Number of landslides in Japan surges almost 50% in a decade

@Waldo

Exactly what I was going to say.

That's what happens when you cut trees down without replacing them...

＠Ken Wyatt

It is not that the don't replace them, it is that they replaced them with cedar which have shallower roots and fail to hold the mountains together so well.

Kitty

You have NAILED the biggest issue with landslides, it is almost always hills\mountains planted with god damned SUGI!!!   Those mono cultural plantations, they are NOT forests, area massive problem with regards to landslides!

"Downpours of 50 millimeters or more per hour in the past decade were recorded 1.4 times more frequently than between 1976 and 1985."

Why is the seemingly arbitrary timeframe of 1976-85 used here? Is it to find data that fits? What about prior to 1976 or the 90s or 2000s, for example? Can we assume more rainfall amounts during those timeframes?

In the long run, relocation and downsizing of residential areas into safer places are necessary and encouraged.

Conifers like sugi are a problem on many fronts, but most of them were planted before 1970. Their presence does not explain why there are more landslides now and not when the trees were younger and had even shallower roots. Mixed woodland would be more resilient, but I think the simple explanation in the story of more frequent heavy rains still holds.

I knew for the first time that the number of landslide recorded about 1.5time more frequently compared to previous 10 years

but it’s for sure that in western Japan for past a decade it easily brings downpours and torrential rainfall right this rain weather season because of very humid moisture flow

Global warming has made water surface temperature higher that forms more humid moisture in air. Which ends up easily triggering downpour especially in the region

Under the risk of the infection this season , we might have to more keep eye on weather information to make prompt decision to evacuate from homes

I knew for the first time that number of landslide happen 1.5 time more frequently compared with previous 10 years.

but it’s for sure that in western Japan we have seen more downpours and torrential rainfall right this rain weather season in the past decade.

This is because of more humid moisture flows. Global warming has made temperature of sea surface that forms more humid air and ends up easily triggering downpours and torrential rainfall especially in the region.

Under the risk of the infection from this season , we might have to More keep eye on weather information to make prompt decision for evaluating to communities or families

Kohakuebisu

I have been harping about sugi & landslides for decades, from here on just watch the footage I often note the parts that slide are sugi & parts that don't are mixed forest, see it all the time. Sugi is definitely part of the problem

Watch & you will likely notice it, it was really noticeable when Hiroshima got hammered a couple years back

Much of the problem has been in land use for residential, roads and industrial use by clearing out and changing much of what has kept the hills and mountains "intact" in the past even during rains and earthquakes. The other of course has much to do with earthquakes that change the very foundation of much of Japan. But is one looks at the land, those land slides occur in areas that are sandy or covered with much ash from volcanic action and deep soil from past vegetation. It may be a good idea if one were not to use such land without first making sure that landslides do not occur.