Maximum Temperature Hits 40 Degrees, Scorching Japan... Highest Recorded Since Data Collection Began

Shizuoka City Exceeds 40 Degrees Celsius for the First Time This Year

Japan recorded a temperature of 40 degrees Celsius for the first time this year. Yonhap News reported on the 7th, citing Kyodo News and local public broadcaster NHK, that at around 1:18 p.m., the highest temperature in Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture, reached 40 degrees Celsius, marking the first time this year that Japan exceeded 40 degrees.

This is the highest temperature since the Japan Meteorological Agency began compiling related statistics in 1940. By 1:30 p.m. on the same day, the highest temperatures in various regions were 38.8 degrees in Otsuki City, Yamanashi Prefecture, and 38.6 degrees in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture.

[Photo by Yonhap News]

The Japan Meteorological Agency warned, "A wide area of western and eastern Japan is covered by the Pacific high pressure system, causing temperatures to rise across the country," adding, "Not only temperatures but also humidity levels are high, increasing the risk of heatstroke." Heatstroke warning alerts were issued to 26 metropolitan and local governments, including Tokyo Metropolis, Saitama Prefecture, Chiba Prefecture, Kanagawa Prefecture, Gunma Prefecture, Shizuoka Prefecture, and Okinawa Prefecture.

NHK reported that deaths related to the heatwave are occurring one after another, including an elderly person working in agriculture who showed symptoms consistent with heatstroke. Last year, the average temperature from June to August in Japan was 1.76 degrees above the normal baseline, marking the highest since related statistics began in 1898.

On June 30th, a child in Moscow, Russia, is cooling off in a fountain by taking off their clothes.
[Photo by AP Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, the world is suffering from abnormal heatwaves recently. Moscow, the capital of Russia, usually experiences temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius in midwinter, but recently has been enduring heatwaves with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees. On the 3rd, Moscow's highest temperature was 32.7 degrees Celsius, which is 0.5 degrees higher than the previous record for July 3rd set in 1917. On the 2nd, the temperature reached 32 degrees Celsius, breaking the record of 31.9 degrees set on July 2nd, 1890, for the first time in 134 years.

Climate experts predict that Moscow's daytime high temperature this summer could reach up to 35 degrees Celsius.

In the northeastern United States, a wax figure of former President Abraham Lincoln, installed earlier this year on the grounds of Garrison Elementary School in Washington, D.C., melted like a snowman due to the heatwave, attracting attention. This is the impact of the heatwave exceeding expectations. In South Korea as well, the national average temperature last month was 22.7 degrees Celsius, 1.3 degrees higher than usual, marking the highest record since weather observations began in 1973.