Summer Heat
Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 2:50 am
Hello everyone, I hope you are able to stay cool this summer.
Its a subject that has been bothering me for a number of years so I thought I would share some thoughts about it.
Shade is the solution.
I don't know how, when or why it happened in Japan but metro areas in this country are barren of any trees. I've grown so frustrated from the ubiquitous news story of "atsui ne" reporting from a CBD sans trees. Pictures of Japanese people wiping their brows in an island of heat surrounded by concrete and cars. The nation seems hellbent on maximizing the heat island effect, laying down blacktop which absorbs heat later radiating it back into the immediate area and cutting down every tree in sight.
The government claiming the heat is a natural disaster is untrue. Its human made IMHO.
Over the years as we have traveled to many areas around Asia its struck me how much cooler they are than Japan. We just returned from Sri Lanka, which should have been much hotter. It wasn't. Why ? They plant trees everywhere. Along the streets, in parks, playgrounds, school yards. The shade is everywhere and as a result the ambient temperatures are lower. Could I be cherry picking the data ? certainly however Vietnam, Malaysia, China are all planting more trees everywhere. The heat is not as high as Japan yet these countries are closer to the equator and should be hotter.
The solution is to plant trees. Yet the government is not doing it. There are a number of reasons why they are ignoring it but that will devolve into a criticism of their policies that I think detracts from the main point of this post.
There is still time for the government of Tokyo to plant trees before the heat gets so dangerous that scores die on a weekly if not daily basis. Planting trees is cheap and they also clean our air. More O2 is a good thing right ?
Here in Shizuoka city our entire neighborhood has become housing. There used to be rice fields and streams here, but now there are only blacktop parking lots and concrete driveways. The main street "Karase kaido" is bereft of even a single tree for hundreds of meters. You can see the heat rise along the road as the elderly make their way to and from the shops. Meanwhile the city in its wisdom is spending yamstacks of money on a road widening program to improve traffic flow, yet the sidewalks are as barren as the Sahara.
I want to clarify that I am not pining for the good old days, simply that there is a low cost solution that mitigates the problem of heat islands. Yet the manner in which the government is making decisions is clearly broken. I hope I am wrong about this but it seems the summer heat is growing worse over the past half decade or so. Its getting so bad that over the past year or so, we've decided that we cannot retire here due to the danger of heat stroke.
Speaking of heat stroke does it bother anyone else how children drink tea under the sun ? Tea is a diuretic ! Where is the public education on this issue ?
anyway I've gone on long enough.
I don't want the dear reader to conclude I hate Japan. I don't, its a great country with many wonderful aspects to it. Its been a great place for me and my family and I am thankful everyday that I was able to come here.
Lets plant a tree and make a difference ok ? I'd plant another one but my yard is chock full of them already. The lime tree is starting to produce fruit this year too.
Lets teach our kids not to drink tea under the scorching sun as it has the inverse effect on the human body.
oh and while I'm at it please please please stop allowing shops to bag your purchases. Bring your own and help save the planet from drowning in plastic.
Thanks so much for your attention
Its a subject that has been bothering me for a number of years so I thought I would share some thoughts about it.
Shade is the solution.
I don't know how, when or why it happened in Japan but metro areas in this country are barren of any trees. I've grown so frustrated from the ubiquitous news story of "atsui ne" reporting from a CBD sans trees. Pictures of Japanese people wiping their brows in an island of heat surrounded by concrete and cars. The nation seems hellbent on maximizing the heat island effect, laying down blacktop which absorbs heat later radiating it back into the immediate area and cutting down every tree in sight.
The government claiming the heat is a natural disaster is untrue. Its human made IMHO.
Over the years as we have traveled to many areas around Asia its struck me how much cooler they are than Japan. We just returned from Sri Lanka, which should have been much hotter. It wasn't. Why ? They plant trees everywhere. Along the streets, in parks, playgrounds, school yards. The shade is everywhere and as a result the ambient temperatures are lower. Could I be cherry picking the data ? certainly however Vietnam, Malaysia, China are all planting more trees everywhere. The heat is not as high as Japan yet these countries are closer to the equator and should be hotter.
The solution is to plant trees. Yet the government is not doing it. There are a number of reasons why they are ignoring it but that will devolve into a criticism of their policies that I think detracts from the main point of this post.
There is still time for the government of Tokyo to plant trees before the heat gets so dangerous that scores die on a weekly if not daily basis. Planting trees is cheap and they also clean our air. More O2 is a good thing right ?
Here in Shizuoka city our entire neighborhood has become housing. There used to be rice fields and streams here, but now there are only blacktop parking lots and concrete driveways. The main street "Karase kaido" is bereft of even a single tree for hundreds of meters. You can see the heat rise along the road as the elderly make their way to and from the shops. Meanwhile the city in its wisdom is spending yamstacks of money on a road widening program to improve traffic flow, yet the sidewalks are as barren as the Sahara.
I want to clarify that I am not pining for the good old days, simply that there is a low cost solution that mitigates the problem of heat islands. Yet the manner in which the government is making decisions is clearly broken. I hope I am wrong about this but it seems the summer heat is growing worse over the past half decade or so. Its getting so bad that over the past year or so, we've decided that we cannot retire here due to the danger of heat stroke.
Speaking of heat stroke does it bother anyone else how children drink tea under the sun ? Tea is a diuretic ! Where is the public education on this issue ?
anyway I've gone on long enough.
I don't want the dear reader to conclude I hate Japan. I don't, its a great country with many wonderful aspects to it. Its been a great place for me and my family and I am thankful everyday that I was able to come here.
Lets plant a tree and make a difference ok ? I'd plant another one but my yard is chock full of them already. The lime tree is starting to produce fruit this year too.
Lets teach our kids not to drink tea under the scorching sun as it has the inverse effect on the human body.
oh and while I'm at it please please please stop allowing shops to bag your purchases. Bring your own and help save the planet from drowning in plastic.
Thanks so much for your attention
