Introduction

On the afternoon of March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake devastated the northeastern region of Japan . Known as the Great Tohoku Earthquake, the cataclysmic event was centered below the floor of the Pacific Ocean, about 80 miles east of the Japanese city of Sendai.  Since the tectonic plates involved were underwater and located close to the Japanese coast, ocean water was displaced, creating massive tsunami waves that increased the amount of damage caused. According to reports, waves as high as 33 feet crashed onto the shore, and penetrated as far as six miles deep.

When all was said and done, Japan was left with hundreds of billions of dollars in damages, as well as a death toll of over 18,000 civilians. Another one of the impacts of the earthquake was meltdown of the Fukashima nuclear reactor, one of the largest in the world at the time. As we will see, the aftermath of the meltdown had significant impacts on Japanese infrastructure both at the time and for years to come.

Immediate Response

Many of us have heard of a “nuclear meltdown”-but what exactly is it? Although not officially defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a nuclear meltdown usually means the melting of the core components of a nuclear reactor. This is considered a severe failure because it can lead to dangerous, cancer-causing radiation to leak from the plant site and into surrounding areas and water sources. Usually, generators are constantly pumping coolant around the cores. However, if something causes these generators to shut down (like an earthquake), then disastrous consequences can result.

In the case of Fukashima, the emergency response system detected the earthquake, shut down the reactors on time, and turned on the backup generators to keep cooling the cores. However, the tsunami destroyed even the backup generators, leading to a partial meltdown of the core. As workers worked around the clock to stabilize the situation, an 18 mile no fly zone was established and everyone within a 12.5 mile radius was evacuated, displacing over 300,000 people, according to the Red Cross. 

Long-Term Impacts

At the time of the nuclear meltdown, Japan was looking for a way to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels. One of the ways it hoped to accomplish this was by investing in alternate methods, with nuclear energy being on the forefront. According to studies, nuclear power accounted for a third of the countries energy production in 2010 and was on track to increase by an additional fifty percent. However, since the accident, due to fears of additional meltdown by both policy makers and the general public, enthusiasm for nuclear as plummeted. Now, less than five percent of Japan’s energy comes from the reactors.

To make up for this loss in power, Japan has had to increase its dependency on fossil fuels in the short term. For the future, however, the Japanese hope the answer lies in renewable sources. Hoping to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, the Japanese government has increased funding for research and provided incentives for companies and individuals to go clean.

Introduction 

According to the World Bank, the world population is expected to hit 10 billion by 2050, with “1 in 4 of the world’s people” coming from sub-Saharan Africa alone, bringing up an interesting paradox: what is expected to be the world’s most populous region is also currently the poorest, struggling to support the 1.14 billion people who live in it right now. For governments to maintain(let alone improve) standards of living, massive investment in all areas of infrastructure must be made, and it is clear that Africa cannot do it alone.

While many investors are hesitant to do business in the continent due to the lethargic rate of progress and low project success rates, where some see problems others see opportunity. Pouring over 3 billion dollars in 2018 alone, China in particular has taken a keen interest in Sub-Saharan Africa’s future. As I will discuss below, this investment will have wide-reaching impacts across the globe.

The Good

According to a report done by McKinsey, China is now Africa’s closest trading partner, with over ten thousand Chinese firms doing business in Africa. As shown by the diagram below, China dominates investment in Africa in almost every category, and places a particular interest in financing infrastructure, putting seven times as much money into the sector than the next closest nation.

There are several reasons for this rising interest. For one, African firms for the most part have benefitted from this relationship thus far; Chinese firms bring in specialized knowledge in sectors such as railway technology and provide support during all aspects of product development, from route design to construction. Additionally, the investment also boosts local economies. For example, when building the railroad from Kenya’s capital in Nairobi to its port city of Mombasa, local workers were recruited to help with the project, injecting money across several economic levels.

The Bad

However, not all investment has benefitted the continent. For example, by building the railroad mentioned above, Kenya accrued over $4 billion in debt to China, placing it in a precarious position for future diplomatic agreements and putting long-term economic stability in jeopardy. Additionally, according to a New York Times article, trains and roads are not the only things that China has been exporting to Africa. In addition to “traditional” infrastructure, China’s aggressive investment in wireless and mobile communications technology has led to the proliferation of its surveillance state across the globe. As of 2019, Zimbabwe and Kenya had bought rights to implement the same technology that China uses to monitor its own citizens at home, placing human liberties at risk.