I am very skeptical about global warming. Not that it is occurring or that human activity is a or the major factor, but that anyone is serious about attempting to do anything about it.

While not directly Japan-related, NPR's Science Friday has an interview with Dr. Paul Ehrlich in which he discusses the possibility that the planet may be on the verge of a 6th major mass extinction. About 14 minutes through the interview, he discusses why continued population growth is not a good thing and that wealthy countries should be attempting to cut population growth.

I don't live a fantasy of returning to a dreamworld nature and eating pine cones while living in a grass hut, but who knows, 50-100 years from now, Japan's now shrinking population could turn out to have been a blessing in some ways. It may be in better shape than the US with its predicted 440,000,000 people. (2050).

The interview is quite interesting. He asserts that the environment is in much worse shape than scientists are willing to say publicly. (The Boy George administration helps with the silence too.)