For our precious "water and air"

Looking around the world, we see a completely different situation from Japan. 1.2 billion people around the world spend a lot of time and effort every day trying to secure drinking water. It is also said that 5 to 10 million people die each year due to water shortages. Water issues have a major impact not only on people's lives but also on the local environment. The Yellow River basin in China is the birthplace of civilization, and people have relied on the water of the Yellow River since ancient times. However, in the second half of the 20th century, excessive water withdrawal upstream caused the river to cut off and the water did not reach the sea. No water in the river means no soil is brought to the river mouth. Tides erode the coastline, causing changes in the topography. Furthermore, the marine ecosystem was also greatly affected, leading to environmental deterioration over a wide area. Since the end of the 20th century, water has been withdrawn from the Yellow River in a planned manner, and gradual recovery is being seen.

There is an inland salt lake that straddles Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. It is called the Aral Sea, but it is not familiar to many people. When I learned about it in world geography as a child, it was about 68,000 km2 in size, 1.6 times the area of Kyushu, and shaped like an egg. I also remember that it had a salinity of 10% and was rich in fishing resources. However, due to unplanned water withdrawal for agricultural use from the Amu Darya River and the Syr Darya River, which flow into the Aral Sea just like the Yellow River, the amount of water flowing into the lake has drastically decreased, and now it has an area of 17,800 km2 (27% of what it was 50 years ago, and 10% of the water volume) and a salinity of 50%, making it a dead sea. The desertification of the area and the scenery of decaying fishing boats on the sand are evidence of the rapid environmental destruction in this region. The shape of the lake has also changed from an egg shape to being divided into two salt lakes, and since there are no rivers flowing into the Great Aral Sea in the south, it is said to disappear in 2020. Salt, calcium, magnesium, sodium, residual pesticides, and large amounts of phosphorus-based fertilizers have accumulated on the desertified plateaus, and are blown away by seasonal winds, causing health problems for residents and directly polluting the air.

Since the beginning of this year, the words PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) have been making the headlines in the newspapers about this air. In Beijing, the environmental standard has been far exceeded every day, and it has been difficult to go outside for days. There have been many health damages and economic losses. The fine particles are carried by the westerly winds, and values exceeding the environmental standard have been observed in Japan as well. The levels seem to decrease on rainy days in China, but even if it falls to the ground due to rain, it will fly back into the air when it dries, and if it flows into rivers, it will pollute the water. It is not removed by simply circulating. It is scattered all over the world on the wind. A fundamental solution is needed.

Let's turn our attention back to our own country. Can we simply dismiss the Yellow River, the Aral Sea, and PM2.5 as something that doesn't concern us? Looking back, Japan has also had bitter experiences with serious pollution and environmental contamination. However, since around 1970, Japan has taken the lead in taking measures, and as a result has developed many environmental technologies. Our water recycling technology, seawater desalinization, sludge reuse, and air purification technology are at the highest level in the world. Many countries today place emphasis on economic development to enrich the lives of their citizens, and there are cases where they have no time to pay attention to environmental issues. It is time for Japan to take the lead and use its experience in overcoming environmental problems to help the world. We believe that our cutting-edge environmental technology can free people around the world from worries about water and air.