Weather, atmosphere, and climate greatly affect the daily lives of people and wildlife in Japan. Swirling winds and rains can change the usually efficient nation into a slow-moving mass of people. Mountains, ocean currents, and major amounts of water surrounding Japan help pummel the nation with precipitation. People in Japan are very used to natural disasters, and weather causes many of these. Weather and air pollution in the atmosphere are faulty cogs in the gears of the Japanese industry machine. They disrupt the machine, and sometimes can greatly damage it.
Much like the United States, Japan’s climate varies by location.
The climate south of Tokyo is typically warm and mild, with weather resembling that of the southeast United States, while weather in northern Japan is comparable to that of New England. The climate from southern Honshu through Kyushu is mild enough to support crops throughout the year, while precipitation and overcast conditions are so frequent in northern Japan that the region often sees an average of three hours of sunshine daily during the winter.1
Japan’s climate is very diverse, and this diversity is caused by many factors, including physical features and ocean currents
Physical features of the country definitely impact Japan’s climate. An example of a physical feature which influences Japanese climate are mountains. The entire nation of Japan is dominated by mountain ranges. These ranges divide the country nearly in half.1 Due to the rain shadow effect, western Japan receives exponentially more precipitation than the nation's eastern coast.1 Also, nearly 70% of Japan is covered with trees.4 According to Howstuffworks.com, these trees lower temperatures in Japan. This vast amount of trees takes CO2 out of the air, lowering the amount of greenhouse gases.4 Of course, lack of greenhouse gases cause a decrease of temperatures. More physical features which affect Japan’s climate are the many bodies of water in and surrounding Japan. These waters greatly increase the amount of moisture in the air, resulting in high amounts of precipitation. In fact, precipitation numbers in eastern Japan are generally around 80 inches per year.4 Physical features are not only marvels of nature which we can look at in wonder, but they also have a very large impact on climate.
The rain shadow effect
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