A paper published by Fudan University in China is attracting attention. It states that a 1°C increase in average annual temperature in tropical and subtropical regions leads to a 4.5% increase in violence. The study focused on India and other countries. Between 2010 and 2018, the frequency of physical, psychological, and sexual violence was examined among approximately 190,000 people in India, Nepal, and Pakistan. The results showed that a 1°C increase in average annual temperature in this region leads to a 5% increase in violence against wives and other female partners. The shocking finding was that if the global average temperature rises by 3.3 to 5.7°C by the end of the 21st century, violence in this region will increase by 21%. Supporting this report, Dr. Klas Linman of Harvard University adds that heat makes people more likely to resort to short-sighted problem-solving. Measures to stop global warming are necessary first. At the same time, measures to protect individuals from heat are also important.
Kawasaki City in Kanagawa Prefecture is achieving results, with industrial greenhouse gas emissions decreasing by 26% and transportation by 29%. Kawasaki City has long focused on measures for the industrial sector and has made steady progress. Next, the city is stepping up efforts to reduce emissions from households. The city council passed a bill to amend its ordinance to require the installation of solar power generation equipment in detached homes and other buildings starting in fiscal year 2025. While it is difficult to achieve full renewable energy coverage, the city recognizes its responsibility to do what it can within its own community. Kawasaki City is not alone in making this mandatory. Going forward, environmentally conscious municipalities and households are promoting emissions reductions.
It was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that awakened Japan, a country enjoying 78 years of peace, to the risks of war. Russia’s two-year offensive has given the Japanese people, who have enjoyed a pacifist constitution, a vague understanding of the nature of war in the modern world. We understand that future wars will be cocktail wars, combining armed and non-armed warfare. Cocktail wars include trade wars, financial wars, new terrorism wars, ecological wars, psychological wars, smuggling wars, media wars, drug wars, hacker wars, technology wars, resource wars, economic aid wars, and international legal wars. We must recognize that everything can be used as a weapon in war. Russia is using oil, grain, and fertilizer as weapons in its war of aggression against Ukraine. We have become aware that self-sufficiency in grain and energy is essential, and that we must ensure it. In this situation, solar power generation for individual homes appears to be a viable option for achieving energy independence.
