♦ 2月のコラム
♦♦ 自然環境学専攻
♦♦♦ 寺田徹准教授
春節も過ぎ、暦の上では春となった。日本語で「暦の上では〜」ときたら、「しかしまだまだ寒い」と続けたいところだが、最近は普通に春の陽気が感じられる日も多い。暖冬。地球は沸騰しているというが、東京に雪が降らなくなる日も近いのだろうか。
打って変わって猛暑の話。昨年は6月末、7月末、8月のお盆過ぎ、そして９月中旬と４回も北海道に出張した。7月と8月の目的地は十勝で、避暑にでもなればと期待していたが、まさかの連日35度に迫る猛暑！野外調査をすればTシャツは汗でびっしょり。話を聞かせてもらった地元の酪農家によれば、あまりの暑さに牛が体調不良になり、乳量にも影響が出ているという。北海道は「盆を過ぎれば秋」じゃなかったのか。。。
気候の変化はその土地の生業や生活、風土やランドスケープに大きな影響を与える。全球的な気温上昇が既に避けられないとされる中、季節感や目の前の風景など、私たちのいま現在の「あたりまえ」は、数十年後には大きく変わってしまうのかもしれない。
♦ February issue
♦♦ Department of Natural Environmental Studies
♦♦♦ Associate Professor Terada Toru
The Chinese New Year has passed, and the calendar has turned to spring. In Japanese, when we say, “on the calendar,” we would like to continue with “but it is still cold,” but these days, we often experience spring-like weather. It’s a warm winter. Despite the Earth supposedly warming up, the day when it no longer snows in Tokyo might be approaching.
Now, shifting to the topic of intense heat. Last year, I went on business trips to Hokkaido four times: at the end of June, the end of July, after the Bon Festival in August, and in mid-September. The destinations in July and August were Tokachi, and I had hoped for a cool summer, but unexpectedly, we faced scorching heat every day, nearly reaching 35 degrees! If we conducted field surveys, our T-shirts would be drenched in sweat. According to a local dairy farmer I talked to, the excessive heat made the cows unwell, affecting their milk production. Wasn’t Hokkaido supposed to be “after Bon, it’s autumn”?
Climate change significantly impacts the livelihoods, lifestyles, and landscapes of different regions. With the inevitable global temperature rise, our current “normal,” including the sense of seasons and immediate landscapes, might undergo significant changes in a few decades.
