Japan's Summer 2010 Hottest on Record

The Japan Meteorological Agency announced on September 1, 2010, that the nation's average temperature in summer 2010 (from June to August) had hit a new high -- surpassing the record set in 1994 -- in 113 years since record keeping started in 1898. The average was 1.64 degrees Celsius higher than the historical data of average summer temperatures. Although the average temperatures in June and July were the fifth highest, at 1.24 degrees Celsius above average, and the eleventh highest, at 1.42 degrees Celsius above average, respectively, the average recorded in August was the highest ever: 2.25 degrees Celsius higher than average.

The record high temperature appears to have resulted from various factors: the Okhotsk Sea anticyclones and their cold air had little effect on Japan during the summer; Japan was covered by the strong Pacific anticyclones because of the westerlies above deviating more northward than normal after the rainy season; the temperature increased throughout the mid-latitude troposphere in the Northern Hemisphere, as El Niño had persisted into the spring of 2010.

Global warming caused by the increase of greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide, is also recognized as one of the factors.

Temperatures were monitored at 154 meteorological observatories and stations from June to August 2010 throughout the nation, and 55 of them recorded the highest average temperature since record keeping began.

2008 Annual Mean Temperature Remained High in Japan and Worldwide (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/029003.html

Japan Meteorological Agency official website
http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/indexe.html

Posted: 2010/12/30 06:00:15 AM