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Experts: Extreme heat could hit Japan every year

Dec 05, 2018 (NHK) - Researchers warn that Japan could swelter under extremely high temperature every year due to global warming.

A Japanese research team led by Professor Masahiro Watanabe at the University of Tokyo studied what would happen to summer weather patterns in Japan if average global temperatures rise by 2 degrees Celsius.

They found that temperatures of 35 degrees or over will be recorded at about 3,200 observation points on average in a year.

Such high temperatures were observed at more than 3,000 points in 2016 and also this year, when Japan experienced record-breaking heat.

Watanabe said the country only used to experience such intense heat every few years or decades. But he said scorching weather could be on the way more frequently -- as often as almost every year.

The professor warns that Japan is expected to suffer more damage from sweltering weather and heatwaves.

He said it is crucial for the world to curb a rise in temperatures in the future.

The 2015 Paris climate change accord aims to limit the average global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-Industrial Revolution levels and continue efforts to cap the increase at 1.5 degrees.

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