SUSI short paper by Emily Tsutsui Parker
Planet Earth has, for the past 48 hundred million years since its creation, created incalculable numbers of creatures including plants, animals and human beings. Earth is the only planet in our galaxy that has air, water and other elements to support life. Although Earth is considered to be the most beautiful planet of all, we have been facing major environmental issues that affect life and nature for more than a few decades. Today, global warming is probably the most common environmental issue facing all countries, especially developed countries such as the U.S. and Japan. However, Japan also faces other serious environmental issues. In this short paper, environmental issues related to earthquakes, waste disposal, problems of reclaimed land and nuclear power stations will be discussed. Personally, I believe that Japan’s biggest environmental issue is related to earthquakes. Although earthquakes have always been a very familiar threat to Japan, because I was raised in a relatively earthquake-free part of Japan, I never considered them to be a major issue for the whole country, until the Kumamoto earthquake occurred earlier this year.
Firstly, waste disposal is an issue for Japan. In recent years, reclaimed land has been created out of waste, on which factories, flats and entertainment facilities have been built. However, recent studies suggest that reclaimed land has a high risk of liquefaction in case of an earthquake. Until recent years, areas outside of the Tokyo area, especially those in the south of Japan, were considered safe from earthquakes. As a result many large factories were built on reclaimed land in such regional areas.
Secondly, as can be seen from the example of Fukushima, earthquakes and tsunami can cause have catastrophic effects on nuclear power stations. Nuclear energy is extremely powerful and “clean” in the absence of an accident. However, it is the most dangerous method of electricity generation when an incident occurs. Radiation is harmful to the human body, land and water. After the incident in Fukushima, people were not able to consume local food. Even after five years, people are still not able to leave their temporary homes. Furthermore, nuclear waste takes more than 1000 years before it becomes harmless. This is not a single country issue but an issue for all countries suffering from a lack of energy.
Of course, these are not the only issues caused by earthquakes, nor the only environmental issues Japan is currently. However, when, considering these issues, it is truly relevant to say that Japan needs to find a way of producing cleaner energy. Although nuclear energy is cleaner than thermal power, it cannot be the solution. Japan has promised to reduce the amount ofCO2 it emits by 2030, and in order to do so will have to consider alternative ways to produce energy that cause no harm to the environment. I am particularly interested in visiting the Missoula History Museum, studying about tribes and also interested in visiting EKI. I am looking forward to learning from representatives of other countries how their governments are tackling the issues I have described, as well as their vision of the generation of renewable energy, while also sharing my personal opinions regarding geothermal energy and wave activated power generation.
As my university, in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology – Japan (MEXT) is active in a number of important exchange programs with ASEAN countries and I will be participating in one such program that MEXT supports, I would like to open sessions talking about my experiences with SUSI in Malaysia, discussing these sorts of issues with local students there. Furthermore, as I will be participating in a Malay speech contest held by the Malaysia government, I would like to express my thoughts on the issue and a developed solution in my speech in 2017.