As the intense heat wave in the western provinces eases its grip, a former Environment Canada research scientist says that this weather event, while unusual, was caused by natural climate variability and is comparable to heat waves that occurred in the 1920s and ’30s. “This heat wave was exceptional, but it does not indicate any serious climate change issue,” Madhav Khandekar told The Epoch Times. “I think it is part of natural climate variability that we Canadians seem to forget.” At the height of the heat wave, the village of Lytton in B.C. set a Canadian record of 49.6 degrees Celsius on June 29. On July 2, B.C.’s chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said 719 sudden and unexpected deaths have been reported over a seven-day period, noting that the severe weather was a significant contributing factor. Seattle, Portland, and some other U.S. cities also broke heat records, with temperatures in some places …