Potatoes are ‘boiling’ in the ground, lions are dying at a zoo, as record heat is gripping swathes of Asia, with affecting South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and China.
Most of South Korea has been reeling under an intense heatwave, with temperatures in the densely populated greater Seoul area, home to 20 million people, and adjacent areas soaring to nearly 40°C (104°F), local media reported.
‘Boiled potatoes’
In Yanghu, around 130km north-east of Seoul, farmer Lee Sang-hyuk discovered that many of his potatoes had been destroyed by the extreme heat.
The crop, grown in South Korea’s Gangwon province, had appeared healthy just a week earlier. But when Lee dug into the soil, he found the potatoes were ‘like boiled potatoes’.
“It’s not just one or two fields like this. How can I even put it into words? It’s so upsetting,” he was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
Lee’s damaged harvest is among the latest examples of the impact of an intense summer across East Asia, with South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong experiencing in recent weeks.
On August 2, the south-eastern city of Yangsan recorded 42.5°C, the highest temperature ever recorded in South Korea since modern weather records began in 1904.
Meanwhile, Japan’s anti-disaster agency reported that more than 18,000 people with heatstroke symptoms were transported to hospitals during the week of July 20 to 26.
Three lions have died at a Tokyo zoo, while a number of other animals have developed apparent heatstroke symptoms, news agency AP reported.
The extreme heat hit despite an El Niño event being underway. The natural climate pattern has previously been linked to a lower likelihood of extreme summer heat in Japan.
In Hong Kong, the observatory recorded 36.9°C, the highest temperature there since records began in 1884. The city was experiencing the effects of Typhoon Dolphin, whose outer bands pushed hot air across the region.
‘Red warning is clearly set too high’
The record heat also highlighted shortcomings in Hong Kong’s heat stress warning system for outdoor workers, which remained at its lowest level even as temperatures hit a record high.
“The threshold for the red warning is clearly set too high”, Lam Chiu Ying, a former head of the Hong Kong Observatory, wrote on Facebook, according to The Guardian. “If even a record-breaking temperature can’t trigger it, isn’t it just a display piece used to decorate a shop window?”
Following the criticism, Hong Kong’s Labour Department said it was reviewing the warning system in consultation with the observatory.
China has also faced intense heat. A weather station in the western Xinjiang region recorded 50°C in July, while heatwaves affected parts of the north-east.
In North Korea, Pyongyang experienced a series of tropical nights, with temperatures remaining above 25°C even overnight.
