Japan had hottest June on record: weather agency
TOKYO: Japan experienced its hottest June on record, the weather agency said Tuesday (July 1), as climate change prompts sweltering heat waves across the globe.
"Japan's monthly average temperature in June was the highest for the month since statistics began in 1898," said the Japan Meteorological Agency.
With strong high-pressure systems in June staying in the region, the average monthly temperature was 2.34 degrees Celsius higher than the standard value, the agency said.
The coastal water temperature near Japan also measured 1.2 degrees Celsius higher than usual, tying with June 2024 for the highest since data collection began in 1982, the agency said.
The body also had a further warning that is becoming routine for Japanese residents: "The next month is expected to continue to bring severe heat throughout the country."
The announcement came as scientists say human-induced climate change is making heatwave events more intense, frequent and widespread.
Brutal heat waves are currently sweeping Europe from France to Greece, while global footballers' union FIFPro has called for longer half-time breaks at next year's World Cup to mitigate the effects of extreme heat.
Japanese meteorologists have warned against drawing a direct link between specific weather conditions, like higher temperatures in a specific time, with climate change.
But they have observed a changing climate over many years that is causing unpredictable weather phenomena.
Japan remains heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels and has the dirtiest energy mix in the G7, campaigners say.
The government has pledged to reduce carbon emissions by 60 percent by 2035 and by 73 percent by 2040, against the 2013 standard, with the ultimate aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
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.
Experts even warn that Japan's beloved cherry trees are blooming earlier due to warmer climate or sometimes even not fully blossoming because autumns and winters are not cold enough to trigger flowering.
The famous snowcap of Mount Fuji was also absent for the longest recorded period last year, not appearing until early November, compared with the average of early October.
Last week, the rainy season ended in the western region of Japan, the earliest date on record and around three weeks earlier than usual.
Raging typhoons in summers routinely have caused violent floods in Japan while brutal heat waves have resulted in deadly heat strokes among the elderly.
Increasingly dry winters have raised the risk of wildfires, with a northern area of Ofunato earlier this year seeing the nation's biggest forest fire in three decades.
At the same time, other areas have seen record snow falls that resulted in fatal accidents, traffic disruption, and higher avalanche risk. - AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sinar Daily
6 hours ago
- Sinar Daily
Teacher fries egg in pan on hot French school playground floor
The teacher placed a pan on the ground, waited half an hour, and then cracked an egg into it, which was cooked in no time. 03 Jul 2025 03:03pm Photo for illustration purposes only. PARIS - A teacher in southern France fried an egg on the scorching hot school playground floor, German Press Agency (dpa) reported. Local radio station France Bleu reported on Wednesday that the teacher placed a pan on the ground, waited half an hour, and then cracked an egg into it, which was cooked in no time. A video shows the man measuring the temperature on the handle of the pan at the end of his experiment and stating that it is a good 80 degrees Celsius. The teacher wanted to draw attention to how poorly equipped his secondary school in Quissac is for the heat. According to his calculations, there is only 60 to 80 square centimetres of shade per pupil in the playground. "We have three concrete table tennis tables," he told France Bleu. "Sometimes the pupils take refuge under them to find some shade." There were no classes at the school on Tuesday when the teacher conducted his experiment, due to the extremely hot weather. However, the children whose parents were unable to look after them were still on the premises, he said. Some 2,200 schools across France were closed on Tuesday due to the extreme heat. In some places, temperatures exceeded 41 degrees Celsius. Around 100 schools across the country remained closed on Wednesday. Many school buildings in France are not designed for high temperatures. This is partly because more than half of them were built before 1979, according to the broadcaster Public Sénat. The government plans to renovate 40,000 schools and make them more energy-efficient by 2034. - BERNAMA
The Star
13 hours ago
- The Star
No end in sight yet to deadly deluge
Gruelling work: Residents cleaning up mud after a flood in Congjiang county, Guizhou province. — Reuters THE country is bracing for more intense rainfall, in the latest extreme weather event that has left several dead and flooded some cities in the country. Heavy downpours are forecast this week to batter parts of northern and northeastern China, including major cities like Beijing and Tianjin, raising risks of geological disaster and flooding. Some areas in Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces are expecting severe thunderstorms or hailstorms, and perhaps tornadoes, according to the weather bureau. Extreme weather – amplified by climate change – is sweeping the globe, spurring wildfires, flooding cities and testing the limits of infrastructure. Heat waves and excessive rain have strained power grids and roiled grain production. In the Guangxi region, more than 400 students and teachers were stranded in a local county after severe flooding triggered by heavy rain, according to local media. Further north, public transport and schools were suspended in parts of Hubei province as floodwaters inundated the area. In neighbouring Henan province, brief episodes of extreme rainfall left several people missing, with five confirmed dead. Beijing activated a citywide flood emergency response yesterday, urging government agencies to monitor rainfall and prepare for flood prevention. Parts of Shaanxi, along with Sichuan, Gansu and the Tibetan region, are expecting more downpours this week, with cumulative rainfall in some areas forecast to exceed 400mm, according to the report from the National Meteorological Centre on Tuesday. Excessive rainfall could flood farm fields in parts of the northeastern region, the country's grains basket where corn and soybeans are in their key growing period. Crops in the south are also being threatened by weak roots and the spread of pests due to too much rain and lack of sunshine, the weather bureau said in a separate report on Monday. — Bloomberg
The Star
15 hours ago
- The Star
Greek firefighters battle wildfire on island of Crete
Flames rise as a wildfire burns near Ierapetra, on the island of Crete, Greece, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Stefanos Rapanis ATHENS (Reuters) -Greek firefighters on Wednesday battled a blaze that raged on the popular vacation destination of Crete, burning forest land, threatening homes and prompting the evacuation of residents and tourists from at least four settlements on the island. At least 155 firefighters, assisted by 38 engines and water trucks, battled the flames in the municipality of Ierapetra at the southeastern coast of the country's largest island, the Greek fire brigade service said. The blaze, which broke out in the afternoon, was charged by gale force winds that hindered firefighting efforts and rekindled its fronts. More reinforcements were on their way by boat and aircraft from Athens, the fire brigade said. "It is a very difficult fire and it is still in progress," a fire brigade official told Reuters on condition of anonymity, attributing the difficulty of the operation to the strong winds and the type of terrain. Local TV stations reported that some homes had been damaged. So far, there were no reports of injuries. Authorities had earlier ordered the evacuation of Achlia and three more settlements in the wider area. About 3,000 people, who had earlier evacuated villages, were taken to temporary shelters, local officials said. Greece, situated at Europe's southernmost tip, is often hit by wildfires during its hot and dry summers but authorities have blamed a fast-changing climate for fuelling more destructive blazes in recent years. On Wednesday evening, Greek firefighters were also trying to tame a wildfire on the island of Kythira and another blaze in the northern region of Chalkidiki which raged uncontrolled. (Reporting by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Jamie Freed)
