Survey Shows Environmental Doomsday Recedes Slightly

The Environmental Doomsday Clock has been turned back by a few minutes this year, according to the latest annual survey conducted both in Japan and abroad by the Asahi Glass Foundation. The survey aims to show what experts think about various environmental problems and potential solutions. The 2004 survey was the 13th so far and was conducted during April and June. The results were announced on September 9.

These results are shown on in the form of an "Environmental Doomsday Clock," a kind of barometer of environmental risks to human survival. Based on survey results, the clock is set between 0:00 and 12:00, with 12:00 symbolizing "doomsday," and the time between 9:01 and 12:00 as the "highest risk zone." This year, the average time was 9:08 for all respondents and 9:06 for Japanese respondents. Compared with last year, when survey results put the clock the closest ever to doomsday at noon, the clock was turned back by seven and 14 minutes for all and Japanese respondents, respectively. This shows that respondents feel less threatened.

To the question of what kind of global environmental problems came to mind when specifying the time on the Doomsday Clock, the most common answer given was "global warming," followed by "deforestation/desertification/biodiversity loss." In developing regions, however, the latter was the most common answer.



Posted: 2004/12/27 04:40:42 PM
Japanese version