Saskatchewan has recently witnessed a spike in West Nile cases and extreme heat and humidity are the culprits, officials announced.

“Six new cases were reported by the Saskatoon Health region on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 17. As of last week, the province had detected only four cases of the flu-like disease.”

“Climate change map sends 12 capitals further south.”

A climate projection model for Ontario predicts an average winter temperature of 2C to 3C as early as 2071, compared to -1C to -2C, what we see today. Summer temperatures may climb from 21C up to 25C or 26C. This trend is likely to occur if we don’t do anything to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

The warming trend can lead to “more smog days and the spread of Lyme disease-carrying ticks, currently kept at bay by cold winters.”

Toronto saw a down-pour of 41 millimetres of rain yesterday. David Phillips from Environmental Canada says that Toronto will witness more of these rain episodes rather than “drawn-out” rainfalls due to climate change.

Small thawing glaciers can cause havoc to rising sea levels this century. These glaciers only represent 1% of the water contained in the Antarctica and Greenland ice sheets, but can contribute 60% of the predicted rise in sea level.

Records showed an average increase of 6.2mm of rainfall across the United Kingdom. Climate Scientists state that human activity is responsible for 50%-85% of this increase.

Maize, vegetables and fruit are having trouble surviving the heatwave that has swept through the Serb Republic. As a result, production may be as low as half in Bosnia this year.

The past century has witnessed a rapid increase in Atlantic storms, with the average yearly number doubling since 1905. Climate scientists studying this phenomenon “suggest the trend is due to the rise in sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic, a phenomenon with a well-established link to climate change.”

Hot and muggy weather led to an appeal for energy conservation across Ontario yesterday. Not only did homeowners powered down, but large retailers like Canadian Tire, Wal-Mart and Loblaws also responded by turning off some lights and lowering their air conditioning.

The United Nations’ weather agency reports that 2007 has experienced a record number of extreme weather events, including floods, heatwaves, storms and cold snaps across the globe.