Japan sets temperature record, worries mount over rice crops

The Hindu

6 days ago

Japan logged a new heat record on August 5, with the mercury hitting 41.8 degrees C, the weather office said, warning temperatures may rise further still.
Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as climate change creates ever more erratic weather patterns, and Japan is no exception.
The scorching temperature in the city of Isesaki on Tuesday surpassed the previous record seen in the western Hyogo region of 41.2 C only last week.
Tokyo has also been struggling with extreme heat.
'I'm really concerned about global warming, but when it comes to my daily life, I can't live without turning on the air conditioner,' office worker Mayomi Saito told AFP.
'I don't really know what I should be doing, I'm just desperately getting through each day.'
Japan's summer last year was the joint hottest on record, equalling the level seen in 2023, followed by the warmest autumn since records began 126 years ago.
Last week in tourist hotspot Kyoto the mercury hit 40C, the first time any of its observation points -- the oldest opened in 1880, the newest in 2002 -- had seen such a high, authorities said.
Experts warn Japan's beloved cherry trees are blooming earlier due to the warmer climate -- or sometimes not fully blossoming -- because autumns and winters are not cold enough to trigger flowering.
The famous snowcap of Mount Fuji was absent for the longest recorded period last year, not appearing until early November, compared with the average of early October.
July was also the hottest since records began in 1898, the weather agency said Friday, with the average monthly temperature 2.89C above the 1991-2020 average.
South Korea, Vietnam sizzle
Blistering heatwaves have also hit other parts of Asia this summer, from South Korea to Vietnam, as well as Europe.
South Korea saw its second-hottest July, with an average temperature of 27.1 C, according the meteorological office, which has been collecting such data since 1973.
The hottest July on record in South Korea was in 1994, when the average temperature reached 27.7 C.
In northern Vietnam, 17 places across seven provinces reported record highs for the month of August, with electricity demand spiking as people try to stay cool, authorities said Tuesday.
The capital Hanoi experienced its first ever August day above 40 C on Monday.
In Japan some dams and paddies nationwide are experiencing a water shortage, with farmers complaining that the sizzling heat combined with the lack of rain is slowing rice cultivation.
Precipitation in July was low over wide areas of Japan, with northern regions facing the Sea of Japan experiencing record low rainfall, it added.
The rainy season ended about three weeks earlier than usual in western regions of Japan, another record.
Every summer, Japanese officials urge the public to seek shelter in air-conditioned rooms to avoid heatstroke.
The elderly in Japan -- which has the world's second-oldest population after Monaco -- are particularly at risk.
This year western Europe saw its hottest June on record, as extreme temperatures blasted the region in punishing back-to-back heatwaves, according to the EU climate monitor Copernicus.
Dangerous weather stretched into the next month, with separate research estimating that climate change made the temperature up to 4 C hotter, pushing the thermometer into deadly territory for thousands of vulnerable people and greatly worsening the projected death toll.
Firefighters also battled blazes across Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, and Portugal in July following a deadly heatwave.
Millions were exposed to high heat stress as daily average temperatures in western Europe climbed to levels rarely seen before -- and never so early in the summer.