This summer has been one of the hottest on record. In Japan, the number of heatstroke victims hit record levels. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency reported July had the highest number of people taken to hospitals by ambulances for heatstroke ever, more than 21,000 people.
Of those, nearly half were in the most at-risk group of people aged 65 and older. The number of deaths from heatstroke in July was 39, also the highest number on record.
Cases of heat exhaustion and heatstroke rose in the early part of the summer as many people tried to curb electricity use to avoid power shortages. Temperatures soared three to four degrees higher than the 30-year average amid high humidity.