Extreme heat in the Japanese archipelago every day
Warning against Excessive Power Saving
July 12, 2011, Tokyo, Japan - The Tokyo Sky Tree, a terrestrial digital communication tower, looms in the summer sky in the background as sticks of incense burns in the hearth at Sensoji Buddhist Temple in downtown Tokyo, where the mid-afternoon temperature reached 32 degrees Celsius (89 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, July 12, 2011.
The Japanese government warned the public not to cut back too much on the use of air conditioners in the midst of national drive to conserve energy, citing the possibility of heatstroke. Nearly 7,000 people were hospitalized for heat exhaustion in June, three times more than last year. Weather officials said June's heat wave sent the mercury rising in parts of Japan to their highest levels since 1961. Temperatures in downtown Tokyo reached 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) on June 29 - the third highest in June since the Meteorological Agency began compiling comparable records in 1875. (Natsuki Sakai/AFLO) [3615] -mis-