For Tokyoites, this year has been warmer than usual. Much warmer than usual.

At first there were the plum trees blossoming early February, and the cherry blossoms starting mid-March, 2 weeks earlier than normal. Well, it was already like that last year... It could just be a coincidence. Nothing much to worry about.

Then came summer. The tsuyu (rainy season) scheduled for mid-June to mid-July and sometimes referred to by the Japanese as the "fifth season", didn't come at all. 2 days of rain is all we got. In comparison, it rained almost constantly during 3 weeks last year. Consequently, Tokyo, and many other regions experienced their hottest summer in over 60 years, with temperature going as high as 40'C and a heatwave lasting all the month of July. Last year, it was Europe's turn to experience the hottest summer in most people's lifetime.

Then came the typhoons. This year 2004 has had a record 27 typhoons, compared to an annual average of 18 to 20. But that's not all. The most devastating typhoons all came late, in mid or late October. Many regions have experienced the worst typhoons in decades, and not just one, but two or three of them in a month, killing hundreds of people. At the same time, hurricanes went havoc in Florida and the Carribean, and there too there were later and stronger than usual.

Then comes Autumn (Fall), after a prolongated summer. The leaves usually turn yellow and red mid to late November in Tokyo. This year, the trees in some areas are still mostly green now, early December, which means the koyo (autumn leaves) will be about 3 or 4 weeks late.

But that's not all. What I would consider to be a typhoon hit Tokyo again last night (4 to 5 December). It rained harder with more violent winds than any typhoons I can remember (even this year). In fact, I couldn't sleep a wink the whole night, whereas I slept through what was called Tokyo's worst typhoon in 20 years in October. Typhoon or not, it came out of the blue (without pun intended) after 2 weeks of perfectly clear weather. When I got up this morning, the rain was over and the sky was as blue as it can be. Not a cloud on the horizon. This is typical of typhoons, which take all the clouds away with them as they advance.

Yesterday, it was 11'C. It is now 25'C (for Americans, that means 77'F) on 5 December. If I remember well, last year, on 5 December was the first day of snow (well sleet, as it hasn't snowed properly in Tokyo for years). Many deciduous trees are still green (maples, gingkos, etc.) and it feels like being in Okinawa or Hawaii at this time of the year.

If Global Warming continues, Tokyo and many other cities in the world will soon have to fight the rising sea level and who knows, in 20 or 50 years, we could well be under the sea or navigating in the streets in little boats like in Venice. Tokyo already has lots of canals, reminder of the Edo period when the city was indeed very much like Venice, so at least they'll know how to cope with that...