While climate change is posing a global threat by melting polar ice, it is creating an ice crisis of a different kind in Japan.
At risk is the tradition of making ice under natural conditions. As weather patterns have changed in ice-making regions, it has become difficult to ensure the sensitive conditions necessary for producing the crystal-clear ice favored by aficionados of Japan's favorite summertime delicacy — kakigori, shaved ice with flavored syrup.
Although this crisis may not be an existential problem for mankind, it is nonetheless a chilling reminder of the looming shadow of climate change. Global warming, the most prominent marker of climate change, is causing ice caps in the Arctic and Antarctic to melt, a phenomenon that, if unchecked, will raise sea levels and flood coastal areas.