Japan may face a hotter-than-usual summer this year caused by the El Nino climate pattern, which some experts warn could develop into a ¡°super El Nino.¡±
In a forecast for the three months from July, the Meteorological Agency said Tuesday that the combination of El Nino ¡ª warmer water in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean ¡ª with the lingering effects of La Nina, which persisted through the winter, is causing thunderclouds in the Philippines, pushing high pressure in the Pacific to the west.
¡°This means eastern and western Japan, along with Okinawa and the Amami islands, will be covered by warm air,¡± according to the weather agency¡¯s forecast.
The average temperature for August is likely to be higher than usual everywhere except for the Tohoku region and Hokkaido, the weather agency said. The average temperature in July and September is expected to be about the same as a normal year.
Earlier this month, the Meteorological Agency said El Nino has begun and is likely to remain until the fall.
¡°For this summer, it will be a stronger El Nino, the so-called super El Nino,¡± Masahiro Watanabe, a professor at the University of Tokyo¡¯s Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, told the Asahi Shimbun earlier this month.
Watanabe said that because of the stronger El Nino and climate change, there will be extreme weather patterns across the globe from this summer and beyond.
Temperatures are already rising in Japan even though it is the rainy season.
On the weekend, the mercury topped 30 degrees Celsius across Japan, prompting authorities to issue heatstroke warnings. The city of Maebashi in Gunma Prefecture saw temperatures climb to 35.5 C on Sunday.
In the week through Sunday, 1,843 people were rushed to the hospital due to suspected heatstroke, more than double the figure from the previous week, government data showed.
Overseas, nearly 100 deaths stemming from a heat wave were reported earlier this week in India, with the temperature climbing to 45.3 C in Bhojpur in the country¡¯s northeast, according to The Times of India.
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