A heat wave has gripped Japan over the past week or so, peaking with the highest temperature ever recorded in the country on Monday.
According to government data, the heat wave has killed at least 77 people and sent more than 30,000 to hospitals in the two-week period through July 22. It’s been an unusually scorching summer so far — and experts argue that it’s probably the “new normal.”
Whether it’s because they can picture the catastrophes that global warming could cause or just because they are sweltering, Japanese online users have commented on the current situation from angles that go way beyond the standard “Atsui desu ne” (“It’s hot, isn’t it”). Most noticeably, the current high temperatures have prompted netizens to challenge long-standing ideas about how to handle the heat.