Climate change is causing Japan's mountains to warm faster on average than those in other countries, with the summit of Mount Fuji projected to be slightly warmer within half a century, according to the calculations of one expert.
Based on current warming trends, the peak of Mount Fuji will be 1.5 degrees warmer by 2050, while smaller mountains -- those ranging from 1,100 meter to 2,000 meters in altitude -- will warm by 0.8 degree, according to Masatoshi Yoshino, professor emeritus at University of Tsukuba and senior program adviser on environment and sustainable development.
"This type of warming will raise the altitude of the boundary of the alpine and sub-alpine levels by 150 to 250 meters," Yoshino told The Japan Times.