TO reduce radiation across Japan's northern Fukushima region after the 2011 nuclear disaster, authorities scraped a layer of contaminated soil from swathes of land.

Now, as young farmers seek to bring life back to the region once known for its delicious fruit, authorities are deliberating what to do with the mass of removed soil — enough to fill more than 10 baseball stadiums.

Topsoil was collected as part of largescale decontamination efforts that also included blasting buildings and roads with high-pressure jets of water.

Almost all areas of Fukushima have gradually been declared safe, but many evacuees have been reluctant to return because they remain worried about radiation, or have fully resettled elsewhere.

Fukushima has, however, welcomed new residents such as 25-year-old kiwi farmer Takuya Haraguchi. "I want people to become interested in and learn about what Fukushima is really like these days," he said.

A vast quantity of soil — 14 million cubic metres — is being stored at interim storage facilities near the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

The huge mounds are kept inside guarded grounds, protected by layers of clean soil and man-made sheets to prevent runoff into the environment.

The government wants to use the soil for building road and railway embankments, among other projects. It has vowed to do this outside Fukushima to avoid further burdening the region.

Around 75 per cent of the stored soil has a radioactivity level equivalent to or less than one X-ray per year for people who directly stand on or work with it, according to the Environment Ministry.

Asphalt, farm soil or layers of other materials should be used to seal in the radioactivity, said Akira Asakawa, a ministry official working on the Fukushima soil project.

In a test, the government has con- structed roads and fields in Fukushima by using the contaminated soil as filling material.

Those locations did not show elevated levels of radioactivity, and there was no runoff of radioactive material to surrounding areas, Asakawa said.

YANGON: On July 14 at around 7:04 AM, a magnitude 3.4 weak earthquake was detected in Myanmar, centered at latitude 21.84°N, longitude 99.33°E, northwest of the Kengtung seismic station and Mong Khat town, at a depth of 15 kilometres, according to the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology.

Earlier that morning also, at 4:06 AM, a magnitude 3.0 earthquake occurred near Matara town, at a depth of 10 kilometres. At 3:33 AM, a magnitude 4.0 quake struck southeast of Htigyaing town, at a depth of 11 kilometres. At 12:01 AM, a magnitude 3.8 tremor was recorded east-northeast of Wandwin town, at a depth of 10 kilometres.

Additionally, on July 13 at 11:18 PM, a magnitude 3.2 earthquake had shaken an area east-northeast of Patheingyi town, at a depth of 19 kilometres. - Eleven Media/ANN

NAIROBI, July 15 — The global destruction of wetlands, which support fisheries, agriculture and flood control, may mean the loss of US$39 trillion (RM165.4 trillion) in economic benefits by 2050, according to a report by the Convention on Wetlands released today.

Some 22 per cent of wetlands, both freshwater systems such as peat lands, rivers and lakes, and coastal marine systems including mangroves and coral reefs, have disappeared since 1970, according to the intergovernmental report, the fastest pace of loss of any ecosystem.

Pressures, including land-use change, pollution, agricultural expansion, invasive species, and the impacts of climate change - such as rising sea levels and drought - are driving the declines.

“The scale of loss and degradation is beyond what we can afford to ignore,” said Hugh Robertson, the lead author of the report.

The report called for annual investments of US$275 billion to US$550 billion to reverse the threats to the remaining wetlands, and said current spending was a “substantial under-investment” without giving figures.

The world has lost 411 million hectares of wetlands, the equivalent of half a billion football pitches, and a quarter of the remaining wetlands are now classified as in a state of degradation, according to the report.

Wetlands’ economic benefits include flood regulation, water purification and carbon storage - key as water levels rise and tropical storms and hurricanes intensify due to climate change.

They also support the fishery and agriculture industries and offer cultural benefits.

The report launches a week before the Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, meeting of the parties of the Convention on Wetlands, a global agreement of 172 countries signed in 1971 to spearhead preservation of the ecosystem.

The group, which includes China, Russia and the United States, meets every three years, but it is unclear if all nations will send delegates.

Wetland deterioration is particularly acute in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean, but is worsening in Europe and North America, the report said.

Rehabilitation projects are under way in countries including Zambia, Cambodia and China. — Reuters