Figure1-1-4 Time series in temperature of large cities, 17-station average, and sea surface in the oceans area around Japan

Note: Annual mean temperature in Japan is calculated from data of 17 stations. All values are annual average anomalies from the 30 year average from 1901 to 1930. Source: Japan Meteorological Agency website

changing. As shown in Figure 1-1-5, the annual maximum snow depth has significantly decreased until the beginning of the 1990s since the peak at the beginning of 1980s. Though slight upward trend is observed since then, it remains at levels much lower than those of the early 1980s. The long-term changes per decade in years between 1962 and 2004 exhibit an unmistakable downtrend in the Japan Sea side of northern, eastern, and western Japan, which declined 4.7%, 12.9%, and 18.3% respectively. The downtrend was significant for eastern and western Japan. This trend can be attributed mainly to the dramatic rise in mean winter temperatures from northern to western Japan since the mid-1980s.

Multiple causes underlie these changes in snowfall volume, including temperature increases stemming from global warming as well as long- and short-term climate changes. According to Volume 7 of the Global Warming Projection issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency, in a scenario where the temperature rises around $ 2.8^{\circ} $ C over the course of the current century, decreased regional snowfall volumes are predicted for all of Japan's regions except Hokkaiko (Figure 1-1-6). The causes include precipitation events in which rain falls instead of snow due to higher temperatures in the Tohoku region and southward. Hokkaido, in contrast, is cold enough for precipitation to continue to fall as snow even if the temperature rises, and its snowfall volume will increase.

Note: In each region, the thin line indicates the values for individual years and the thick line indicates the 11 year running mean value

Source: Report on Climate Change 2005 (Japan Meteorological Agency, 2005)

Figure 1-1-6 Difference in the 20-year average of the amount of total snowfall in the cold season (December to March) from 2081 to 2100 and from 1981 to 2000.

Note: The amount of total snowfall is converted into precipitation (mm). It is a projected result under the A1B scenario with coupled atmosphere-ocean regional climate models.

Sources: MEXT, Japan Meteorological Agency, Ministry of the Environment "Climate Change and its Impacts in Japan." (October, 2009)

because higher temperatures will result in greater levels of atmospheric water vapor.

## 2 Statuses of the Global Environment, Atmosphere, Water, and Soil

Note: Shows that annual maximum value of the ozone hole Area. The horizontal line is the land area of the continent of Antarctica (approximately 14 million km $ ^{2} $ ). The Japan Meteorological Agency produced this figure based on satellite data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States. Source: Japan Meteorological Agency "Ozone Layer Observation Report: 2008"

Figure 1-2-2 Changes in Average Atmospheric Concentrations of Ozone Depleting Substances in Hokkaido

Source: "Report on Monitoring of Ozone Depleting Substances in the Atmosphere (FY2008)" Ministry of the Environment