Act Daily News
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Heavy rainfall in southwestern Japan has triggered devastating flooding and mudslides which have left not less than six individuals lifeless, 5 lacking and 19 injured, in line with the Fire and Disaster Management Agency on Tuesday.
Four individuals died in Japan’s Kyushu area and two individuals within the Chugoku area.
Japan’s Kyushu area has been experiencing heavy rainfall for the reason that starting of the month and Monday noticed record-breaking ranges, in line with the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Japan’s climate company issued heavy rain emergency warnings on Monday for the Fukuoka and Oita prefectures, on Kyushu, the nation’s third largest island.
Since Friday, some elements of Fukuoka have had greater than 600 millimeters (23.6 inches) of rain, which is greater than the world would normally count on for the entire of July, Reuters reported.
“It’s raining like never before,” the Japan Meteorological Agency mentioned in an announcement on Monday, which known as for max vigilance from residents. The alert was later downgraded to a regular warning.
Japan will not be the one nation at present grappling with intense rainfall.
Northern India has been experiencing extreme rains which have triggered lethal flash floods and landslides, killing not less than 22 individuals. On Sunday, Delhi had its wettest day in additional than 4 many years, with 153 millimeters (6 inches) of rain falling.
In the US, intense rain and flash flooding left not less than one particular person lifeless in southeastern New York. More than 4 million individuals have been underneath flood alerts Tuesday throughout the Northeast – together with elements of New York, Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine.
While heavy rainfall occasions will all the time occur, scientists say that local weather change means they’re changing into extra extreme.
“The increasing intensity of heavy rainfall events and associated flooding, such as those we are currently witnessing, is an expected consequence of a warming climate due to our emissions of greenhouse gases,” mentioned Richard Allan, a professor in local weather science on the UK’s University of Reading.
A hotter environment is ready to retailer extra water, resulting in extra intense rainfall when it falls.
As the planet warms, the expectation is that we are going to see “more and more intense, more frequent, more severe rainfall events, leading also to more severe flooding,” mentioned Stefan Uhlenbrook, director of hydrology, water and cryosphere on the World Meteorological Organization.
It’s not attainable to say precisely when and the place excessive rainfall occasions will occur, Uhlenbrook instructed Act Daily News. But what is evident is that the vulnerability of societies will likely be totally different – with poorer nations typically extra uncovered, he added.
“Countries like Japan are extremely alert, and they’re also very well prepared when it comes to flood defense measures,” Uhlenbrook mentioned. “So even if it happens more frequently, they can probably manage this much better than low-income countries where there are no warnings in place, no flood defense structures [and] no integrated flood management plans.”
Source: www.cnn.com