Global Warming

The first undeniable climate change deaths

July 23 2018 was a day unlike any seen before in Japan. It was the peak of a weeks-long heat wave that smashed previous temperature records across the historically temperate nation.

The heat started on July 9, on farms and in cities that only days earlier were fighting deadly rains, mudslides, and floods. As the waters receded, temperatures climbed. By July 15, 200 of the 927 weather stations in Japan recorded temperatures of 35°C or higher. Food and electricity prices hit multiyear highs as the power grid and water resources were pushed to their limits. Tens of thousands of people were hospitalised due to heat exhaustion and heatstroke.

On July 23, the heat wave reached its zenith. The large Tokyo suburb of Kumagaya was the epicentre, and around 3pm, the Kumagaya Meteorological Observatory measured a temperature of 41.135°C.

It was the hottest temperature ever recorded in Japan, but the record was more than a statistic. It was a tragedy. Over the course of those few weeks, more than a thousand people died from heat-related illnesses.

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