This afternoon, the weather is clear and sunny as if yesterday’s heavy rain was just a lie. The trees along the streets, now lush with leaves, are vibrant and full of life. The lilies, blooming in various colors as seen in the photo, are also thriving. However, I was shocked by yesterday’s heavy rain. The smartphone alerts kept ringing incessantly. It was my first experience with such a thing. Even while watching TV, the term “linear rain band” keeps appearing frequently. This word seems to have started being used recently. Although the word itself seems to have already existed as a meteorological term, it appears that it became commonly used in Japan after the Hiroshima landslides caused by heavy rain in August 2014, during the 26th year of the Heisei era. According to the analysis by the Meteorological Research Institute of the Japan Meteorological Agency, the frequency of “concentrated heavy rain” brought about by phenomena such as the “linear rain band” has increased by about twice over the past 45 years. Especially during the rainy season, it is said to be approaching four times the previous frequency. The main cause seems to be global warming after all.

今日の午後は、昨日の豪雨が嘘の様な、まさに天晴れなお天気です。葉が生い茂ってきた街路樹も生き生きとしています。色取り取りの花を咲かせている百合達も写真の通りです。しかし、昨日の豪雨にはびっくりしました。ともかくスマホからの警報が鳴りっぱなし。こんな事は初めての体験です。テレビを見ていても「線状降水帯」と言う言葉がやたら出てきます。こんな言葉が出始めたのはつい最近です。言葉自体はすでに気象用語としてあったらしいですが、日本でこの用語が頻繁に用いられるようになったのは、平成26年(2014年)年の８月豪雨による広島市の土砂災害以降らしいです。気象庁気象研究所の分析によると、「線状降水帯」などでもたらされる「集中豪雨」の頻度がこの４５年間で約２倍に増えてきているとのこと。特に梅雨時期は約４倍に迫っているそうです。原因としては、やはり地球温暖化が理由の１らしいです。