Environmental Issues of Japan

This caused reactors 1 through 3 to go into a meltdown and it created a situation where Japan was on the brink of a major environmental disaster. To fully understand the different events there will be a focus on: factors that caused the meltdown, why this did not impact the other three reactors, the consequences, who is responsible and how these incidents can be prevented in the future. Together, these elements will highlight the underlying effects of this disaster and its impact on the region. ("Fukushima Accident")

Serial killers have long eluded law enforcement while simultaneously grabbing the attention of the public, and now more than ever, criminal psychologists are beginning to understand what makes a serial killer. In his true-crime documentary, In Cold Blood, Truman Capote depicts the horrifying murders of four members of the Clutter family and the search to find the criminals responsible for the deaths. Eventually, two killers are caught, one being Perry Smith, a detached and emotionless man. And although his carnage of the Clutters labeled him a mass murderer, many of Perry’s personality traits are characteristic of a serial killer. In fact, if detectives had not caught him, Perry could have easily become a serial killer.

This essay will focus on the bluefin tuna industry in Japan, a country which consumes the majority of the global catch. The industry is one driven by the sudden increase in demand for sushi, a Japanese haute food which is now consumed globally. It will also illustrate the uniqueness and important role which the bluefin tuna plays in aquatic ecosystems throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. Lastly, the issues of globalization and lack of market regulation will be examined as a cause for the collapse in Atlantic bluefin fisheries. The tuna industry in Japan is having negative environmental impacts on the oceanic ecosystem.

Driven by such high prices, many fishermen, chefs and business owners depend on the bluefin tuna industry for a way to support their lives. Respectively so, without sustainable fishing practices and stricter regulations for the bluefin tuna, neither Japan, nor the rest of the world will even have the choice on whether or not eating and fishing bluefin tuna should be an option (Crockett).

The Fukushima disaster was caused by an earthquake and its following tsunami which caused a failure in the backup systems (World Nuclear Association, 2016). The tsunami knocked out the generators that powered the cooldown processes for three of the Fukushima power plants which caused the radiation leaks and other complications. Consequentially, the disaster was initially classified as a level 5 on the INES scale. Further investigation after the disaster was under control changed it to a level 7 disaster, the highest level on the INES scale. The estimated radioactive releases were about one tenth of Chernobyl, the worst nuclear disaster in history.

However, compared to other similar natural catastrophes, what made the 2011 Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami uniquely disastrous was the nuclear meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.8 The effects of this accident are still seen today— removal of massive volumes of radioactive water is

I. (Gain Attention and Interest): March 11, 2011. 2:45 pm. Operations at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant continued as usual. At 2:46 pm a massive 9.0 earthquake strikes the island of Japan. All nuclear reactors on the island shut

Japan is a small island nation that is divided into 4 main islands and many more smaller islands. In geographical terms, it is a chain of island also known as an archipelago. The four larger islands are, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Hokkaido. The total area of Japan is 142,000 square miles, which makes it smaller than the state of California. Most of the islands are mountainous, the remnants of dormant volcanos and glacial retreat, that are in turn, covered by vast forests with swift flowing rivers that eventually lead into the Pacific Ocean. Because of key terrain features, only 15 percent of the island can be used for the cultivation of crops. In Japan, there are only a handful of navigable rivers because of the steep and rugged terrain that

The fact that many other countries that are fishing for this particular fish species, such as Italy, Spain, Tunisia, the Netherlands, Japan, and some other countries with the European Union goes to show that they are only thinking of making money and not thinking of any long-term consequences that it will have in the future (Crispino, 2014). If Japan wants to continue to serve the Bluefin Tuna, they first have to acknowledge the fact that the populations are dwindling. But in September 2015, McCurry stated that “Bluefin Tuna are “one step closer to collapse” after tuna-fishing nations including Japan failed to agree to new conservation measures” (McCurry,

One of the most serious environmental issues that we are facing is overfishing, which is often overlooked. Many people rely on the fishing industry for a job, and many more (one billion people) depend on it for a source of protein, so it is not surprising that our supply of fish is dwindling.

On 11 March 2011 in Japan, the Fukushima nuclear power plant was seriously damaged by an earthquake and the radioactive substances were leaked to the surrounding. Local people had to evacuate away and up till now they are living under threat.

Fukushima Daiichi is the prime example of what happens when mother nature decides to pay a surprise inspection of one of mankind’s manmade modern marvels. It doesn’t take a genius to see the benefits of nuclear power. It does take a genius however to engineer a facility that can hold up safely against anything life can throw at it. Since man has focused his attention on nuclear energy as a power source in the mid twentieth century only a handful of major nuclear accidents, or disasters, have occurred. Fukushima Daiichi was among the handful of major nuclear accidents. On the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES), a scale that rates nuclear accidents from 1-7 with seven being the

On March 11th, 2011, the northern section of Japan was hit by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, followed by a 15 meter tsunami, causing the death of over 15000 people. (Spacey) Even though the earthquake and the tsunami caused a tremendous amount of deaths in the northern region of Japan, the meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear power plant caused a severe damage to northern Japan’s ecosystem that people still cannot go back to their homes; despite it is 4 years after the disaster. After the earthquake, the tsunami destroyed the power supply used by Fukushima’s three nuclear power stations, causing severe levels of meltdown to be occurred inside the reactors in the timespan of 3 days. It was not until 2 weeks after the tragedy, when the reactors were finally stabilized, and took several months to approach what is called a “cold shutdown condition”, in which the fission in the reactors are completely stopped.(Fukushima A)

Globalisation has had a profound impact on the Japanese economy influencing levels of international trade, business operations, financial flows, government policy, labour markets and even environment. This movement has been driven primarily by numerous TNCs, trade liberalization, and the deregulation of the financial system, and numerous strategies adopted by the Government and Economy, resulting in the creation of a 'new' Japan.

The triple bottom line of fishing is influenced by sustainability in many ways. One way is the demand for fish increases with population. As well there are new laws limiting fishing, ultimately forcing once