According to Japan Times, Japan has recorded its hottest summer for the second year in a row in the summer of 2024, and this unusual heat has remained until autumn. According to a report from Climate Central, around 74 cities in Japan recorded temperatures above 28 degrees Celsius in early October, up to 14 degrees above normal for this time of year.
Fuji’s snow-free peak is one of several signs of the impact of a warm winter on the world’s snow and water resources. Recent studies have shown that during the last four decades, warming caused by human activities has caused the reduction of snow in the Northern Hemisphere.
Andrew SchwartzJoy, an atmospheric scientist at the Sierra Central Snow Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, warned in an interview with National Geographic that if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced, “large parts of the world will experience snowless winters by 2100.”
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But in Japan, Mt. Fuji is covered with snow most of the year. By the time summer comes and snow-free Fuji invites more than 220,000 climbers to traverse its famous range. In addition to the lack of snow, the increase in foreign tourists eager to climb this mountain has also caused concerns for the Japanese authorities.
Toshiaki Kasai“With the lifting of the coronavirus restrictions, more people are coming to climb Fuji,” a local government official told The Guardian in March.
Fujisan screams in pain
In order to manage the crowd of tourists, this year Japan has set a fee of 2,000 Japanese yen (about $13) for climbers who want to climb the most popular route of this volcano, and has also limited the daily limit of visitors to 4,000 people.
Although the Kofu Meteorological Office has warned about the lack of snow cover on Mt.Fuji this year, tourism pressure on the peak is still one of the main problems of the authorities. There are reports that some hikers have crossed the hiking trails with improper equipment and this has led to injuries. Also, tourists have polluted the mountain environment with garbage.
Masatake IzumiIn an interview with CNN last year, a government official in Yamanashi Prefecture said, “The over-invasion of tourists and its consequences, such as garbage accumulation, increased carbon dioxide emissions and careless climbers, are the biggest threats to Mount Fuji. Fujisan screams in pain.
