In this study, consumer attitudes were analyzed in regard to agricultural products produced in areas affected by the Fukushima nuclear accident. The study area included the prefectures of Fukushima, Ibaraki, Chiba, Shizuoka, and Kanagawa, which were designated as areas eligible for compensation for losses due to reduced demand for agricultural products. In Fukushima, Ibaraki, and Chiba, the compensation covered all agricultural products; in Shizuoka and Kanagawa, only tea. Results showed that consumers' willingness to purchase for local products increased with distance from the nuclear accident site. Willingness to purchase for local products was especially high in Chiba, and even exceeded the level in Shizuoka and Kanagawa. This willingness can be explained by factors including a sense of security that products offered for public sale are most likely safe, a desire to support local producers, and inspections carried out by retailers. Low price was not a major factor. Among respondents who were unwilling to purchase products produced in Fukushima, Ibaraki, and Chiba, about 70 % cited concern over radiation contamination. This figure was 50 % in Kanagawa and Shizuoka, showing that these areas also experienced reduced demand for local products, even though compensation covered only tea. The responses indicate that inspection and radiation dosage measurements are effective means of minimizing damages due to reduced demand. In particular, respondents gave higher ratings to inspections carried out by government, suppliers, and retailers than to those carried out by agricultural producers, because consumers want assurance that products remain safe right up to the time of purchase. Safety campaigns, direct personal appeals by agricultural producers, and discount received very low ratings.

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Currently, there is no extant technology that is able to measure only the amount of methane emission without recourse to laboratory work. Also, although observation data from Gosan, Republic of Korea, which is part of the WDCGG, is vital for understanding not only the atmospheric background pollution on the Korean Peninsula, but also background pollution carried long distances from the Asian mainland, the characteristics of this important data have yet to be clarified. With this in mind, this research evaluates factors influencing changes in methane concentrations at Gosan between 2007 and 2009, by applying the GEP Method (Greenhouse gases Emission Presumption Method), which is a method for evaluation the methane generation around an observation point, and analyzing observations of methane concentrations obtained by SCIAMACHY sensors. The results show that the annual average methane concentration in Gosan (1,858 ppb) increased by 18.2 ppb due to the influence of advection. The influence of advection from the mainland and peninsular was the largest factor in the concentration increment. In addition, general waste landfill and livestock production activities on Jeju Island were also considered to be factors in the increase. The research also evaluated the influence of wind direction on increases in methane concentration due to long distance advection. The results show that at wind speeds of 10.8-41.7 m/s, an increase of 38.9 ppb will occur by advection from mainland China with wind direction WNW-NNW and 24 ppb by advection from mainland South Korea with wind direction N-NE. A decrease of 29.8 ppb will be caused by advection from the East China Sea and western Pacific with wind direction SE-SSW. Increases in methane concentration due to long distance advection can be expected to be high in winter, when SE-SSW winds are relatively rare. The sources of methane concentration transported from the mainland and peninsular in summer may result from rice production.

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Recently, one study result, which reported to Nature, showed that whole amount of CH₄ emissions from plants in the earth was larger than the amount of CO₂ absorptions. The findings of this survey created a great sensation. In the case that this result is right, the operation of the Kyoto Protocol, which evaluated forests as a carbon dioxide sink, would fall into crisis. Therefore, in this study, we estimated an amount of CH₄ emissions from vegetation region of temperate forests, by using the WDCGG(World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases) data about Neuglobsow in Germany, and applying GEP (Greenhouse gases Emission Presumption) Method which is capable of evaluating CH₄ emission outside over a wide area. As a result, it was estimated that the amounts of CH₄ emissions from vegetation region of temperate forests was 4.1 Tg CH₄ yr^-1. It was much less than 28.4 Tg CH₄ yr^-1 which was reported to Nature. As a result of examining the validity of the estimation method, the estimate value was 9.6% higher than the results estimated by using the IPCC's conversion factor, and it was 14.2% lower compared to the results of the impact evaluation of atmospheric dispersion. However, it could be considered to be within an acceptable range of error. Therefore, the estimate of this study was considered to be reasonable.

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Flood is widely considered to be the most hazardous, frequent, and widespread source of disaster risk throughout the world. Urban expansion into flood zone areas and the possible effects of climate change are further elevating the risk of flooding. In Vietnam, Da Nang is one of the cities with the highest rate of urbanization. However, during the last 10 years, Da Nang has been faced with flood disasters that have caused loss of life and damaged livelihoods and infrastructure, as well as disrupted economic activities. This study analyses the urbanization process and flood risk, and their relationship, using remote sensing and geographic information system techniques. Time series Landsat TM/ETM images and multi-seasonal ALOS images were analyzed to generate temporal land use/cover maps (for 1990, 2001, 2007, and 2010), which were then utilized to analyze the urban expansion process. Flow direction characteristics derived from the Aster GDEM (30 m resolution) and the past flood experiences obtained from ALOS PALSAR image was integrated to analyze and rank the potential flood hazard zones. Flood risk was then obtained by evaluating the flood hazard and demographic vulnerability with a ranking matrix in two-dimensional multiplication model. The results show that Da Nang has experienced a high rate of urbanization over the past 20 years, the approximate rate of increased built-up in the area was 220 %. The main directions of urbanization are seen in the West, Northwest, South, and Southeast and along the coastal line. The flood risk analysis represents that the most of the major high and moderate risk areas are located in the depression lowlands as well as along the banks of river channels. By overlaying expanded urban/settlements during 20 years (from 1990 to 2010) with those flood risk areas, we identified that some of urbanization have clearly invaded into the higher risk areas of flood. The potential risk revealed by such urban/settlement expansion into the relatively high flood risk areas increased from 1.9 to 3.5 % (nearly twofold) in the urbanization periods of 1990-2001 and 2007-2010, respectively.

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