Environmental Crises in Japan and Solutions

Environmental Crises in Japan and Solutions 

While in recent years Japan has strived for a cleaner and more eco-friendly environment, there are many environmental issues the country faces. While a tiny island (when compared to  China or the United States) Japan has an enormous economy, which contributes to its environmental issues.

The biggest issues environmental issues in Japan are:

1. Waste Management

Waste and disposal in Japan is, frankly, terrible. This is because due to it’s small size, there is a lack of space that is available to accommodate the millions of people living in Japan that produce excessive trash. Japan destroys almost two-thirds of its waste using incinerators, which contributes to the high amount of dioxin that is in the country’s atmosphere. Japan is managing this issue now by setting up firmer regulations in waste management and creating new innovations/techniques that increases zero waste production. There is also the Kyoto Protocol that Japan is a participant of, which requires CO2 emissions to reduce to a level lower than what it was in the 1990s.

2. '''Coral Reef is being Diminished '''

It was stated in a report released in 2017 that around 70% of Japan’s coral reef had been destroyed due to “bleaching.” This has also been happening in Australia. Additionally, the Sekisei Lagoon in Japan is also dying due to rising tempetkres. Because there is little research on coral reef bleaching, the solution here is unknown but Japan continues to attempt to make advances in ocean waste cleanup and reducing the effects of global warming on the oceans.

3.''' Nuclear Power Plants '''

Because Japan’s electric power generation is run through nuclear power plants by almost a third, many of its citizens object to setting up new reactors. This is because Japan is a country that can have bad earthquakes and tsunami’s, which can trigger nuclear meltdowns at the nuclear reactor centers. This has happened before. Many people oppose nuclear power production. To deal with this, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had stated that Japan had developed a safe way to bury nuclear waste, but there is many concerns about the technology surrounding this technique.

Citations + Sources: 

Admin. (2019, October 16). 6 key environmental issues in Japan you should know. Retrieved May 02, 2021, from https://greencoast.org/environmental-issues-in-japan/

Smith, B. (2020, October 14). Japan: Environmental Issues, policies and clean technology. Retrieved May 02, 2021, from https://www.azocleantech.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=539#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20biggest%20environmental,can%20accommodate%20this%20trash%20production.

https://www.oecd.org/environment/country-reviews/2110905.pdf —> The Environmental Performance Review of Japan