KAZE, December 20192019 Impressive environment-related events in Japan
Saburo KATO
Looking back on the year 2019, a few happy events came up to my mind - theimperial succession was conducted peacefully, various sports events including the Rugby
World Cup encouraged us a lot, etc. At the same time, however, we encountered quite a
lot of terrible disasters both in environmental and political spheres. Now I would like toreview the past year and recall a few impressive events for me.
1. Watch out for climate disasters and ecosystem crises!
This September and October saw three powerful typhoons attacking easternJapan causing terrible damages after strong winds and heavy rainfalls. The Typhoon No.
15 (Faxai) in September swept across Chiba Prefecture blowing down trees and utility
poles, etc. having some 150 people injured in the Kanto Area. In October, the Typhoon No.
19 (Hagibis) flooded 25,000 hectares of land in eastern and northern Japan, killing morethan 90 people, and leaving a record landslide disaster caused by one typhoon. TheTyphoon No. 21 (Bualoi) did not hit the Japanese archipelago, but frontal instability
brought about torrential rain in eastern Japan claiming precious human lives. Of course,
the economic loss caused by these climate disasters were enormous.
Besides disastrous typhoons, northern Japan experienced unbelievably hightemperatures this summer. On 26 May, Saroma-cho of Hokkaido witnessed record heat of
39.5 degrees C. On the next day, a total of 23 spots all across Japan including Obihiro of
Hokkaido marked an “extremely hot day” of over 35 degrees C, which is quite unusual forthe temperature in May. Later, on 15 August, 40.6 degrees C was observed in Nagaoka
City in Niigata Pref. and 40.4 degrees C in Tsuruoka in Yamagata Pref., both locatednorthern part of Japan.
The extreme climate events are not limited to the Japanese Archipelago. InJanuary 2019, the City of Chicago marked -26.5 degrees C, and -48 degrees C inMinnesota, which was a lower temperature than that of the Antarctic! Just around thesame time, a record heatwave of 46.6 degrees C was observed in Adelaide in Australia.
Heatwaves attacked Europe in June and July, marking record high temperatures of over
40 degrees C in France, Germany, Holand, etc. On the other hand, Venetia, in November,
was swamped by high tide induced by warming temperature. There, the water level roseby 187 cm and 85% of the city went under the water!
As regards ecosystems, IPBES reported in May the unprecedented decline ofnatural species. According to the report, an alarming level of species distinction wasobserved all over the world. One million species are on the verge of extinction, many ofwhich could be extinct in a few decades. The extinction of species was caused bysignificant alteration of land area and marine environment as the result of human actions.
The report says that “Three-quarters of the land-based environment and about 66% of themarine environment have been significantly altered by human actions” and “85% ofwetlands present in 1700 had been lost by 2000” . These figures harshly remind us of how
guilty we human beings are!
2. Greta Thunberg EffectI have been paying attention to Greta’s activities since January this year. At theUN Climate Action Summit on 23 September, Greta, known for her straightforward
speaking manner, spoke strongly to government leaders, “People are dying. Entire
ecosystems are collapsing. We are at the beginning of mass extinction. And all you cantalk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”
What I admire about Greta is that she chose a zero-emission sailboat to travelfrom Europe to New York and then America to Spain to attend COP25. Her action madepeople in Europe feel ashamed of traveling by air, and by now many prefer to take trains.
Greta demonstrated through her sailboat trip across the rough sea a possibility of azero-emission move from one place to another, which is worthy of attention.
3. Japan taking no action
Why Japan cannot become serious about climate issues? Despite the repeatedwarning of scientists, and even in the face of such frequent climate disasters as we
experienced in the past few years, the government of Japan will not take any substantial
action to tackle climate risks. Why? A possible reason that came up to my mind is toomuch enthusiasm for economies. Prime Minister Abe, coming back in power in 2012,strongly promoted “Abenomics” as the only option to revitalize the long sluggish economyof this country. Even today, he still says that the economy is the top priority of the Abeadministration. Of course, the economy is important, but it should not be just a temporary
policy that benefits only those wealthy people. Rather it should be something to shape thefuture of the lives of our children and grandchildren living in the age of a catastrophic
environment.
Regret to say that citizens of this country have not shown strong support to thosepolicymakers who are addressing climate issues head-on. Poverty and unstable
employment night have deprived people of their willingness to seriously consider climate
risks. However, if we continue to use fossil fuels just for maintaining current economic
benefits, we cannot avoid catastrophe. I am now worrying that we will see a catastrophic
consequence shortly.