Ocean around Japan warming up fast: report
Pastor Dale Morgan
Ocean around Japan warming up fast: report*
Reuters
Tuesday, May 15, 2007; 9:58 AM
TOKYO (Reuters) - The ocean around Japan has warmed up faster than
elsewhere in the world over the last hundred years partly because of
global warming, Japan's Meteorological Agency said on Tuesday.
The sea surface temperature around central, western and southern Japan
has climbed by 0.7 to 1.6 degrees Celsius in the last century, far
higher than the world average of a 0.5 degree Celsius increase, a survey
conducted by the agency showed.
The findings were based on data collected by research and commercial
vessels that started in the late 19th century.
The agency said global warming was partly to blame for the fast rise in
the ocean temperature around Japan.
"But the areas surveyed were so small that we cannot say the rise in the
water's temperature has been caused entirely by global warming," it
said. It did not specify why the ocean around Japan would be more
affected than other parts of the world.
The report comes at a time when the international community is
struggling to take global action against climate change.