7. 2050—Our Future as Global Warming Advances
Professor Takashi Sekiyama, a Kyoto University expert on climate security, addressed future risks: “I must emphasize that climate change may further exacerbate the severity and frequency of natural disasters.” He added that the Japanese government estimates that if temperatures rise 2 degrees compared to the 19th century pre-Industrial Revolution level, quick torrential rains bringing 50 mm of hourly precipitation may increase the current rate 1.6-fold. “A 2-degree temperature rise is not that far off,” he warned. “Last year, in fact, the planet already marked a 1.45-degree rise in average temperature.”
That was not the only astonishing prediction Prof. Sekiyama shared with his audience: “According to forecasts by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the temperature is expected to rise 1.5 degrees within a few years, reaching a 2-degree elevation somewhere around the year 2050. Even if we were to succeed in becoming carbon neutral by 2050, further global warming might well be unavoidable.”
Prof. Sekiyama stressed the need for disaster countermeasures, assuming future elevated risk of damage from torrential rainfall. He asserted that individuals need to prepare for disasters by taking advantage of information on hazard maps and the Meteorological Agency’s Kikikuru, while stakeholder organizations should enhance collaboration (such as disaster-relief initiatives by medical associations and the Japan Self-Defense Forces).
