South Korea is facing a record-breaking heatwave (폭염) this June, with 59 out of 97 weather stations reporting their highest-ever average temperatures for the month. This extreme weather is straining power supplies as people rely on air conditioning (에어컨), and raises concerns about heatstroke (열사병).
South Korea’s monsoon (rainy) season, known as jangma 장마, runs late June to late July. It’s the most uncomfortable time of the year to be in Korea – intense bursts of rain and persistently high humidity.
2011 and 2022 were especially heavy monsoon years where parts of Gangnam suffered severe flooding. Our car, along with hundreds of other vehicles, suffered massive water damage in 2011 and again in 2022. In our neighborhood, nearly all of the parked cars were scrapped.
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2015 is shaping up to a hot summer. The Korea Herald quotes a Korean meteorologist predicting, “… that this summer will be as hot as last year, based on climate forecasts from Korean and Japanese meteorological agencies and the World Meteorological Organization.”
The article suggests that Seoul temperatures remain high because of “… the urban heat island effect [which] includes surface reflectivity, impervious surfaces, green space availability, building height and artificial heat emissions.”
Our vocabulary on climate, & hot and humid part one and part two,
The weather was beginning to cool off until the rain dragged the humidity back this past week. And so I return for more bing-soo. At Cafe T in Cheongdam, Seoul.
Mango bing-soo and Espresso bing-soo
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