2008 Blue Planet Prize Winners

TOKYO, Jun 19 (MARKET WIRE) --
Ewire -- Dr. Claude Lorius (French Republic) -- For his contribution in
disclosing past climate change based on polar ice sheet core analysis and
in discovering the relation between climate change during glacial and
interglacial periods and atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide,
indicating its current unprecedentedly high level and warning a
consequent global warming.

Professor Jose Goldemberg (Federative Republic of Brazil) -- For making
major contributions in formulating and implementing many policies
associated with improvements on energy use and conservation, in devising a
pioneering concept of "technological leapfrogging" for the developing
countries for their sustainable development and in exhibiting strong
leadership in preparation for the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.

This year marks the 17th awarding of the Blue Planet Prize, the
international environmental award sponsored by the Asahi Glass Foundation,
chaired by Hiromichi Seya. Two Blue Planet Prizes are awarded to
individuals or organizations each year that make outstanding achievements
in scientific research and its application, and in so doing help to solve
global environmental problems. The Board of Directors and Councillors
selected the following recipients for this year.

1. Dr. Claude Lorius (French Republic) Director Emeritus of Research, CNRS
Member of the French Academy of Sciences: Dr. Lorius began his research on
Antarctic glaciers and ice sheet from the mid-1950s and made a total of 22
polar expeditions mostly to Antarctica. Through those expeditions together
with various teams of international experts, he drilled ice cores,
analyzed them and disclosed the global climate change which took place in
the last 400,000 years. Comprehensive studies on the ice cores allowed
him to obtain both past temperatures and composition of the atmosphere.
Among those achievements, the relation he discovered between climate
change during glacial and interglacial periods and atmospheric
concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane through ice sheet cores
drilled at Vostok station, the coldest place on earth, was exceptional.
Based on these results, Dr. Lorius has indicated that current atmospheric
concentration of carbon dioxide is unprecedentedly high and that this
high level may possibly be due to human activity and warned of a
consequent global warming of the planet.

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CONTACT:
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THE ASAHI GLASS FOUNDATION
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