NASA has published satellite images of Japan’s Mount Fuji. They show its bare slopes, which have remained snow-free this year.
Japan’s Mount Fuji is famous for the snow cap on its top. The cap usually starts to form in early October. In 130 years of observations, the latest time for the first snowfall was October 26 (in 1955 and 2016).
But 2024 broke all records. In October, the mountain was not covered with snow. The first snowfall on Fuji took place only on November 6. Moreover, there was very little snowfall and it melted in just a couple of days. This is clearly demonstrated by the photo taken on November 9 by Landsat 8 satellite. It shows no traces of snow on the slopes of the sacred mountain.
According to meteorologists, the absence of snow on Fuji is directly related to the abnormal heat wave in Japan. According to weather stations, the average summer temperature from June through August 2024 was 1.76 °C higher than the 1991-2020 average. Along with the summer of 2023, the summer of 2024 was the hottest in the country since records began in 1898.
The abnormal heat wave persisted into the autumn. In the first week of October 2024, temperatures of 30 °C or even higher were recorded in more than 70 cities across the country. This couldn’t help but have an impact on Fuji. The warmth and heavy rains left no chance for snow.
Earlier we reported on how satellites photographed a volcanic eruption in Indonesia.Provided by Earthobservatory
