THE Japan recorded between June and August the most high average temperatures ever recorded in the archipelago since statistics began in 1898, the country’s Meteorological Agency (JMA) announced today.

During this period, “average summer temperatures in Japan were significantly higher in the northern, eastern and western parts of the country,” the agency said.

“The average temperature increase in Japan, based on observations at 15 different locations (stations), was +1.76 degrees Celsius, far exceeding that of 2010 (+1.08 degrees Celsius) which was the highest ever recorded,” after statistics began to be recorded in 1898, he added in a statement.

In many parts of the country, not only the maximum but also the minimum temperature reached a record level, such as in the city of Itoigawa (center) where the minimum temperature reached 31.4 degrees Celsius on August 10, the highest in the country, according to the JMA.

“Compared to the years when the average summer temperature was particularly high (in 2010, 2013, 2018 and 2022), the number of days with extreme heat increased significantly since the end of June and is the highest since 2010” , the announcement by the Japanese Meteorological Agency also states.

In India, August was the hottest and driest month ever recorded, the Indian Meteorological Service announced.

“The average maximum temperature in August 2023 was the highest since 1901,” the Indian agency said, largely attributing the record to “deficit rainfall and a weak monsoon.”

Record temperatures have been seen in many other countries this summer, and July was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth, according to Europe’s Copernicus service.

At France the second fortnight of August was extremely hot, with the temperature breaking consecutive records and many days in a row recording temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, an unprecedented situation so late in the summer and attributed to climate change.

The Milanin northern Italy, recorded its hottest day in 260 years last week with the average temperature reaching 33 degrees Celsius.

Greenhouse gas emissions favor heat waves that last longer and are more intense, especially in Europewhich according to the World Meteorological Organization is the continent that is overheating the fastest.

At the same time, winter in Australia was the hottest on record, the country’s Meteorological Service announced today, the latest in a string of records being broken around the world.

Simon Granger, the Met Office’s chief climate expert, told AFP that Australia’s average winter temperature was 16.75 degrees Celsius from June to August, surpassing the previous record set in 1996.

Australia began recording the first meteorological data in 1910.