Perilous Times and Climate Change
Japan endures hottest summer ever on record
by Staff Writers
Tokyo (AFP) Sept 2, 2010
Japan has endured its hottest summer since records began in 1898, the
meteorological agency said Wednesday, during a heatwave that saw
thousands of people taken to hospital suffering heatstroke.
The average temperature nationwide between June and August was 1.64
degrees Celsius above average for the period, forecasters said.
The previous record margin was 1.36 degrees C set in 1994.
The agency did not say what the average temperature was, but Tokyo's
summertime temperatures averaged 27.1 degrees C (80.78 Fahrenheit).
In August, the mercury often soared above 35 degrees C in many areas of
the country, the agency said.
"It can be said that weather was abnormal in this summer," an agency
official, Shuhei Maeda, told a news conference. "The temperature is
forecast to exceed 35 degrees centigrade in many places for a week to
come."
Scorching summer weather led to at least 132 deaths and saw more than
30,000 people taken to hospital with heatstroke, the government said in
mid-August.