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.