January 30, 2020
Japan's warm winter days add to fears of spread of irregular climate
Japanese people in many parts of the country saw a string of warm, rather sunny days early this year. The warmness made many kinds of flowers bloom from early to mid-January, about 30 to 40 days faster than in the ordinary year.
On the bank of a brook flowing in the old castle town area of Akizuki in the northern part of Kyushu, southwestern Japan, were a few tiny white dandelions, which were seen standing straight up amid a warm rainfall. Daffodils and rape blossoms were also found around the brook.
Similar unusual phenomena have been witnessed elsewhere in southwestern to western Japan this winter.Snowfalls were little seen or limited in many parts of the Japanese Archipelago in the early days of January. This came as a relieving, happy sign to those who have to grapple with heavy snow every winter. But some people complain of the abnormally warm weather this winter.
Limited snowfalls mean that soil in the fields is exposed to cold winds with no cover to keep it warm for a good crop in spring."Planted in my gardens are mostly cold-resistant perennial flowers, so, unless cold weather comes to stimulate their growth in winter, a smooth blossoming cannot be expected in the coming months," a flower lover says.
The unusually warm weather also has annoyed those who grow root vegetables like horse radish.
These vegetables grow too fast beyond specified sizes this winter, making it difficult to supply their produce to the market.Some weathermen also warn that the warm weather in Japan this winter might have something to do with the recent extensive forest fires in Australia, which are linked to the global warming.
