Japan has been hit by what officials are calling the "heaviest rain ever," causing widespread flooding and landslides in the southwestern part of the country. The torrential downpours have resulted in the death of at least three people, with several others reported missing. Hundreds of thousands of residents have been urged to evacuate their homes in order to avoid further casualties.
Landslides in the Fukuoka and Oita regions have left nine people missing, while a woman in the town of Soeda in the Fukuoka prefecture lost her life when her house was struck by a landslide. Two men in the cities of Kurume and Hirokawa are believed to have died after their vehicles became trapped in rising floodwaters. In total, eight rivers have overflowed their banks, and numerous hillsides, saturated with rain, have collapsed into mudslides.
Although officials have stated that the peak of the rain has passed, more heavy rainfall is expected across Japan throughout the week. While the warning level has been downgraded, concerns about the risk of flooding remain. The land ministry official in charge of rivers, Yoshiyuki Toyoguchi, explained that even a small amount of rain can cause river levels to rise rapidly, exacerbating the flooding situation.
Satoshi Sugimoto from the Japan Meteorological Agency described this as the heaviest rainfall ever experienced in the region and expressed concerns that a disaster may have already occurred. The situation in Japan is not an isolated incident, as heavy rains have recently affected other countries as well. In India, for example, New Delhi recorded its wettest July day in 40 years, leading to flash floods and landslides that claimed the lives of at least 22 people.
These instances of extreme precipitation have raised questions about the role of climate change in intensifying downpours worldwide. As per the World Weather Attribution (WWA) consortium, rainfall has become more frequent and intense in most parts of the world since the 1950s. A recent WWA study based on 70 years of data identified two major factors contributing to this trend: human-caused climate change and a shift from snowfall to rainfall.
The study found that for every degree of warming, there is a 15% increase in the likelihood of extreme rainfall at an altitude of 2,000 meters above sea level. This poses a significant threat to mountainous regions and communities downstream. With the Earth's atmosphere holding more moisture due to global warming, heavy downpours are becoming more commonplace, leading to a greater risk of flooding, landslides, and other weather-related disasters.
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