VOL.3 "Climate Change for Your Feeds" National Institute for Environmental Studies Summer Large Publication 2018 Edition

"～Climate Change You Feel～ Here's Hen!? The Japanese Archipelago"

As part of its activities, A-PLAT Secretariat conducts a brief survey of National Institute for Environmental Studies's attitudes toward the impacts of climate change on people's daily lives at events and other venues.
This time, on Saturday, July 21, we will report on the "National Institute for Environmental Studies Summer Large Publication 2018" held in Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture.

Exhibitions (illustrations, posters, questionnaire boards, etc.) were held as part of the planning of the Social Environment Systems Research Center. The purpose of the meeting was to make visitors aware of the impacts of climate change occurring in their families, and to enjoy learning the importance of taking measures in both mitigation and adaptation measures. (Report on Exhibition at the 2018 Social Environment System Research Center in Summer)

Turning to the illustration enables you to identify impacts of climate change and adaptation or mitigation measures

View a page that explains "immediate impact," "future impact prediction," and "countermeasures" using illustrations and bulletins.

[Don't you feel anything weird about the recent climate?]

We conducted a questionnaire board that asks employees to choose from the following options: "cherry blossom blossom blooming season," "summer heat," "how it rains," "typhoon," and "how it snows," and to attach stickers to each item that they feel has changed in their daily lives or something that they are interested in lately.

The total number of responses was 1157, of which approximately 57% answered "summer heat" (Fig. 1).

Response to the questionnaire board: When one item is full in the first half (left) of the board, the board is switched to the second half (right).

[Fig. 1 Results of Questionnaire Boards in Summer 2018 Disclosure]

The mean temperature of Tsukuba City on the day was 29.7°C, the maximum temperature was 35.4°C, and the lowest temperature on the day until the previous day was 25°C or more for six consecutive days (from Meteorological Agency "Previous Meteorological Data"). Therefore, it may be said that the impression was strong on the hot days after the difficult-to-sleep tropical nights. This tendency was remarkable even when compared with the results of the large publication last summer, and the response to "summer heat" increased by 10.7 points (Fig. 2).

[Fig. 2 Comparison of Questionnaire Board Aggregation Results Conducted in 2017 and 2018]

[To Live in the Impacts of Climate Change]

Various kinds of climate change that are felt every day also affect our lives. Adaptation to impacts of climate change (hereinafter referred to as "adaptation") is what is dealt with, prepared for, and sometimes used to live within the impacts of climate change. A questionnaire survey was conducted on how close the "adaptation" was recognized, and 189 people responded to the questionnaire.

Approximately 97% were more interested in the Earth and the environment (Fig. 3). The awareness of global warming was about 94%, whereas the awareness of "adaptation" was about 35% (Fig. 4). Looking at the percentage of respondents who responded "I already knew the adaptation" by age group, 71% of respondents in their 50s or older, and approximately 30% of respondents in their 20s or younger and 30s to 40s, respectively.

[Fig. 3 Interest in the Earth and the Environment]

[Fig. 4 Differences in Awareness of Global Warming and Climate Change Impacts]

TVs are the most common source of information about adaptation, followed by newspapers and workplaces. These results included multiple choice answers to alternative questions, and among them, there was a tendency for newspapers, books, magazines, and the Internet to increase with multiple choices (Fig. 5).

In addition, as for what we want to learn about "adaptation," the highest percentage was "individual initiatives," at about 24%, followed by "impacts of climate change," at about 22%, and "ideas of adaptation," at about 17%, indicating that we are interested as a matter of ourselves (Fig. 6).

[Fig. 5 Investigation of information sources that triggered adaptation to climate change]

[Fig. 6 What I want to know about adaptation to the impacts of climate change]

This time, 37% of the age group responding to the questionnaire came from people in their 20s, and many young people attended the visit. I hope that this exhibition will give not only the younger generation, but also the younger generation, who feel and realize the difference in climate from before, a sense of the impact of climate change and the necessity of adaptation, and that it will provide an opportunity for them to tackle this issue in the future (Fig. 7).

[Fig. 7 Percentage of responding age group]

[End]

It is believed that warming, abnormal weather, and climate change are more familiar issues such as flowering about a week earlier this year, heavy rainfall in July 2018, which caused damage to various parts of the country from late June to early July, and the updating of the summer days, extreme heat days, and maximum temperatures every day.

"Adaptation measures" include appropriate use of salt and water supply and air conditioning as measures against heat stroke, confirmation of hazard maps and disaster prevention action plans (timelines) formulated by the national government and local governments, and evacuation preparedness, and confirmation of the latest information by smartphone apps.

In addition, it is an important task for related ministries, agencies, local governments, and related research institutions to cooperate to promote the recovery and reconstruction of actual disaster damage and to take "adaptation measures" in preparation for the increase in extreme phenomena expected in the future and the enlargement of impacts and damage.

A-PLAT, in collaboration with relevant ministries and agencies, local governments, and related research institutions, is working to consolidate information and expand its content. At the same time, we are disseminating information that can be used to adapt to the impacts of climate change and to live. Thank you for your cooperation in the questionnaire board and questionnaire survey.