Hundreds of people have died in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia in the last week as a result of the unprecedented heat wave that has ravaged most of the Pacific Northwest and prompted record high temperatures in Canada. 

CNBC reported, since Friday, at least 63 individuals have died in Oregon due to severe heat, according to the state medical examiner’s office; 45 of those deaths were recorded in Multnomah County, which includes Portland. Temperatures in the region reached a record high of 116°F.

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The tentative cause of death, according to Multnomah County Health Officer Dr. Jennifer Vines, was hyperthermia, or an unusually high body temperature caused by the body’s inability to deal with heat, CNBC reported. Many of the victims were discovered alone and without access to air conditioning.

“This was a true health crisis that has underscored how deadly an extreme heat wave can be, especially to otherwise vulnerable people,″ Vines said in a statement to CNBC.

“I know many county residents were looking out for each other and am deeply saddened by this initial death toll,” Vines added. “As our summers continue to get warmer, I suspect we will face this kind of event again.″

Lisa Lapointe, the chief coroner of British Columbia, told CNBC at least 486 unexpected fatalities were recorded between Friday and Wednesday, and the figure is certain to rise. The 195% spike is comparable to roughly 165 deaths that would normally occur in the province over the course of five days.

“While it is too early to say with certainty how many of these deaths are heat-related, it is believed likely that the significant increase in deaths reported is attributable to the extreme weather B.C. has experienced,” Lapointe told CNBC in a statement.

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According to the medical examiner’s office in King County, Washington, which includes Seattle, over a dozen individuals died from the heat on Wednesday. In Spokane, Washington, two persons were discovered dead in their residences on Tuesday due to apparent heat-related stress.

“We cannot just turn up the AC; we have to turn up our level of efforts fighting the underlying cause of our changing world — climate change,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee wrote Tuesday in a Seattle Times op-ed.

“Our recent discomfort is but the tip of the melting iceberg,” Inslee wrote further. “What we felt this week is just the opening act in a looming global disaster.”

Heat waves are becoming increasingly common and intense in the United States as a result of human-caused climate change. This week’s high temperatures coincide with the worst drought conditions in the previous two decades in the West.

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Climate change is responsible for more than one-third of worldwide heat-related fatalities during warm seasons, according to a new study that CNBC quoted. Heat kills more people in the United States than any other weather catastrophe.

Lower evening temperatures, which may give relief from the scorching daytime temperatures during heat waves, are also decreasing as the Earth heats, putting individuals without air conditioning at risk.

In a meeting with Western governors on Wednesday, President Joe Biden said that climate change has resulted in a deadly mix of severe heat and persistent drought and that the United States is lagging behind in devising strategies to prevent increasing wildfires.

During the meeting, which included governors from Oregon, California, New Mexico, Nevada, Washington, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, the president remarked. “Right now we have to act, and act fast…the truth is we’re playing catch-up.”

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According to the World Meteorological Organization, the Earth has already warmed by more than 1°C relative to pre-industrial levels. To avert the worst effects of global warming, scientists have repeatedly advocated for urgent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.