Nature and Culture - Environmental Issues in Asia

The twenty first century ushered in with predictions of Asian world leadership. But just before the century reached its mid-point, in March 2011 a triple disaster hit Japan, one of the runners-up for leadership. The earthquake caused a massive tsunami and a nuclear crisis followed. China, another runner-up for leadership, has been hit by strong typhoons and floods. Southeast Asian countries, strategically important for any single Asian country vying for leadership, have also been victimized by natural calamities: floods, landslides, earthquakes, forest fire, volcanic eruptions, floods. The nuclear power plants in Fukushima symbolize the power of humans to develop nature such as transforming atom into energy. They illustrate human ingenuity to defy natural limits: Japan lacks natural resources, such as oil, but the nuclear power plants have been able to run Japanese factories and bring electricity to Japanese homes. But they are also proof of the limits of human creativity. In less technologically developed countries, exploitation of natural resources has been both a source of progress and man-made disasters. In many of these countries, however, the people face greater challenge to improvise for sheer survival.  What nations or states do to and with their natural endowments or lack of it -- trees, mineral resources, water, sunlight, soil, animals, plants, insects -- impact on them domestically, internationally, and globally. Peoples and states constructive and destructive power are manifested in scientific, technological and cultural developments, as well as in today`s environmental problems.

further information:
http://www.admu.edu.ph/offices/acas/