Minamata Bay in Kumamoto Japan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Minamata Bay in Kumamoto Japan - Research Paper Example The pollution was suspected to have been caused because Hyakken Habour released the poisonous mercury from the Chisso Corporation. This not withstanding, Minamata Bay has its own unique geographical and natural make-up, that makes the bay distinguished. Minamata Bay is part of the bigger Shiranui Sea but it is locked up in the middle of the Kyushu coast and the Island of Kumamoto and Nagasaki prefectures. From afar, the bay presents beautiful scenery of nature’s popular sea color, which is sea blue. The bay is generally calm with no heavy tides that randomly break its banks. The bay is shallow, yet possesses every thing that a regular sea area should possess. To the north of the bay is the Ariake Sea and to its south is the East China Sea. This means that Minamata Bays share a lot of common features with the East China Sea and the Ariake Sea. †¢ Climate Precipitation and temperature in the Minamata Bay varies significantly during different times of the year. However compa ratively, because of the presence of the sea, precipitation in Minamata Bay is generally low when compared with other parts of the country such as Tokyo. The graph below gives a pictorial difference in temperature and precipitation of Minamata in General as compared with Tokyo. Source: Travel Friend (2011) Precipitation is generated from the clouds. According to the Frondriest Environmental Inc (2011), precipitation is any form of water that falls to the earth’s surface. This includes snow, rain, sleet, freezing rain and hail†. From the graph we see that because of the presence of the Bay and sea in general, Minamata has a very high precipitation as compared to Tokyo. The highest precipitations of the year are recorded in June and July when precipitation can go as high as rising beyond 15mm. January, February and December however records very low precipitations because at those times of the year, there is relatively low levels of water in the air. As far as temperature is concerned, Minamata records temperature levels that are not very much different from that of Tokyo. Temperatures also vary a lot in the course of the year. Whereas temperatures can go as low as below 5 °C in the months of January, February and December, it at times rises high above 30 °C in August and September. To this effect, it can be said that Minamata Bay has a temperate climate. The specific values of temperature and precipitation for the various months are given in the table below: Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Average High Temperature ( °C) 10.5 11.3 14.8 19.9 23.8 26.6 30.1 31.1 28.1 23.5 18.3 13 Average Low Temperature ( °C) 2.7 3.1 6.3 10.4 14.6 19.3 23 23.3 20.2 14.3 9.5 4.5 Average Precipitation (mm) 74 78.2 158.5 147.5 190.3 409.8 417.5 228.6 198.8 95.8 80.4 52.6 Source: Travel Friend (2011) †¢ Human Presence, Activities and Alternations People live all around the Minamata Bay and are involved in active regular activities. Accord ing to the GeoNames geographical database, Minamata Bay, Japan has a population of 29,428 people. Majority of the working class of the people living in Minamata Bay are involved in factory work. This is because Minamata itself is tagged as a factory town. Most of the people in Minamata depends on the presence of factories to make a living. There are some who also take advantage of the presence