The deadly heat dome that blanketed B.C. for nearly a month in 2021 was significantly worse because of human-caused climate change, according to a new study. Published this week in Communications Earth and Environment, the study found the heat dome was 34% larger and lasted 59% longer, or 27 more days, than a heat wave would have without the effects of global heating caused by humans. Analyzing 40 years of heat wave and wildfire data, Canadian and American researchers found that the greatest number of high temperature and low humidity records were broken in 2021, most of them in July. …While there’s already a well-established link between heat waves and wildfires, this study shows how the heat dome was more intense because of human-caused climate change, said Piyush Jain with Natural Resources Canada. …Jain said the same goes for the extreme wildfires that happened during and after the heat dome.