More Global Warming Kills Japanese People With Massive Snow and Storms, Death Toll of Japan's Winter Storm Now 83 - No End to Storm in Sight

Well, here we are folks, the terrible snow storm that I reported on exactly one week ago shows no sign of letting up and now at least 83 people in Japan have died.

Agence France-Presse reports in: Japan braces for more snow as death toll hits 83 

TOKYO–Northern Japan was bracing for more heavy snow Friday as severe winter weather continues to cause misery across a large part of the country, claiming at least 83 lives so far.

Forecasters were predicting up to 60 centimeters (24 inches) of snow would fall in parts of the northernmost island of Hokkaido and in the north of Japan’s main island of Honshu over 24 hours.

In Sukayu, in Aomori prefecture, where the temperature dropped to minus 12.8 degrees Celsius (10 degrees Fahrenheit) on Friday, more than four meters of snow is already lying on the ground, with more forecast.

In Hijiori in northwestern Yamagata prefecture, where the average annual snowfall is 2.6 meters, there is already four meters of snow.

The snow has extended over a wide area of the country with Kasumi in Hyogo prefecture north of Kyoto getting 82 centimeters nearly seven times its annual average of 12 centimeters.

Since November when snow started to fall, 60 people have died as they were removing snow from roofs or roads.

Heavy loads of snow falling from buildings or other structures have killed 15 people and four more have died in avalanches, including at a popular hot springs resort, the disaster management agency said.

The extreme weather, which has filled evening news reports for weeks, has also claimed four other lives, the government agency said.

Video quick translation: 

This is the most snow the Japan Sea side of Japan has seen in several years. THe old woman being interviewed says it's the most snow in decades. In Hokkaido, Aomori and Yamagata it's the most snow they've had in seven years. In Toyama, it snowed 30 centimeters overnight and now has had 80 centimeters which is the most snow in 16 years. Not only that, though, according to the weather reports, these areas are looking to be hit with another 30 ~ 50 centimeters of snow in the next few days.

Yamagata has been hit with 91 cm of snow. The most in 31 years.

I must say, as a person who works with major Japanese broadcasting stations, the most interesting thing about all this has been the sudden ending of commercials and station spots talking about how the broadcasting stations are tying up with this company (or that) to fight against Global Warming... Of course, it wouldn't do to be broadcasting commercials on TV or the radio that say things like, 

"Stop the Global Warming!" 

When people are freezing their a*sses off and dying. I'll bet those people in northern Japan would love to have some of that Global Warming right now.

By the way, that Kyoto statistic is interesting, Japan has been keeping consistent and competent weather records since the early 1950s. That 82 centimeters in Kyoto at seven times the annual average is the highest it's been in over 35 years.... And there's no sign of the snow letting up. 

We could be heading for the worst winter in 30 or 40 years for Japan.

Japan Has Heaviest Snow in Five Years - At Least 52 Dead - One Steel Bridge Collapsed

The news about the worst winter storm to hit Japan in five years with a still rising death toll has hit Japan.

Photos taken within last 24 hours

ABC News reports in "Japan Snowstorm Kills 52, Crushes Steel Bridge"

Heavy snowfall has crippled much of Japan’s western coast, killing more than 50 people and injuring nearly 600. The worst snowstorm in six years has dumped more than 10 feet of snow in the hardest-hit regions, causing at least one bridge to collapse and forcing school closures across the region.

Western Japan has been battered by one snowstorm after another since the beginning of the year, overwhelming cash-strapped cities struggling to keep up with cleanup efforts.  In the Niigata Prefecture, officials said nearly half of their 30 cities had run out of funds set aside snow removal. Further north in the Aomori Prefecture, the government had already applied for additional funds from Tokyo, after draining its budget.

UPDATE: Three more killed in avalanche. Death toll now at 56 and over 750 injured.

The important point to note is that this fierce winter storm is not just limited to Japan. It is stretching across all of Asia, China, Korea and Eastern Europe.

In the Ukraine, the cold was 33 degrees centigrade below zero (-27.4 F) the coldest it's been in six years. More than 40 people have died there along with Eastern Europe and the cold weather strikes. In Ukraine, which killed more than 40 people. In Poland, at least 20 are dead; in Rumania 14 have died and there are 8 dead in Bulgaria as well as deaths reported in Serbia and Bosnia Herzegovina. At least 80 people have died and authorities in Europe, as well as Japan, expect more cold and snow in the coming days.  

That huge snowstorms hit all across the world in wintertime should not be a surprise nor even newsworthy. But this coming just after the snowstorms in the USA and now today's storm in East Europe and Asia, should cause those of us who can remember what we were told more than ten years ago to scoff.

To refresh your memory, let us not forget the Monday March 20, 2000 article that ran in the Independent UK that was entitled: Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past:

Britain's winter ends tomorrow with further indications of a striking environmental change: snow is starting to disappear from our lives.

The first two months of 2000 were virtually free of significant snowfall in much of lowland Britain, and December brought only moderate snowfall in the South-east. It is the continuation of a trend that has been increasingly visible in the past 15 years: in the south of England, for instance, from 1970 to 1995 snow and sleet fell for an average of 3.7 days, while from 1988 to 1995 the average was 0.7 days. London's last substantial snowfall was in February 1991.

Global warming, the heating of the atmosphere by increased amounts of industrial gases, is now accepted as a reality by the international community. 

Average temperatures in Britain were nearly 0.6°C higher in the Nineties than in 1960-90, and it is estimated that they will increase by 0.2C every decade over the coming century. Eight of the 10 hottest years on record occurred in the Nineties. (emphasis mine)

However, the warming is so far manifesting itself more in winters which are less cold than in much hotter summers. (again emphasis mine) According to Dr David Viner, a senior research scientist at the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia,within a few years winter snowfall will become "a very rare and exciting event".

"Children just aren't going to know what snow is," he said.

Oh really? Interestingly enough, just two days ago, without much fanfare, the the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia released information that showed no global warming in 15 years. Some people will claim "cherry picking results" but I wonder how measuring the nineties (ten years) versus the last 15 years wouldn't also be considered said "Cherry picking"?

Intelligent people on either side of the argument (believers and disbelievers) should like to have an answer to that question, I would imagine.

NOTE: If you want to see awesome photos of how much it snows in Toyama, Japan every year, see: Global Warming Strikes Toyama Japan! http://modernmarketingjapan.blogspot.com/2011/01/global-warming-strikes-toyama-japan.html