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2 dead, 35 injured after heavy rain pounds Japan

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When I woke up and opened the curtains I was surprised to see all the rice fields were full of water, like ready for planting.

7 ( +10 / -3 )

20 years in Japan it's the same weather, annually. I suspect it's been the same for much longer than that.

I’ve been here more than twice as long, and I can assure you it is NOT the same.

Back in the day, 30 degrees was a sweltering summer day; now it’s a relief when a midsummer day is ‘only’ 30 degrees.

Typhoons happened late summer to autumn, never late spring to early summer. You would book your summer hols in July confident that you would not be knocked sideways by a typhoon. In the past ten years, we’ve had to rebook for later in the year because of July typhoons several times; in fact we’ve taken to booking early so that there’s time to rebook later in the year if/when a typhoon spoils our plans.

And it’s not all warming; a few years ago we had snow on the ground in mid-April, totally unheard of ‘normally’.

Weather is what’s happening today. Climate is what makes weather happen.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

So much flood damage.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

@ Cleo

Thanks for sharing your experience, and good telling the difference between weather and climate.

Without meaning disrespect to you, I shall add that climate has been evolving on a longer period than your age.

We get easily shocked by reading "record" breaking temperatures or rain quantity (500mm in a day is really unbelievable) that we forget it happened and will happen again. And that human activity is just the accelerator and the cause of the large consequences on ourselves (so much concrete and bitumen, so less trees and plants in Japan in cities, so much useless accumulation of energy...).

2 ( +3 / -1 )

50cm of rain in a city in just over a day is phenomenal. We all take it for granted that it will drain away, but it is no mean feat.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Weather is what’s happening today. Climate is what makes weather happen.

I think climate is generally defined as the weather pattern over a long period. As one writer put it, "Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get." The term "climate system" is generally used as the cause of weather (atmosphere, biospehere, cryosphere, etc.).

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/climate/climate-explained/what-is-climate

But I agree with Cleo about the changes over the last 20 years or so.

Anyway, I hope everyone wasn't too badly affected by the rain.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Stephen ChinToday  04:35 am JST

Japan Today.

Heavy rain does not *****pound.*

Heavy rain *****batters.*

-7( +1 / -8 )

Heavy rain does what it wants despite which adjective one wants to use in a fascist manner.

"Pound" and "batter" are verbs.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@Mark.

Yes. You are correct and thank you.

However it doesn't matter if rain pounds or batters, it's all the same. Japan got pummeled by rain.

Hope I didn't upset anyone with that synonym.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Here in japan since the late 80's. Tokyo/japan literally is not any different than the 80's . That is such bunk.

I don't think it's bunk. There are various ways to measure this, but for example the average maximum daily August temperature for Kyoto from 1981-1995 was 32.9C. For 2016-2020 it was 34.8C.

The link below will let you choose other locations and other temperature measures to check against.

https://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/view/monthly_s3_en.php?block_no=47759&view=2

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Everyone talks only about preventing climate change, ignoring how climate change is already here and that building disaster prevention facilities is as important.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

From my reasonable education I remember it's called.... weather.

20 years in Japan it's the same weather, annually. I suspect it's been the same for much longer than that.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

the average maximum daily August temperature for Kyoto from 1981-1995

Oops! That should have been 1981-85.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Back in the 80's and 90's nobody said anything like it's getting hotter because it was always hot in Tokyo in the summer. 32-34 degrees was the norm and we would often see a temperature range from 30 - 37 throughout the summer.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Using Tokyo as a reference is nonsense, Tokyo is mostly concrete a.k.a a heat sink. Go around Japan and find places where average temperature / weather hasn't changed.

As for the headline photo, build houses on a flood plain, you will get wet.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

GobshiteToday  11:06 am JST

From my reasonable education I remember it's called.... weather.

20 years in Japan it's the same weather, annually. I suspect it's been the same for much longer than that.

1( +4 / -3 )

You. Are absolutely correct.

My observation as well.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Terrible news, poor people

Well, I dunno about this global warming lark, haven’t noticed much difference myself you see.

These things have happened for centuries you see. I think it’s best just to concentrate On ourselves and our loved ones

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Stephen ChinToday  04:35 am JST

Japan Today.

Heavy rain does not ****pound.

Heavy rain ****batters.

-7( +1 / -8 )

Heavy rain does what it wants despite which adjective one wants to use in a fascist manner.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Yep, and it's been around even longer than you, many billions of years but hey ho, lets only consider the last 100

Climate is what makes weather happen.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

cleoToday  11:23 am JST

20 years in Japan it's the same weather, annually. I suspect it's been the same for much longer than that.

I’ve been here more than twice as long, and I can assure you it is NOT the same.

Back in the day, 30 degrees was a sweltering summer day; now it’s a relief when a midsummer day is ‘only’ 30 degrees.

Typhoons happened late summer to autumn, never late spring to early summer. You would book your summer hols in July confident that you would not be knocked sideways by a typhoon. In the past ten years, we’ve had to rebook for later in the year because of July typhoons several times; in fact we’ve taken to booking early so that there’s time to rebook later in the year if/when a typhoon spoils our plans.

And it’s not all warming; a few years ago we had snow on the ground in mid-April, totally unheard of ‘normally’.

Weather is what’s happening today. Climate is what makes weather happen

Me too. Here in japan since the late 80's. Tokyo/japan literally is not any different than the 80's . That is such bunk.

It is very much the same as it was 40 years ago.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

Japan Today.

Heavy rain does not pound.

Heavy rain batters.

-10 ( +1 / -11 )

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