At least four people have died in Japan as a result of the lethal cold wave sweeping over East Asia after subzero temperatures and heavy snow brought travel chaos during the Lunar New Year holiday, and climate experts warned that such extreme weather events had become the “new norm.”
According to Japanese authorities, the four people who died on Wednesday and Thursday were all clearing snow during what Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno dubbed a “once-in-a-decade cold snap.” Three of the fatalities were recorded in different prefectures: two in western Niigata, one in southwest Oita, and one in southern Okayama, where the deceased suffered a heart attack.
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Heavy snow warnings were issued for neighbouring South Korea this week as temperatures in the city of Seoul dropped to record lows, reaching minus 15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit), according to officials. Residents said that heavy snowfall started late Wednesday into Thursday.
According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, this week’s severe weather on the well-known tourist island of Jeju resulted in the cancellation of hundreds of flights while forcing passenger ships to remain in port because of enormous waves.
Korea Meteorological Administration spokesperson Woo Jin-kyu said, “Cold air from the North Pole has reached South Korea directly,” after travelling through Russia and China.
Woo said that while scientists took a long-term view of climate change, “we can consider this extreme weather – extremely hot weather in summer and extremely cold weather in winter – as one of the signals of climate change.”
As the cold wave raced throughout the Korean Peninsula, North Korean authorities in Pyongyang issued a warning about severe weather conditions. According to official media, temperatures in some areas of North Korea were predicted to fall below – 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit).
On Tuesday and Wednesday, hundreds of domestic flights in Japan were cancelled owing to a combination of poor visibility caused by heavy snowfall and strong winds. 229 flights total were cancelled by major airlines Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways.
Story was adapted from CNN.
