The mercury rose to dangerously high levels in Japan on Sunday, with weather authorities issuing heatstroke alerts in 19 prefectures nationwide, including this year¡¯s first for central Tokyo and Kanagawa.
With climate change driving up temperatures across the globe, Japan will experience a heat wave through mid-July on a ¡°level only seen once in a decade,¡± the Meteorological Agency said on June 30.
On Sunday, high temperatures in the mid- to high-30s were observed across a wide swath of the country, including 38.3 degrees Celsius in Kuwana, Mie Prefecture, 37.9 C in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, and 37.7 C in Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture and Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, according to agency data.
The Japan Association of Athletics Federations, which is holding its three-day national championship at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward, shifted schedules for events on Sunday after doing the same on Friday and Saturday. It has delayed some events scheduled during the day to the evening hours.
The Japan Sport Association advises all sports events to be canceled when the heat index ¡ª which takes temperatures, humidity and solar radiation into consideration ¡ª reaches 31. Tokyo¡¯s heat index rose to 32.2 at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
The summer heat has arrived ahead of schedule this year due to an early end of the rainy season in many parts of the country, particularly in western Japan. In the Chugoku, Shikoku and Kinki regions, as well as northern Kyushu, the rainy season was declared over in late June, which was nearly 20 days earlier than usual and the earliest on record, according to agency data.
Global warming has pushed up atmospheric air temperatures across the globe, the agency says, noting that the Pacific high-pressure system extending more strongly toward Japan and prevailing westerly winds meandering further north have contributed to the early end of the rainy season, which normally lasts through mid-July.
Japan experienced its hottest June ever, with the average monthly temperature being 2.34 C higher than the standard value, according to the agency.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.