Heat waves in Southern Quebec 1941-2000

What was done
In a study designed to look for the predicted increases in heat waves in Southern Quebec (Canada) over the last six decades of the 20th century, when climate alarmists claim the planet warmed at a rate and to a level unprecedented over the last couple of millennia - with some claiming an even longer such time period (Hansen et al., 2006) - Khaliq et al. assessed temporal changes in the frequency of occurrence and durations of heat waves based on data acquired at seven weather stations located in southern Quebec (La Tuque, Quebec, Maniwaki, Drummondville, Montreal, Les Cedres, Sherbrooke) for the 60-year period 1941-2000.

What was learned
For heat spells defined in terms of daily maximum air temperature, the majority of extreme events showed "a negative time-trend with statistically significant decreases (at 10% level)," while almost all of the heat spells defined in terms of daily minimum air temperature showed "a positive time-trend with many strong increases (i.e., statistically significant at 5% level) at all of the stations."

What it means
As for what their findings imply, Khaliq et al. say "a possible interpretation of the observed trends is that the maximum temperature values are getting less hot and minimum temperature values are getting less cold with time."

full report at CO2 Science