Anchor: Every year the summer season on the Korean Peninsula is beginning earlier and lasting longer. Bearing the brunt are major cities and this is attributed to what’s called the urban heat island.
Our Park Jong-hong has this report.
 
Report: The baking weather has become a fact of life in South Korea these days.
 
If you a take stroll outside in the sauna-like heat, you’ll surely end up soaked in sweat.
 
Until 2008, the country’s first heat wave advisories were usually issued in July, but since 2014, advisories have been issued as early as May.
 
A look at the past 100 years of weather records show that summers have gotten longer with the turn of the century.
 
Based on meteorology, summer is defined as the period when the average daily temperatures hover above 20 degrees Celsius.
 
In the 1910s, that was 94 days, but fast forward 100 years, and that number has increased to 130 days.
 
Daegu has even earned the nickname Daefrica, a combination of Daegu and Africa, due to prolonged sweltering heat in the region.
 
Last year, the summer in Seoul was even more sweltering due to a phenomenon called "urban heat island" caused by the trapping of heat from urbanization and global warming.
 
Some say that if this trend keeps up, nearly half of the year will be considered summer by the year 2070.
 
As such, Korea which has been widely known for its distinct four seasons will likely see ever-dwindling days of spring, fall and winter.
Park Jong-hong KBS World Radio News