According to the Nikkei Wednesday morning edition, global warming could raise the average temperature in Japan by up to 4.7 C by the end of the 21st century. The Environment Ministry study panel calculated three scenarios by applying a model used by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to predict the consequences of future emissions and concentrations of greenhouse gases, the Nikkei reports. Apparently, the results show that Japan's average temperature in the period from 2070 to 2099 could rise as little as 1.3 C and as much as 4.7 C from that in the 1961-90 period, and change would be more pronounced in Hokkaido and other higher-latitude areas. Another article by the Nikkei Wednesday morning edition reports that this climate change could be the cause of an increase in typhoons, heat waves, floods and other extreme weather conditions in Japan as well as reduce agricultural yields, spread disease and wipe out 1 trillion dollars in economic value by submerging land.
Coming from the UK, alarmist global warming articles are regular features, often taking the front page news, most often seen in the left-wing ‘Independent’ newspaper. However, this article is not seen in the other Japanese newspapers this morning and although in the Nikkei, is buried deep in the ‘Other News’ section on the website. Does the UK have more of a penchant for campaign led journalism or is Japan’s press just not taking as sensational an approach to global warming compared to its counterparts in the UK? When the US and Japan meet in Bali to discuss global warming issues later this year, we will likely see a much bigger hype in Japan’s press about global warming and perhaps even a bit of campaign journalism too.
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