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Japan Today
29-04-2025
- Climate
- Japan Today
Global warming may stop summer school sports in Japan from 2060s
Outdoor school sporting activity may need to be avoided between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. in July and August by the 2060s. Without serious efforts to tackle global warming, students in the 2060s or later may no longer be able to engage in extracurricular outdoor sports in summer in most parts of Japan, according to predictions by a research team. In the most pessimistic global warming scenario, the team's heat stress projections showed all or intense outdoor sporting activity would need to be avoided for some time between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. in July and August in areas apart from the northern main island of Hokkaido. In Japan, extracurricular activities normally take place in the late afternoon, though the situation may differ during the summer vacation period. The team from the National Institute for Environmental Studies and Waseda University in Tokyo created a projection model based on weather data including temperature and humidity as well as a measure of heat stress called the wet-bulb globe temperature, which takes into account factors such as wind and solar radiation, in 842 cities in Japan over a 12-year period. It predicted hourly WBGT heat stress figures in 11 areas across the nation from the 2060s and 2080s, according to scenarios such as when greenhouse gas emissions are drastically cut as well as when emissions are not reduced because of a high dependence on fossil fuels. In the most pessimistic of cases of global warming, the projected reading was 31 or more, meaning outside sporting activity should be avoided in principle under the country's guidelines, in four regions, covering Shikoku, northern and southern Kyushu, and Okinawa, for some time between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. in July and August. A heat stress index at or above 31 roughly corresponds to 35 C or higher in air temperature. Six areas, from Tohoku to Chugoku, had readings between 28 and 31, meaning intense sporting activity should be avoided. Between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., none of the regions had figures of 31 or above, but the projections showed intense sports should be avoided in the same hours in August in all regions apart from Hokkaido. Takahiro Oyama, researcher at the institute's Center for Climate Change Adaptation, said the results were indicative of how people's daily lives will change as global warming progresses. "We need to start thinking about how future club activities should be." The annual Koshien national high school baseball tournament has already adopted a two-session system to reduce the negative impact of the summer heat, dividing some of the schedule into morning and late afternoon games. If the warming of the planet continues, it could affect more than just school sports, leading to time and venue changes, experts said. © KYODO
Kyodo News
29-04-2025
- Climate
- Kyodo News
Global warming may stop summertime school sports in Japan from 2060s
KYODO NEWS - 9 hours ago - 11:06 | Japan, All Without serious efforts to tackle global warming, students in the 2060s or later may no longer be able to engage in extracurricular outdoor sports in summer in most parts of Japan, according to predictions by a research team. In the most pessimistic global warming scenario, the team's heat stress projections showed all or intense outdoor sporting activity would need to be avoided for some time between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. in July and August in areas apart from the northern main island of Hokkaido. In Japan, extracurricular activities normally take place in the late afternoon, though the situation may differ during the summer vacation period. The team from the National Institute for Environmental Studies and Waseda University in Tokyo created a projection model based on weather data including temperature and humidity as well as a measure of heat stress called the wet-bulb globe temperature, which takes into account factors such as wind and solar radiation, in 842 cities in Japan over a 12-year period. It predicted hourly WBGT heat stress figures in 11 areas across the nation from the 2060s and 2080s, according to scenarios such as when greenhouse gas emissions are drastically cut as well as when emissions are not reduced because of a high dependence on fossil fuels. In the most pessimistic of cases of global warming, the projected reading was 31 or more, meaning outside sporting activity should be avoided in principle under the country's guidelines, in four regions, covering Shikoku, northern and southern Kyushu, and Okinawa, for some time between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. in July and August. A heat stress index at or above 31 roughly corresponds to 35 C or higher in air temperature. Six areas, from Tohoku to Chugoku, had readings between 28 and 31, meaning intense sporting activity should be avoided. Between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., none of the regions had figures of 31 or above, but the projections showed intense sports should be avoided in the same hours in August in all regions apart from Hokkaido. Takahiro Oyama, researcher at the institute's Center for Climate Change Adaptation, said the results were indicative of how people's daily lives will change as global warming progresses. "We need to start thinking about how future club activities should be." The annual Koshien national high school baseball tournament has already adopted a two-session system to reduce the negative impact of the summer heat, dividing some of the schedule into morning and late afternoon games. If the warming of the planet continues, it could affect more than just school sports, leading to time and venue changes, experts said. Related coverage: Japan logs its hottest year on record in 2024 for 2nd straight year
Kyodo News
29-04-2025
- Climate
- Kyodo News
Global warming may stop summertime school sports in Japan from 2060s
KYODO NEWS - 23 minutes ago - 11:06 | Japan, All Without serious efforts to tackle global warming, students in the 2060s or later may no longer be able to engage in extracurricular outdoor sports in summer in most parts of Japan, according to predictions by a research team. In the most pessimistic global warming scenario, the team's heat stress projections showed all or intense outdoor sporting activity would need to be avoided for some time between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. in July and August in areas apart from the northern main island of Hokkaido. In Japan, extracurricular activities normally take place in the late afternoon, though the situation may differ during the summer vacation period. The team from the National Institute for Environmental Studies and Waseda University in Tokyo created a projection model based on weather data including temperature and humidity as well as a measure of heat stress called the wet-bulb globe temperature, which takes into account factors such as wind and solar radiation, in 842 cities in Japan over a 12-year period. It predicted hourly WBGT heat stress figures in 11 areas across the nation from the 2060s and 2080s, according to scenarios such as when greenhouse gas emissions are drastically cut as well as when emissions are not reduced because of a high dependence on fossil fuels. In the most pessimistic of cases of global warming, the projected reading was 31 or more, meaning outside sporting activity should be avoided in principle under the country's guidelines, in four regions, covering Shikoku, northern and southern Kyushu, and Okinawa, for some time between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. in July and August. A heat stress index at or above 31 roughly corresponds to 35 C or higher in air temperature. Six areas, from Tohoku to Chugoku, had readings between 28 and 31, meaning intense sporting activity should be avoided. Between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., none of the regions had figures of 31 or above, but the projections showed intense sports should be avoided in the same hours in August in all regions apart from Hokkaido. Takahiro Oyama, researcher at the institute's Center for Climate Change Adaptation, said the results were indicative of how people's daily lives will change as global warming progresses. "We need to start thinking about how future club activities should be." The annual Koshien national high school baseball tournament has already adopted a two-session system to reduce the negative impact of the summer heat, dividing some of the schedule into morning and late afternoon games. If the warming of the planet continues, it could affect more than just school sports, leading to time and venue changes, experts said. Related coverage: Japan logs its hottest year on record in 2024 for 2nd straight year
Asahi Shimbun
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Asahi Shimbun
Local pushback halted plans to reuse soil from Fukushima
Local residents near Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden in Tokyo opposed a government plan to reuse soil from Fukushima decontamination efforts in the park. (Akira Hatano) The government's first attempt to reuse mildly radioactive soil from Fukushima Prefecture as landfill in public works projects around Japan has been scrapped due to local opposition. Protests from local communities apparently led the Environment Ministry to scuttle the pilot project in March of last year. The 540-million-yen ($3.8 million) project would have used a few truckloads of the soil as landfill for flowerbeds and lawns in Tokyo's Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden; the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture; and locations in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Safety concerns persisted, despite plans to use the soil as underfill beneath the topsoil layer. Following the 2011 triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, topsoil was scraped off from areas across Fukushima Prefecture to lower radiation levels. The removed dirt has since been stored in an interim facility near the plant. The accumulation totals 14 million cubic meters—enough to fill 11 Tokyo Domes. Under a law enacted for the post-disaster cleanup effort, the soil must be disposed of outside Fukushima Prefecture by 2045. To reduce the volume of dirt requiring disposal, the government plans to repurpose the least contaminated soil—considered safe in terms of radioactivity—for civic projects. The goal is to shrink the amount in temporary storage to less than one-quarter of its current volume. However, the failure of the recent pilot project highlights the challenges of gaining local support for these plans. Amid the opposition, the ministry extended its contract with private contractors twice before eventually terminating it. During that period, the ministry conducted safety tests at the interim storage facility to assess whether the soil could be transported safely without dispersal, and how to respond in the event of spillage caused by traffic accidents. Ultimately, the ministry paid 210 million yen from the original contract to the contractors for this and other related work. Despite the challenges, the ministry has expressed its intention to pursue its goal, stating that the termination of this particular contract does not mean the end of the broader plan.
Japan Times
16-04-2025
- Climate
- Japan Times
Rising temperatures could cancel most outdoor school sports in summer by 2060s
School sports tournaments and club activities across Japan may need to be canceled for much of the summer by the 2060s as climate change pushes heat levels beyond safe limits, according to a joint study by the National Institute for Environmental Studies and Waseda University. Millions of students across the country participate in school sports clubs, and thousands of heat-related illnesses have been reported almost every year since 2018. Current Environment Ministry guidelines call for halting strenuous outdoor activities when the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) remains below 28 degrees Celsius for less than two hours (referred to as Heat Level 1) and stopping all activities, indoors or outdoors, when it remains below 31 C for less than two hours (referred to as Heat Level 2). The WBGT is a measure that combines heat, humidity, wind and sunlight. However, the study shows those thresholds could be reached much more frequently in the future, especially in regions that are already warm. The study warned that, in the coming decades, nearly three-quarters of the country could face conditions in which intense physical activities should be suspended for months at a time. The study analyzed projected levels of the WBGT from 842 locations across Japan from the past 12 years. They split the country into eight regions and found that many would experience dangerous heat during peak school club activity hours, which are in the late afternoon. In the worst-case scenario, with continued reliance on fossil fuels, six out of eight regions would experience Heat Level 2 requiring intense activities to be canceled at least once a week, and four zones would need to suspend all physical activities entirely. Even under the most optimistic emissions scenario, five of eight climate zones would still require one to four months of restrictions on strenuous outdoor activities. Common countermeasures, such as early morning practices or moving activities indoors, that are in place currently may reduce the risks, but the researchers found they would not be enough in the future. Even with these steps in place, up to four regions would still require monthslong restrictions under the worst-emissions scenario. 'If climate change progresses, continuing club activities in the same way as before will become difficult,' the researchers said. They called for fundamental changes to how school sports are run, including shifting tournaments to cooler months and investing in indoor training spaces — steps that many regional schools may struggle to afford without government support. Some national tournaments, such as the high-profile Koshien national high school baseball championship, have begun taking precautions by holding games in the morning and evening to avoid peak heat. However, local events often lack the resources to do the same.
