Still No Snow on Japan’s Mount Fuji, Breaking Recordhttps://english.aawsat.com/varieties/5075582-still-no-snow-japan%E2%80%99s-mount-fuji-breaking-record
Still No Snow on Japan’s Mount Fuji, Breaking Record
Mount Fuji is seen from Enoshima island, in Fujisawa, south of Tokyo, Japan, August 11, 2021. Picture taken August 11, 2021. (Reuters)
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Still No Snow on Japan’s Mount Fuji, Breaking Record
Mount Fuji is seen from Enoshima island, in Fujisawa, south of Tokyo, Japan, August 11, 2021. Picture taken August 11, 2021. (Reuters)
Japan's Mount Fuji remained snow-less as of Monday -- the latest date that its majestic slopes have been bare since records began 130 years ago, the weather agency said.
The volcano's snowcap begins forming on October 2 on average, and last year snow was first detected there on October 5.
But because of warm weather, this year no snowfall has yet been observed on Japan's highest mountain, said Yutaka Katsuta, a forecaster at Kofu Local Meteorological Office.
That marks the latest date since comparative data became available in 1894, he said beating the previous record of October 26 -- seen twice, in 1955 and then in 2016.
"Temperatures were high this summer, and these high temperatures continued into September, deterring cold air" which brings snow, Katsuta told AFP.
He agreed that climate change may have a degree of impact on the delay in the snowcap's formation.
Japan's summer this year was the joint hottest on record -- equaling the level seen in 2023 -- as extreme heatwaves fueled by climate change engulfed many parts of the globe.
Mount Fuji is covered in snow for most of the year, but during the July-September hiking season, more than 220,000 visitors trudge up its steep, rocky slopes.
Many climb through the night to see the sunrise from the 3,776-meter (12,388-foot) summit.
Fewer climbers tackled Mount Fuji this year however after Japanese authorities introduced an entry fee and a daily cap on numbers to fight overtourism.
The symmetrical mountain has been immortalized in countless artworks, including Hokusai's "Great Wave".
Rare Sahara Floods Bring Morocco’s Dried-up South Back to Lifehttps://english.aawsat.com/varieties/5075299-rare-sahara-floods-bring-morocco%E2%80%99s-dried-south-back-life
Tourists camp on the shores of Erg Znaigui, a seasonal lake in the village of Merzouga in the Sahara desert in southeastern Morocco on October 20, 2024. (AFP)
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Rare Sahara Floods Bring Morocco’s Dried-up South Back to Life
Tourists camp on the shores of Erg Znaigui, a seasonal lake in the village of Merzouga in the Sahara desert in southeastern Morocco on October 20, 2024. (AFP)
In Morocco's southeastern desert, a rare downpour has brought lakes and ponds back to life, with locals -- and tourists -- hailing it as a gift from the heavens.
In Merzouga, an attractive tourist town some 600 kilometers (370 miles) southeast of the capital Rabat, the once-parched golden dunes are now dotted with replenished ponds and lakes.
"We're incredibly happy about the recent rains," said Youssef Ait Chiga, a local tour guide leading a group of German tourists to Yasmina Lake nestled amidst Merzouga's dunes.
Khalid Skandouli, another tour guide, said the rain has drawn even more visitors to the tourist area, now particularly eager to witness this odd transformation.
With him, Laetitia Chevallier, a French tourist and regular visitor to the region, said the rainfall has proved a "blessing from the sky".
"The desert became green again, the animals have food again, and the plants and palm trees came back to life," she said.
Locals told AFP the basin had been barren for nearly 20 years.
A man leads his camels along the shores of Yasmina lake, a seasonal lake in the village of Merzouga in the Sahara desert in southeastern Morocco on October 20, 2024. (AFP)
Last year was Morocco's driest in 80 years, with a 48 percent drop in rainfall, according to an October report from the General Directorate of Meteorology (DGM).
But in September, torrential rains triggered floods in southern parts of Morocco, killing at least 28 people, according to authorities.
The rare heavy rains come as the North African kingdom grapples with its worst drought in nearly 40 years, threatening its economically crucial agriculture sector.
Neighboring Algeria saw similar rain and flooding in early September, killing six people.
North African countries currently rank among the world's most water-stressed, according to the World Resources Institute, a non-profit research organization.
The kingdom's meteorological agency described the recent massive rainfall as "exceptional".
It attributed it to an unusual shift of the intertropical convergence zone -- the equatorial region where winds from the northern and southern hemispheres meet, causing thunderstorms and heavy rainfall.
The sun sets behind the dunes at Yasmina lake, a seasonal lake in the village of Merzouga in the Sahara desert in southeastern Morocco on October 20, 2024. (AFP)
- 'Climate change' -
"Everything suggests that this is a sign of climate change," Fatima Driouech, a Moroccan climate scientist, told AFP. "But it's too early to say definitively without thorough studies."
Driouech emphasized the importance of further research to attribute this event to broader climate trends.
Experts say climate change is making extreme weather events, such as storms and droughts, more frequent and intense.
In Morocco's south, the rains have helped partially fill some reservoirs and replenish groundwater aquifers.
But for those levels to significantly rise, experts say the rains would need to continue over a longer period of time.
The rest of the country is still grappling with drought, now in its sixth consecutive year, jeopardizing the agricultural sector that employs over a third of Morocco's workforce.
Tourists take pictures at Yasmina lake, a seasonal lake in the village of Merzouga in the Sahara desert in southeastern Morocco on October 20, 2024. (AFP)
Jean Marc Berhocoirigoin, a 68-year-old French tourist, said he was surprised to find Yasmina Lake replenished. "I hadn't seen these views for 15 years," he said.
Water has also returned to other desert areas such as Erg Znaigui, about 40 kilometers south of Merzouga, AFP reporters saw.
While the rains have breathed life into Morocco's arid southeast, Driouech warns that "a single extreme event can't bring lasting change".
But last week, Morocco's meteorological agency said such downpours could become increasingly frequent, "driven partly by climate change as the intertropical convergence zone shifts further north".
