Mild Winter

　　Japan has had an extraordinarily mild climate these days, which has been said to be linked to El Nino. They say that winter clothes sales apparently aren't strong.
　　The warmth of the winter makes the growth of vegetables rapid and a considerable amount of vegetables are in the market now. As a result, the prices of various vegetables are getting low, which would be good for consumers, but a nightmare for producers. Additionally, the serious reservation about the shortage of vegetables in March became a reality. The following picture was clipped out of a news program. The Japanese words in the picture mean cabbage, lettuce, Chinese cabbage, and Japanese radish from the left. The figures along with them tell us the percentage of the decrease of the price. As you see, the price of cabbages dropped by more than 30%. A Malaysian school girl stayed at my house for a week and one of her ambitions was to try skiing in Japan, but there was very little snow even in the mountainous area. I was so sorry that she was not able to enjoy skiing.
　　However, it suddenly got as cold as usual today. I suppose that winter should be cold.

(Vocabulary)
El Nino  エルニーニョ現象