Three Government Bodies Release Joint Report on Japan's Climate Change and its Impact

Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Japan Meteorological Agency, and the Ministry of the Environment released on October 9, 2009, a comprehensive joint report on climate change in Japan and its impact on the country. The report, which was compiled based on information concerning observations and forecasts for global warming and assessments of its impact, was prepared using existing data from the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released in 2007, as well as the latest observation data and research results.

The mean temperature in Japan has been rising at a pace of around 1.1 degrees Celsius per 100 years since 1898. Without additional global countermeasures, the temperature is expected to surpass the international average estimates by 0.3 to 0.6 degrees Celsius at the end of the 21st century. The total cost of damages due to global warming is estimated at 17 trillion yen (about US$189 billion at the current exchange rate) annually, based on damages from floods, landslides, loss of beech forests and sandy shores, high tides in Western Japan and risk of mortality from heat stress.

Even if the temperature rise from the Industrial Revolution to the end of the 21st century is contained to approximately two degrees Celsius, a certain level of damage is unavoidable. It is important to take actions to curb global warming as well as to adapt to it, such as managing and conserving forests appropriately, enhancing insulation in buildings, constructing disaster-resistant public transportation networks, utilizing rainwater and treated water, along with the active promotion of flood control measures and the introduction of heat-resistant plants.

Japan's Ministry of the Environment official website
http://www.env.go.jp/en/

Posted: 2009/12/31 06:00:15 AM

TAG Global warming , Government