Japan’s extreme weather expected to worsen under climate change

Climate change is a crisis that we are experiencing now, and it will only get worse in the future if action is not taken. We are already seeing a global increase in extreme weather such as heatwaves and severe storms. While not every instance of such weather can be directly attributed to global warming, there is credible evidence for some events being caused by it. This is the case for both Japan and the rest of the world.

What are the present and future effects of climate change on Japanese weather? Residents of Japan can tell you about the more intense summer heat in recent years. Reports from Japanese government agencies indicate an overall temperature increase of around one degree nationwide, with major Japanese cities seeing an increase of around three degrees. Large urban areas tend to have hotter temperatures than other places, which is a phenomenon called “heat islands.” Urban structures such as buildings and roads absorb and re-emit more of the sun’s heat than natural landscapes.

Increasing extreme weather in Japan causing severe damage

In July 2018, Japan had a deadly heatwave that saw over 1,000 deaths and many more hospitalizations. In 2019, research by the Japan Meteorological Agency found a direct link between climate change and the extreme temperatures. They used models comparing a world without climate change with a world that does have it. Their results showed that if we did not have global warming, the chances of such a heatwave happening would have been impossible.

Of course, climate change does not solely mean a rise in hotter temperatures. The extreme heat can negatively impact weather in other ways. Japan has seen increases in the number of days with heavy precipitation and the number of days with no precipitation. This is because hotter weather causes water to evaporate more quickly, leading to less frequent but more severe rainfall.

In addition, there has been a massive rise in the amount of extreme storms in Japan. The overall rate of typhoons has increased by 20% since 1980, with Tokyo seeing a 50% increase.

The amount of snowfall has also been significantly reduced even in Japan’s northern prefectures. Sapporo had to resort to importing snow for its 2020 Snow Festival. Weather changes caused by global warming clearly affect not only our daily lives but also cultural heritages.

What is going to happen to Japanese climate now?

Temperatures in Japan will continue to rise by about two or three degrees Celsius over the next century. Temperature rises will lead to more heatwaves and stronger though less frequent rainfall. The human and economic costs of this will be enormous. Higher temperatures will not only cause more heat stress in humans, they will also create the conditions for certain diseases to spread more easily. While Japan is generally well prepared for natural disasters, storms can still cause huge economic losses.

Current impacts of climate change are already concerning. More needs to be done to ensure that current and future generations can live safe and comfortable lives without fear of extreme weather.