Failure in Communicating an Environmental Issue Regarding Melting Ice in the Polar Regions and Change of Sea Level

The respective awareness of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Japanese government, media and citizens about the change of sea level at some future date due to climate change was surveyed and analyzed. Three official reports from the IPCC, the white paper on the Quality of the Environment in Japan from the government, the articles in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper from about the past 20 years, and the questionnaires by the Japanese and local governments conducted towards citizens were used. The results of this investigation were that the IPCC concluded in their past three reports that the sea level was estimated to be lower because of ice in the polar regions due to climate change, the Japanese government did not describe this point clearly, the newspaper drew the opposite conclusion from the IPCC and the understanding of citizens was that the change in climate caused the sea level to rise. These differences were due to the lack of or misunderstanding of scientific knowledge such as Archimedes's Principle and the migration of fluid materials, and to the psychological trend of human beings. It is necessary for the government and media to clearly explain and announce these scientific facts in a modern society which maintains a close relationship to science.