<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/17/japan-heat-childrens-summer-sport-restrictions-global-heating>
"The tens of thousands of fans filing into Koshien baseball stadium near Osaka
are more grateful than usual for the freebies handed out at the entrance:
floppy sun hats bearing the logo of the Hanshin Tigers, the baseball team they
are about to watch play their rivals from Tokyo, the Yomiuri Giants, on a
clammy July evening.
Spectators in seats in the steeply tiered bleachers waft
uchiwa fans to cool
their faces while vendors skipping up and down rows of steps do a roaring trade
in cold beer and soft drinks.
Watching Japanese baseball at Koshien at this time of the year has never been
for the faint-hearted: the humidity and heat are as much a part of the occasion
as strikes and stolen bases.
But the climate crisis threatens to cause more than just a few hours of
discomfort for the almost 50,000 spectators inside Koshien.
As Japan sweltered through unusually high early-July temperatures, concern is
growing for the health of millions of schoolchildren who play outdoor sports,
after a grim forecast outlined in a recent report.
If global heating continues at its current rate, it will pose an existential
threat to sports at the grassroots level, raising the risk that future
generations of children in Japan will be denied the exercise they need for
their health and physical development.
As soon as 2060, summer temperatures will reach levels high enough to prevent
children from taking part in extracurricular outdoor sports in most parts of
the country, according to predictions by the National Institute for
Environmental Studies and Waseda University in Tokyo."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
