Japan and South Korea reel from record-breaking heat

The Guardian

2 days ago

Authorities in Japan and South Korea have urged people to take precautions to prevent heatstroke, as the region reels from record-breaking temperatures and pressure on hospitals.
On Thursday, South Korea's meteorological office said the country had experienced a record-breaking streak of 'tropical nights' for 22 consecutive days this month.
A day earlier, Japan saw its hottest day on record, with the mercury reaching 41.2C, as hospitals across the country were inundated with people who had fallen ill as a result of the heatwave.
Overnight temperatures in Seoul stayed above 25C for 22 consecutive days in July, meteorological officials said – the longest period since modern weather records were first kept in 1907.
The South Korean capital was also due to record its hottest July night in history on Wednesday, with the lowest temperature of the day at 29.3C. Media reports said the record could be broken again on Thursday.
The intense heat in Seoul is expected to continue, according to the meteorology office. 'The warm air from the North Pacific High began affecting South Korea a bit earlier than usual,' Youn Ki-han, director of Seoul's meteorology forecast division, told Agence France-Presse.
Youn added: 'Normally, if it's hot for just a day, temperatures spike and then quickly return to normal. But when warm conditions persist for several days, the heat doesn't fully dissipate, it lingers and accumulates with each day.'
Japanese weather officials said the temperature on Wednesday had risen to 41.2C in Tamba, in the western prefecture of Hyogo, and urged people to stay hydrated and use air conditioners and electric fans to prevent heat-related illnesses.
Japan's temperature record was broken as a high-pressure system brought clear skies and blistering heat to many parts of the country, the meteorological agency said, adding that the brutal weather was expected to continue into Thursday.
The agency said temperatures on Wednesday had exceeded 35C at 271 of its 914 observation points, with new highs seen in 39 places.
The previous record of 41.1C was set in Hamamatsu in Shizuoka prefecture, in August 2020, and in Kumagaya, Saitama prefecture near Tokyo in July 2018.
The extreme heat poses a particular threat to the countries' large populations of older people.
Thirteen people have died in South Korea from suspected heat-related causes so far this year – three times the number over the same period last year – according to the Korea's disease control and prevention agency.
In Japan, 10,804 people, more than half of whom were aged over 64, were taken to hospital suffering from exhaustion and other heat-related illnesses in the week up to 21 July – the highest weekly number so far this year. Sixteen people died, according to the fire and disaster management agency.
Summer temperatures in Japan have soared in recent years as a result of more erratic weather patterns that scientists attribute to the climate crisis.
Last summer was Japan's joint hottest on record, with temperatures matching those of 2023, which was followed by the warmest autumn since records began 126 years ago.
The heat is also affecting overseas visitors. On Wednesday, the temperature reached 40C for the first time on record in Kyoto, which last year attracted a record 10.88 million foreign tourists.
Human-caused climate breakdown is supercharging extreme weather across the world, driving more frequent and more deadly disasters from heatwaves to floods to wildfires.
Agence France-Presse contributed reporting.