Japan expected to have warmer than usual weather in Jan-Mar: Reports

Japan is expected to have a warmer than normal weather between January 2020 and March 2020. A government agency reportedly said that much of Tokyo and countries in Eastern Japan have a 50 per cent chance of higher-than-average temperatures during the period. According to international media reports, Japan is also among the top countries suffering most under severe weather conditions. Back in 2018, the country also experienced extreme weather conditions that inflicted casualties and financial losses. 

Japan hit hardest by Climate Change

According to the United Nations climate conference, Japan was one of the countries which was the hardest hit by extreme weather caused by climate change. Over 1,000 people died in Japan due to extreme rainfall, heatwaves and typhoons last year. The financial damage caused by these disasters totalled $35 billion and also resulted in the reduction of the country's GDP by 0.6%. Over the course of 2018, Japan experienced three separate severe weather events. Heavy rainfall which caused floods and landslides in July, an unusually severe heatwave just a few weeks later and then in September, Typhoon Jebi was announced to be the strongest typhoon to strike Japan in 25 years.

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Countries affected by climate change 

Apart from Japan, the Philippines and Germany are also the countries most affected by extreme weather caused by climate change. The Philippines reportedly suffered greatly in 2018. Typhoon Mangkhut in September was the strongest storm recorded in 2018 and it caused landslides. The third most affected country in 2018 due to extreme changes in weather was Germany.

According to reports, Germany suffered from extreme heat and drought. They also experienced crop losses. According to reports from the German government, the air temperature of Germany has increased by 1.5 degrees since 1881 and the temperature has risen 0.3 degrees in the last five years alone.

While industrialized countries like Japan and Germany are being affected, by comparison, it is poorer countries in the world that are at much greater risk and are more sensitive to environmental changes. According to the long-term index compiled by Munich Re database, seven out of the ten most affected countries are developing countries.

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(with inputs from agencies)