资料图:日本福岛第一核电站。
2011年,福岛核电站事故发生后,大量放射性物质泄漏到大气层和太平洋,对周围环境造成了难以逆转的伤害,数十万人被迫撤离该地区。时至今日,作为日本邻国之一的韩国仍未解除福岛海鲜禁令。
日本以核污水存储能力即将达到上限为由,在2021年4月13日,正式决定将福岛第一核电站核污水排入太平洋。过去一年多,日本政府和东京电力公司一直在持续推进核污水排海计划。
日本政府辩称,这些核污水经多核素处理系统(ALPS)处理后很安全,甚至“可以喝”,这样的表态无疑在愚弄大众。
事实上,经过处理的核污水仍含有多种放射性物质,核污水一旦排放入海就无法回收,长期来看,将会给海洋生态带来难以估量的潜在威胁,最终危害人类健康。
因此,核污水排海计划推出后,遭到日本民众强烈反对。日本《朝日新闻》2022年3月公布的问卷调查显示,福岛县、宫城县和岩手县受访的42个市町村长中,约六成反对东京电力公司福岛第一核电站核污水排放入海。日本全国渔业协会联合会也多次申明立场,反对该计划。
日本政府认为,核污水排海是最便宜、最省事的解决方案,但此举却将周边国家乃至全世界置于核污染风险中。太平洋非日本一家之海,核污水会随着洋流流动,其影响势必会跨越国界,危害周边国家乃至整个国际社会的公共福祉和利益。
《韩国经济新闻》发文称,相关研究认为,福岛核污水如果排放入海,约7个月后将到达济州等韩国海域,该国水产业和旅游业将遭受相当大的损失。
德国南极海洋机构也曾发出警告,若日本将所有核污水排入海中,不到半年,整个太平洋都将面临高度辐射威胁,包括远在大洋另一端的美国。太平洋地区人民更是对日本该计划持反对意见。
日本作为《联合国海洋法公约》缔约国,有义务保护海洋环境。然而,在核污水排海方案的正当性、核污水数据的可靠性、净化装置的有效性、环境影响的不确定性等问题上,日本未能作出科学、可信的说明。
国际原子能机构技术工作组虽已三次赴日实地考察评估,但尚未就日排海方案的安全性给出结论,并且对日本提出诸多澄清要求和整改意见。在此情况下,日本仍执意推进核污水排海工程建设,这是极不负责任的行为。
太平洋不是日本的下水道,日本必须正视各方合理关切,在与周边国家等相关利益方和国际原子能机构充分协商后,制定合理的核污水处理方案。日本也要着眼长远,若只顾眼前,执意将核污水排放入海,不仅其自身,周边国家乃至全世界都将为之买单,其后果必将会危害数代人。
Fukushima water disposal by no means Japan’s own business
By John Lee
(ECNS) -- Japan has announced it will release treated wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean this year.
Although Fukushima wastewater disposal affects global marine ecological environment protection and public health, Japan has turned a deaf ear to domestic and international opposition to dumping the contaminated water into the sea, treating the "global" matter as its own business.
The Fukushima accident in 2011 had sent large quantities of radiation into the atmosphere and the Pacific Ocean, causing irreversible damage to the surrounding environment, and hundreds of thousands of people were forced to evacuate the area. South Korea still maintains its import ban on Japanese seafood from areas affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
On April 13, 2021, Japan announced it had decided to discharge contaminated radioactive wastewater in Fukushima Prefecture into the sea due to dwindling storage space, with the Japanese government and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. promoting the release plan over the past year.
The Japanese government argues that the water treated by an advanced liquid processing system, or ALPS, is safe and drinkable, which is undoubtedly fooling the public.
In fact, the treated wastewater still includes a variety of radioactive substances and can’t be recycled once discharged into the sea, which will pose a great threat to marine ecology and ultimately endanger human health in the long run.
Therefore, the discharge plan has been strongly opposed in Japan. According to a questionnaire conducted by The Asahi Shimbun, nearly 60 percent of mayors of 42 municipalities in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures oppose the discharge plan. The National Fisheries Cooperative Federation of Japan has also repeatedly stated its opposition in public.
The Japanese government believes that dumping Fukushima wastewater into the sea is the cheapest and most convenient solution, but neighboring countries and even the whole world will be at risk of nuclear pollution.
The Pacific Ocean doesn’t belong to Japan and the wastewater flow along oceanic currents will surely break boundaries and endanger public welfare and the interests of neighboring countries and even the international community.
The Korea Economic Daily reported that related research concluded that if contaminated water from Fukushima is released into the ocean, it would only take seven months for the contaminated water to reach the shores of Jeju Island, with the country's aquaculture and tourism suffering considerable losses.
According to the calculation of a German marine scientific research institute, radioactive materials will spread to most of the Pacific Ocean within half a year from the date of discharge, and the U.S. and Canada will be affected by nuclear pollution. People in the Pacific region also oppose the discharge plan.
As a participant of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Japan has the obligation of protecting the marine environment.
However, it hasn’t offered a full and convincing explanation on issues like the legitimacy of the discharge plan, the reliability of data on the nuclear-contaminated water, the efficacy of the treatment system or the uncertainty of environmental impact.
Though the IAEA has yet to complete a comprehensive review after three investigations in Japan, the Japanese side has been pushing through the approval process for its discharge plan and even started building facilities for the discharge. It is rather irresponsible for Japan to act against public opinion at home and concerns abroad.
The Pacific Ocean is not a private Japanese sewer. The country must seriously heed the voices of the international community and make a reasonable plan for the Fukushima wastewater disposal after full consultation with stakeholders and international agencies.
If it only seeks instant interest and insists on discharging the contaminated water into the sea, not only itself, but also its neighboring countries and the entire world will pay for the decision and several generations will be forced to bear the consequence.
2100年,2/3冰川可能消失****** 图片来源:pixabay 美国科学家进行的一项研究对本世纪不同排放场景下的冰川质量损失进行了新的预测。相关研究1月5日发表于《科学》。 研究表明,根据当今减缓气候变化的努力,本世纪全球可能损失多达41%,或者至少26%的冰川。 这些预测将被汇总到全球温度变化场景中,补充有关气候变化的讨论内容,例如在《联合国气候变化框架公约》第27次缔约方大会(COP27)上进行的讨论。 卡内基·梅隆大学土木与环境工程助理教授David Rounce团队发现,如果继续投资化石燃料,在未来场景中,按质量计算超过40%的冰川将在本世纪内消失,而按照数量计算,超过80%的冰川可能会消失。在最好的低碳排放场景下,全球平均温度的上升相对于工业化前水平被限制在1.5℃以内,但按质量计算仍有超过25%的冰川质量将消失,按照数量计算则有近50%的冰川将消失。 按照冰川的标准,这些消失的冰川大多数都很小(不到1平方公里),但它们的消失会对当地的水文、旅游、防灾和文化价值产生负面影响。 该研究为区域冰川建模提供了更好的背景,Rounce希望这有助于促使气候政策制定者将温度变化目标降低到2.7℃以内——这是《联合国气候变化框架公约》第26次缔约方大会(COP26)承诺的目标。 如果温度上升超过2℃,则欧洲中部、加拿大西部和美国等地的较小冰川将受到不成比例的影响。如果温度上升3℃,这些地区的冰川几乎将完全消失。 Rounce指出,冰川对气候变化的反应需要很长时间。他将冰川描述为流动极其缓慢的河流。今天的减排努力并不能消除以前排放的温室气体,也不能阻止温室气体对气候变化的影响。这意味着即使完全停止碳排放,其正面效应也需要30年至100年才能反映在冰川质量损失率上。 许多因素决定了冰川质量的流失,Rounce的研究推动了用模型解析不同类型的冰川的研究,包括潮汐冰川和碎片覆盖的冰川。前者指漂于海洋的冰川,这导致它们在这个边界失去了很多质量。后者则指被沙子、岩石和巨石覆盖的冰川。 Rounce此前的研究表明,碎屑覆盖层厚度和分布可能对整个区域的冰川融化速率产生积极或消极影响,这取决于碎屑的厚度。在这项最新研究中,他发现,解释这些过程对全球冰川预测的影响相对较小,但在分析单个冰川时却发现了质量损失的巨大差异。 该模型还使用前所未有的大量数据进行了校准,包括对每个冰川的单独质量变化进行观测,从而提供了冰川质量变化的更完整、更详细的图像。可以说,超级计算机对于支持最先进校准方法的应用和不同排放场景的大规模集成必不可少。(王方) (文图:赵筱尘 巫邓炎) [责编:天天中] 阅读剩余全文() |