What’s Habitable Japan?
The area around Japan is a “Climatic Hotspot” characterized by the world’s largest ocean heat release to the atmosphere in winter. In addition, with global warming, the ocean around Japan is warming at twice the global average rate, and the frequency of weather disaster has been increasing on a long-term basis.
Moreover, ocean currents around Japan have begun to show different aspects, such as the Kuroshio large meander, the Kuroshio Extension abnormally shifting northward, the Oyashio retreating to the north, and frequent marine heat waves. These impact not only atmospheric phenomena like extreme heat and heavy rainfall, but also fisheries such as decline of Pacific saury and Japanese flying squid catches and expansion of fisheries ground of Japanese amberjack.
Based on the above background, the Habitable Japan project will expand our domain from mid-latitude air-sea interaction, which was the main theme of the two previous Hotspot projects, to atmosphere/ocean chemistry, marine ecosystems, and fisheries, aiming to answer the question “Will mild climate and abundant water/fisheries resources persist as a basis of survival for those of us living in Japan in the future?”