As of last Saturday, the people of Japan are putting up with the worst heat wave the country has seen since 1875 when officials began reporting the weather. The surging temperatures are expected to cause power outages, as officials encourage all people to keep their air conditioning on to prevent heat strokes and other heat-related health impacts.
Officials began issuing daily heat alerts with guidelines on how to stay healthy after the temperature in Iseaki reached 104 degrees last Friday. They have been asking people to stay indoors as much as possible, to use sun umbrellas, and to unmask when performing outdoor activities. “I’d like to ask people to take their masks off when walking, jogging, and cycling to work,” Seiji Kihara, the deputy cabinet secretary, said Friday.
Even with the Japanese officials trying to help the people as much as possible, among 4,500 people, suffered from heat-related impacts and were taken to the hospital in an ambulance. At the same time, some even died from heat-related consequences; most of these patients were 65 years or older, showing that senior citizens are being impacted greater than any other age group.
Power companies also fear this heat wave will cause power outages with the sudden greater use of air conditioning, but so far, no outages have occured. Tohoku Electric Power Company, one of the most significant power suppliers in Northern Japan, said that it would be “extremely difficult” to keep electricity flowing for all its customers. “Please save as much power as possible,” the company said.
As a solution to the possible power outages, Japanese officials have also encouraged the people to cut back on power usage. The prime minister of Japan himself, Fumio Kishida, has said, “Most of the lights in my office are off,” Yuriko Koike, the governor of Tokyo, said at a news conference on Friday. “It’s dark.”
Officials began issuing daily heat alerts with guidelines on how to stay healthy after the temperature in Iseaki reached 104 degrees last Friday. They have been asking people to stay indoors as much as possible, to use sun umbrellas, and to unmask when performing outdoor activities. “I’d like to ask people to take their masks off when walking, jogging, and cycling to work,” Seiji Kihara, the deputy cabinet secretary, said Friday.
Even with the Japanese officials trying to help the people as much as possible, among 4,500 people, suffered from heat-related impacts and were taken to the hospital in an ambulance. At the same time, some even died from heat-related consequences; most of these patients were 65 years or older, showing that senior citizens are being impacted greater than any other age group.
Power companies also fear this heat wave will cause power outages with the sudden greater use of air conditioning, but so far, no outages have occured. Tohoku Electric Power Company, one of the most significant power suppliers in Northern Japan, said that it would be “extremely difficult” to keep electricity flowing for all its customers. “Please save as much power as possible,” the company said.
As a solution to the possible power outages, Japanese officials have also encouraged the people to cut back on power usage. The prime minister of Japan himself, Fumio Kishida, has said, “Most of the lights in my office are off,” Yuriko Koike, the governor of Tokyo, said at a news conference on Friday. “It’s dark.”
