2010 heat waves, with parts of Siberia were higher than normal. The shores of the

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; , ; ) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territorial waters.World Wildlife Fund, 2008. It was known earlier among Russi ...

saw hotter temperatures than beaches in Italy and southern France, around for several days. In June 2021,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

faced a record-breaking increase in temperatures in western parts of the country, specifically the

Kyzylorda Kyzylorda ( , formerly known as Kzyl-Orda (), Ak-Mechet (Ак-Мечеть), Perovsk (Перовск), and Fort-Perovsky (Форт-Перовский), is a city in south-central Kazakhstan, capital of Kyzylorda Region and former capital of the ...

, Mangystau, and

Turkistan Turkestan,; ; ; ; also spelled Turkistan, is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). The region is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its ...

regions. As a result, the Kazakh meteorological service Kazhydromet forecasted that an extreme drought would take place. By 7 July, the temperatures reached up to . Prior to the announcement of increased temperatures, photos from the Mangystau Region emerged on social media which showed emaciated horses on a verge of dying. According to the

Ministry of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

, the cause for situation was due to lack of pasturage in the area as a result of several climatic conditions, and that measures would be implemented to prevent the further casualties of livestock. The

Khabar Agency The Khabar Agency (KA) (, ; ) is a major media outlet in Kazakhstan. It was established in 1995, known originally as the National Television News Agency (Khabar is ''News'' in Kazakh). It is currently one of the largest networks in the country, a ...

on 16 June 2021 reported that approximately 2,000 livestock had died with Kazakh lawmakers calling for a state of emergency to be implemented in the Mangystau and Kyzylorda regions, citing the problems in farmers whom were unwilling to feed the cattle due to inflated costs for animal feed. In July 2021, due to worsening situation, Kazakh President

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev (born 17 May 1953) is a Kazakhstani politician and diplomat who has served as the second president of Kazakhstan since 2019. He previously served as Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Prime Minister from 1999 to 2002 ...

called on Agriculture Minister Saparhan Omarov to resign, citing his failure to provide assistance to struggling farmers. On 13 July, a state of emergency was introduced in the

Aral District Aral (, , ارال اۋدانى) is a district of Kyzylorda Region in southern Kazakhstan. The administrative center of the district is the town of Aral. Population: Geography Lake Zhaksykylysh lies in the district, about to the northeast o ...

in an attempt to solve the shortage of feed. In a visit to Mangystau Region, Acting Agriculture Minister Erbol Qaraşukeev pledged that 1.9 billion ₸ would allocated in order to reduce the costs of livestock feed and that a ban on its exports would be placed as well.

North America

An extreme

affected much of

Western North America Western North America is the western edge of the North American continent that borders the Pacific Ocean. It consists of Alaska at the farthest north, down through the western Canadian province of British Columbia, the western U.S. states of Wa ...

from late June through mid-July 2021. Rapid attribution analysis found this was a 1000-year weather event, made 150 times more likely by climate change. The heat wave affected

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

Western Nevada Western Nevada (WNV) is a region and the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Nevada that includes Reno, Carson City, Carson Valley and Virginia City. Lyon County and Churchill County are sometimes also referred to as part of Western Nevada ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

in the United States, as well as

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, and, in its latter phase,

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, and

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

, all in Canada. The heat wave appeared due to an exceptionally strong

ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

centered over the area, whose strength was linked to the

effects of climate change Effects of climate change are well documented and growing for Earth's natural environment and human societies. Changes to the climate system include an Instrumental temperature record, overall warming trend, Effects of climate change on the ...

. It resulted in some of the highest temperatures ever recorded in the region, including the highest temperature ever measured in Canada at . The exact death toll is unknown, and growing. On July 6, preliminary statistics released by the British Columbia

Coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

Service indicated 610 more sudden deaths than usual occurred in the province and

logged 66 excess deaths in the week of the heat wave; the Chief Coroner of British Columbia later said that in the week between June 25 to July 1, 569 deaths were confirmed to have happened due to heat-related causes. Confirmed deaths in the United States include at least 116 in

(of which 72 are in

Multnomah County Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland metropolitan area. The state's smallest and most populous county, it ...

, which includes

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

), at least 112 in

and one death in

; though an analysis by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' suggests that around 600 excess deaths occurred on the week the heat wave passed through Washington and Oregon.

July

In July, a

in Europe led to record-breaking temperatures in the UK and Ireland.

August

A heat wave impacted North America in August 2021. The heat wave was the second of the summer for the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

. A state of emergency was declared in Oregon. The

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

issued excessive heat warnings for the

Portland metropolitan area The Portland metropolitan area is a metropolitan area, metro area with its urban area, core in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington (state), Washington. It has 5 principal cities, the largest being Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Man ...

(including

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver ( ) is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, Vancouver had a population of 190, ...

), most of the

Columbia River Gorge The Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Up to deep, the canyon stretches for over as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range, forming the boundary between the state ...

, and the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, the ...

. Cooling centers were opened in

. Oregon's climatologist said the heat wave is "an indicator of a troubling trend".

References

{{Heat wave, state=autocollapse Heat waves in North America 2021 in Europe