Sea current course change could mean worse weather for Japan

The powerful current that sweeps up Japan’s east coast has made a broad turn out into the Pacific for the first time in 12 years, according to scientists, meaning that the country can expect higher tides and elevated levels of snowfall this winter.

Experts also warn that changes in the Kuroshio Current have already begun to affect fish stocks in the usually plentiful waters off the eastern seaboard, with fishermen reporting that catches of bonito and sardine fry are already significantly down on previous years.

“The current is affected by fluctuations in the winds, which in certain conditions make it follow an alternative path that is known as a Kuroshio large meander,” said Dr Toru Miyama, of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.

“Since 1965, we have seen this happen five times previously and the last time was in 2005,” said Miyama, of the organisation’s Environmental Variability Prediction and Application Research Group.

Studies so far suggest that the current will maintain its altered route for at least one year and affect the entire country.

“Our studies show that we can expect more snow than in an average year in and around Tokyo when this happens,” Miyama said.