Japan and Australia

Japan and Australia’s view about the environment does not differ, as both value it as a precious resource, however the quality of different aspects of the environment differ. For example, Japan’s land quality is considered better than Australia’s but Australia’s air quality is far better then Japan’s.

Japan regards air quality as a major issue but it still has a long way to go if they are to meet healthy requirements. The main problem is that Japan has neighbours release high amounts of air pollution which then travel to Japan through the atmosphere. The government has now had to act on this problem as there has been an increase in the amount of heart attacks, so in order to reduce emissions the government has looked at the business sector to decrease the levels of pollutants released in the atmosphere. Australia has relatively good levels of air quality, so this isn’t as big of an issue in Australia.

Instead, Australia is concerned with other issues for example Global warming. This affects both nations, as the effects of global warming are already evident in increasing temperatures and rising sea levels. The Kyoto agreement states that countries that ratify the agreement must reduce emissions by 8% between 2008 and 2012. Japan had ratified the agreement but Australia hasn’t, however they still aim to meet these requirements. Australia didn’t ratify the agreement as the government thought that it would be too hard to reduce emissions as it would result in job cuts and high costs. Both countries have been in headlines for excessive greenhouse gas emissions. Australia has one of the highest emissions per capita in the world, but due to our small population, the situation is not as serious as Japan’s. Australia contributes 1% of the world’s emissions while Japan contributes a total 5%, which means that despite Japan having a population nearly 7 times larger then Australia, it’s greenhouse gas emissions are only 5 time bigger.

The biggest difference between Japan and Australia’s environment is seen through water quality. Most of Japan’s waterways are unsuitable for drinking particularly because of its monsoonal weather, as a large amount of pollution is added to these waterways when it rains. Despite government assistance, these waterways have failed to show improvement in most aspects of water quality.

Australia on the other hand only has three main issues when it comes to water quality- Salinity, Turbidity and nutrients such as phosphorus. The nations water quality varies greatly from state to state, as Northern Territory and Western Australia generally have good waterways which have been preserved from tourism, compared to that of NSW whose waterways have been depleted through over use and high pressure on river systems.

2/3 of Australia is desert which means that the area of desert in Australia is one and a half bigger then Japan itself. This proves that Australia has a lot of open space compared to Japan, which fully utilizes what land it has so it is best productive. Problems associated with land in Japan include numerous land slides which is a result of the climate and huge population.

Australia has many land problems, which include dryland salinity which is formed when salts accumulate under the ground, making the land useless to farm. As well as this, poor farming practices results in desertification, which also makes land less productive.

The future of both environments lay in the governments hands, and the quality of this environment has a significant impact on the nations population. If some aspects of the environment don’t change in the future, society will face the effects that may be impossible to reverse.