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welcome to Autumn

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-eight years and a million words

The temperature was suddenly not thirty plus today. It is the first day of Autumn, but to explain why I'm mentioning this at all: for the entire three months of summer, we had daily highs in excess of thirty degrees. I don't mind if July is baking/boiling hot. I don't mind if August is just a bit hotter than I'd like. But for the latter part of June, all of July and August, and all of September to be insanely hot .. well, I can't do this every summer that is for sure. For context:

1. The first "extremely hot day" of the year in Japan was June 12. It hit 35.2ºC.

2. The hottest day ever recorded by humans, world-wide, was July 21, 2024. The global average of 17ºC and change was fully two degrees higher than normal. Remember; that's world-wide average, so while it's always summer somewhere it's also supposed to be winter in as many places.

3. The latest-ever "extremely hot day" of the year in Tokyo was September 18. It reached 35.1ºC, this time inside Tokyo.

4. July was fully 2.2ºC hotter than the average of the thirty years prior.

The hell of it is, we knew all this was going to happen, well in advance. And, having lived it, we were robbed of the kind of summer where you can go out and enjoy yourself. Because when it's 35º or 38º, you just can't do that.

Anyway, welcome to Autumn. 2024 was the year of hell Summer, let's see how we wind this mess down.