Japan registers an all-time heat record of 41.8 degrees Celsius
Environment — di Andrea Barolini
A record temperature of 41.8 degrees Celsius was recorded in the city of Isesaki, Japan — a level never previously reached in the country.
Japan registers an all-time heat record of 41.8 degrees Celsius
A record temperature of 41.8 degrees Celsius was recorded in the city of Isesaki, Japan — a level never previously reached in the country.
The impacts of climate change spare no one on the planet. And one of the main consequences of global warming is the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme heatwaves. Along with parts of Europe, Japan is currently enduring extraordinary conditions — so extreme, in fact, as to have set the all-time heat record for the island nation.
Another heat record in Japan just one week ago
In the city of Isesaki, located in the central part of the Japanese archipelago, temperatures on Monday 4 August reached 41.8 degrees Celsius. The previous record had been set just one week earlier in Tamba, in the western region of Hyogo, at 41.2 degrees. Before that, the record stood at 41.1 degrees, set in 2018 (in Kumagaya, north of Tokyo) and in 2020 (in Hamamatsu, slightly south of Isesaki).
INCREDIBLE IN JAPAN ! 41.8c at Isesaki
ABSOLUTE INSANITY
What we are seeing it's the most insane heat wave any area of the world has ever seen
HOTTEST DAY IN JAPANESE HISTORY PULVERIZED
(as your author forecast anyway)
A dozen stations >40C, 4 >41C
Updates later
ABSOLUTE INSANITY
What we are seeing it's the most insane heat wave any area of the world has ever seen
HOTTEST DAY IN JAPANESE HISTORY PULVERIZED
(as your author forecast anyway)
A dozen stations >40C, 4 >41C
Updates later
And this was no isolated spike: Japan has experienced the hottest June and July in its recorded history. While establishing a direct link between climate change and individual extreme events requires specific analyses — the domain of a dedicated branch of climatology known as attribution science — the trend is unmistakable. The summer of 2024 was the hottest ever recorded in the Asian nation, with the average temperature matching that of 2023.
The summers of 2023 and 2024 the hottest on record, as was last autumn
Last autumn, too, was the warmest since meteorological data began to be systematically recorded, namely 126 years ago. What is more, this year the rainy season ended three weeks earlier than usual. Even Japan's celebrated cherry trees are now blossoming consistently ahead of schedule due to the warmth — or failing to bloom at all, owing to autumns and winters that are no longer cold enough.
Japan has logged two new heat records in a day with the mercury hitting 41.6 degrees Celsius and then 41.8C, according to the country's Meteorological Agency ⤵️ aje.io/01lkeq
Now, scarce rainfall combined with intense heat is draining numerous water reserves, as confirmed by the Tokyo government. Growing concern centres on the agricultural sector, as well as the risk of wildfires, which can spread rapidly through parched vegetation.