Worry About Global Warming

One of the purposes of this blog is to let you know about the modern Japan. So I cite some main Japanese newspapers, since many American bloggers usually the NY times, the Washington Post and WSJ.

Today's excerpt is from the Yomiuri Shimbun, the most popular newspapers in Japan: Seventy-one percent of respondents in a recent Yomiuri Shimbun survey cited global warming as their chief worry regarding changes to the environment.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
The survey also found that 67 percent of respondents said they "want" or were "quite keen" to use bioethanol as automobile fuel.

The survey covered 3,000 eligible voters in interviews at 250 locations nationwide on May 19 and 20. Of them, 1,803 people, or 60.1 percent, responded.

....The latest survey shows that an increasing number of people are worried about global warming and its link to increases in carbon dioxide emissions from the consumption of oil and coal, with changes in the climate being felt in Japan in extreme summer heat and an unusually warm winter.

....Specifically regarding global warming, 72 percent of respondents said they were concerned about the deterioration of the environment due to such phenomena as heat waves, floods and cold snaps, which have become more pronounced in recent years.

Asked if Japan should step up diplomatic pressure on China and the United States, which are the world's largest carbon dioxide emitting nations, 92 percent of respondents said yes.

....On the environmental impact of global warming, 52 percent of respondents cited worries about the deterioration in living environments by decreases in agricultural products due to more frequent regional heavy rain and droughts. Fifty-one percent said they were concerned about rising sea levels, while 41 percent were worried that the fisheries industry would be adversely affected with changes in the marine ecosystem. This was followed by 39 percent who cited concerns about changes in farming areas due to desertification.
(Jun. 6, 2007)

More Japanese are getting interested in the environment issues and the related TV programs often broadcast. It is a good trend, I think. I am also interested in the global warming, especially the economic impacts of it. I'll have a comment on it in this blog later.

By the way, Al Gore's book, "An inconvenient Truth", becomes popular among the Japanese readers. I have not read it yet. If you've read it already, let me know your comments on it.