Photo/Illutration A view from the top of Mount Shiroumadake in the village of Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

This winter, snowfall in Japan has been extremely light with many areas reporting record-low figures for January.

Instead, there have been reports of many unusually warm days, torrential rain similar to summer rainstorms and the highest maximum temperature in January in 104 years in certain locations.

The winter will by and large continue to be warmer than usual although there will be some frosty days as a strong cold front moves southward, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

It would be misleading to describe weather phenomena in one season simply as consequences of global warming. But there have clearly been long-term trends toward higher temperatures and wilder fluctuations in climate on the Earth.

The abnormally warm winter should be taken as a sign of a looming climate crisis.

A warm winter also comes with benefits, such as less snow removal work and lower fuel and lighting bills. But it also causes far-reaching negative effects on the economy and people’s lives, ranging from disruptions in ski resort operations and the cancellation of various winter events to collapses of the prices of winter vegetables due to excessive production.

Some people are warning that higher winter temperatures mean a smaller snowmelt, which could cause a water shortage and poor autumn harvests.

The government of Yamagata Prefecture, known for its heavy snowfall, has introduced, for the first time, a special lending program to support businesses suffering from a shortage of snow.

Local governments need to grasp the short-term negative impacts of the warm winter on their local economies and take steps to mitigate the damage.

They should also consider and take long-term measures to curb local greenhouse gas emissions.

One notable international movement is climate emergency declarations by local governments in many countries. The first such declaration was issued in 2016 by Darebin, Australia. Paris, London and many other cities have followed suit.

A climate emergency declaration has to be accompanied by specific numerical targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. More than 1,000 jurisdictions around the world, including five in Japan, have made such declarations, according to an international nongovernmental organization promoting the movement.

Hakuba, a mountainous village in Nagano Prefecture, is one of the local governments in Japan that has taken the step.

The Hakuba municipal government responded to a request from local high school students. In the declaration it issued in December 2019, Hakuba said climate change is a serious threat to the natural environment of the village, which is blessed with renowned powder snow in winter.

It pledged to make the town powered completely by renewable energy sources in 2050.

The government of Nagano Prefecture, which was battered by last year’s Typhoon No. 19, also issued a climate emergency declaration in December and committed itself to reducing its net carbon dioxide emissions to zero by 2050.

The municipal governments of Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, and Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, are considering similar measures in response to resolutions passed by their respective city assemblies.

A climate emergency declaration can make significant contributions to the battle against global warming since it leads to such specific targets as wider use of renewable energy, more household energy savings and restrictions on the use of privately owned cars as well as joint efforts to achieve them by local governments and citizens.

Billie Eilish, the 18-year-old American singer who swept all four of the biggest prizes of this year’s Grammy Awards last month, warns about a global warming crisis in her song “All the Good Girls Go to Hell.”

Her song says we will face a catastrophic situation if we fail to act now. “Don’t say I didn’t warn ya,” she sings.

The record-shattering warm winter should prompt all of us to reflect on the implications of what is happening and what kind of Earth we want to leave to future generations.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 4