The Record-After-Record Trifecta: More Warming, More Heat Stress, More Carbon Dioxide

We just hit 430 ppm. 2°C could hit in five years. And extreme heat days are becoming the new baseline.

Extreme days are becoming the new baseline (created by author)

It started like one of those hikes that make you feel lucky to live in British Columbia — and forget the planet is on fire. Mild late spring, just before the mosquitoes and tourists take over the alpine. A steep push, sure — short trail, brutal elevation — but the reward was worth it: a glacial lake cradled by snow-speckled peaks, still holding onto the last breath of winter, its iced surface broken by melting intrusions threading down rock. The quiet pulse of a world that, at first glance, still looked like it had time.

On the way down, the air felt gentle at first — that post-hike relief, a breeze brushing against sweat.

But then something shifted, and the thermostat clicked into another gear. The kind of sudden heat that doesn’t build — it snaps, like a sauna door flung open in your face. The breeze turned into stillness; the warmth, into weight.

At first, I thought it was just me. You know how hikes go — you slip into these pockets of silence, just you and your thoughts pacing each other during those long inner monologues, even if you’re walking…