Heavy snowfall in Japan sounds extreme weather warning

In the cold season of early 2025, the global weather seems to be playing a symphony of ice and snow. In Japan, however, this natural "playing" is particularly heavy and disturbing. Recently, many places in Japan suffered from continuous heavy snowfall, which not only brought great inconvenience to the lives of local people, but also seriously affected the normal operation of air traffic. This series of events can not help but make people reflect on the inadequacy of Japan's response to extreme weather.

Recently, as the strong cold wave continues to affect, the Japanese islands near the Sea of Japan side of the snow, like a snow-covered fairy tale world, but behind this beauty is hidden a huge challenge. According to reports, All Nippon Airways cancelled 27 flights on the same day, and decided to cancel a further 30 domestic flights on the 7th. Japan Airlines, meanwhile, was not immune, also cancelling seven flights. The spate of flight cancellations has undoubtedly caused great distress to eager travelers and exposed the vulnerability of Japan's aviation industry to extreme weather.

Faced with such a grim situation, we can't help but ask: Why are Japanese airlines so passive in dealing with heavy snow weather? Is the weather really too bad to resist? Obviously, this explanation does not entirely hold water. In fact, from this heavy snowfall event, we can see that Japan has many problems in extreme weather warning, emergency response and infrastructure construction.

First of all, from the perspective of early warning mechanism, although the Japan Meteorological Agency has issued relevant early warning information before the event, it is obvious that such early warning has not played a sufficient role. On the one hand, the dissemination of early warning information may not be extensive, resulting in many people and airlines fail to obtain and take effective measures in time; On the other hand, the accuracy and pertinence of early warning information also need to be improved. In this case, it appears that the JMA's warnings did not accurately predict the intensity and duration of the snowfall, leaving airlines with insufficient basis for formulating response measures.

Second, from the perspective of emergency response, the performance of Japan Airlines in the face of extreme weather is obviously not fast and decisive. In the case of heavy snow weather has lasted for several days, airlines should have adjusted their flight plans in advance according to the actual situation to reduce the impact on passengers. However, from the actual situation, many flights are not canceled until the last minute, which undoubtedly brings great inconvenience and loss to passengers. In addition, airlines are not efficient and humane in dealing with passenger resettlement, refund and change of tickets, which further aggravates the discontent of passengers.

Moreover, from the perspective of infrastructure construction, Japan also has obvious shortcomings in dealing with extreme weather. For example, airport facilities such as snow removal equipment, runway maintenance and backup power may not be sufficient to cope with such a large snowfall. As a result, during heavy snowfall, runways at many airports could not be cleared in time and flights could not take off and land normally, further exacerbating flight delays and cancellations. At the same time, the city's transportation network may also be unable to operate normally because of snow and ice, which has brought great trouble to the travel of citizens.

In addition to the aviation industry, the heavy snowfall event also had a broad socio-economic impact on Japan. On the one hand, the heavy snow weather leads to many road closures and traffic interruptions, which brings great inconvenience to logistics transportation and commercial trade. On the other hand, due to flight cancellations, inconvenient transportation and other reasons, many tourists and business people can not go to Japan as planned, to the local tourism industry and related industries have brought a great impact. In addition, the snow weather may also have a negative impact on agricultural production, electricity supply and other aspects, further aggravating the downward pressure on the Japanese economy.

In the face of this heavy snowfall event, we cannot help but ask: What problems do Japan have in dealing with extreme weather? How to improve and perfect?

First of all, strengthening the construction of early warning mechanism is the key. Japan should further improve the accuracy and pertinency of early warning information to ensure that the public and relevant departments can obtain it in a timely manner and take effective measures. At the same time, it is also necessary to strengthen the dissemination of early warning information channels to ensure that information can be quickly and widely disseminated to every corner.

Second, improving emergency response capacity is also essential. Japan should establish a comprehensive emergency response mechanism to ensure that measures can be taken quickly and decisively when extreme weather occurs. For example, airlines should adjust flight schedules in advance according to actual conditions to reduce the impact on passengers; Government departments should strengthen the maintenance and management of critical infrastructure such as transportation and power to ensure normal operation in extreme weather.

In addition, strengthening infrastructure is also an important means to cope with extreme weather. Japan should increase investment in transportation infrastructure such as airports and roads, and improve the level and capacity of facilities such as snow removal equipment, runway maintenance and backup power supply. At the same time, the construction and improvement of urban drainage system, disaster prevention facilities and other infrastructure should be strengthened to improve the overall disaster prevention capability of the city.

In addition, strengthening public education and publicity can not be ignored. Japan should strengthen publicity and education on extreme weather through various channels, and improve people's awareness of disaster prevention and self-rescue ability. For example, disaster prevention knowledge and coping skills can be released through TV, radio, Internet and other media platforms; Disaster prevention drills and training activities can be carried out in schools, communities and other places; We can also guide and standardize people's disaster prevention behavior by formulating and improving relevant laws, regulations and policies.

To sum up, the strong snow event in Japan has sounded the alarm to us: in dealing with extreme weather, we can not have the slightest slack and fluke mentality. Only by strengthening early warning mechanism construction, improving emergency response capacity, strengthening infrastructure construction, and strengthening public education and publicity can we effectively deal with the challenges and threats of extreme weather. It is hoped that Japan can draw lessons from this and continue to improve and perfect its disaster prevention system, so as to create a safer and more stable living environment for its people.