Tag - oceans

 
 

OCEANS

Birane Mbaye, one of the survivors of a disastrous attempt to reach Spain last year, sits on a wooden fishing boat at the shore of Fass Boye, Senegal.
WORLD / Society
Apr 27, 2024
African migrant disaster survivor haunted by weeks lost at sea
Birane Mbaye's memories of the voyage are hazy, but vivid nightmares about his friend still shock him awake at night, screaming.
A family prepares to plant eelgrass seedlings during a project to restore the natural ecosystem in Yokohama on April 13.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Apr 25, 2024
Battling climate change, Japan looks to seagrass for carbon capture
Japan, the world's fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has some of the longest coastlines in the world.
Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks stand on a log as plastic bottles and trash float on the the El Cerron Grande reservoir in Potonico, El Salvador, in 2022.
ENVIRONMENT
Apr 22, 2024
Negotiations on global plastic treaty to resume in Canada
After promising to finalize a treaty by the end of this year, 175 countries are meeting in Canada from Tuesday to hammer out the details.
Members of the North Pacific Fisheries Commission have agreed to cut the 2024 catch quota for saury in the high seas in the northern Pacific in response to declining resources.
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2024
Japan and others agree to cut northern Pacific saury catch quota
Nine economies agreed to introduce the rule to calculate catch quotas based on scientific evidence.
Former United States Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during the ninth Our Ocean Conference at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, in Athens, Greece, on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Apr 17, 2024
World leaders call on nations to swiftly ratify U.N. ocean treaty
Four countries have formally ratified the treaty, while 89 countries have signed it, expressing their intent to ratify it.
Japan and other countries are holding annual talks on saury catch quota.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2024
Japan and eight other countries discuss saury catch rules
Slated to run until Thursday, the talks will focus on setting calculation rules to allocate catch quotas.
Coral reefs bleach in the Great Barrier Reef as scientists conduct in-water monitoring during marine heat in Moore Reef, Australia, on Feb. 27.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Apr 16, 2024
Coral reefs suffer fourth global bleaching event, NOAA says
At least 54 countries and territories have experienced mass bleaching among their reefs since February 2023.
3M’s Cottage Grove, Minnesota factory had been churning out varieties of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances known as PFAS since the 1950s.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Apr 9, 2024
PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ pervasive in water worldwide, study finds
The study of over 45,000 water samples worldwide found that about 31% of groundwater had levels of the chemicals considered harmful to human health.
A helmet jellyfish recorded at depth in the Lurefjord, Norway. The creatures experience acute physical effects from short-term exposure to suspended sediment, which could be caused by deep-sea mining.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Apr 7, 2024
The weird deep-sea world, and how mining threatens it
Demand for metals such as lithium and nickel has driven a rush to take a stake in the seabed, with Japan being a major advocate of deep-sea mining.
Lawyers representing plaintiffs in lawsuits seeking damages for Minamata disease hold banners outside the Kumamoto District Court in the city of Kumamoto on Friday, criticizing the ruling as “unjust.”
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 22, 2024
Japan court rejects redress claims by unrecognized Minamata victims
Across Japan, nearly 1,800 individuals have filed similar lawsuits, with 1,400 cases consolidated in the Kumamoto district court.
Homes affected by sea level rise on Tierra Bomba Island, Cartagena, Colombia
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 22, 2024
Global sea level jumped due to El Nino and climate change, NASA says
The global average sea level rose by about 0.76 centimeters from 2022 to 2023 — nearly four times the increase of the previous year.
An offshore wind farm near Nysted, Denmark. Japan aims to become a major offshore wind power producer, with the government targeting projects totaling 10 gigawatts (GW) by 2030.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Mar 15, 2024
Japanese firms join forces to promote floating offshore wind
Floating offshore wind power is seen as a way to ensure Japan has a stable and sustainable energy supply.
Japan aims to have 10 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power projects by 2030 and up to 45 GW by 2040, to replace fossil fuels including coal and liquefied natural gas in its energy mix — for which floating offshore wind is essential.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 13, 2024
Japan to expand offshore wind development to exclusive economic zones
Global energy companies have been urging Japan to make investments more attractive, amid soaring costs and growing competition between suppliers.
The Rubymar cargo ship sinking off the coast of Yemen on Feb. 27. The vessel had 21,000 metric tons of ammonium phosphate sulfate fertilizer on board.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 6, 2024
Yemen faces 'environmental disaster' as sunken ship threatens Red Sea
Leaking fuel and fertilizer from vessel struck by Houthis could harm marine life and impact coastal communities that rely on fishing.
High tides in Funafuti, Tuvalu, in February. About 40% of the main atoll and capital district Funafuti is already underwater at high tide, and the tiny nation is forecast to be submerged by the end of the century.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 4, 2024
Tuvalu preserves history online as rising seas threaten existence
"We cannot outrun the rising tides, but we will do what we can to protect our statehood, our spirit, our values," minister Simon Kofe said.
A satellite image shows the Rubymar cargo ship on Friday after it was heavily damaged in a Feb. 19 missile strike claimed by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
WORLD
Mar 3, 2024
Ship sunk by Houthis threatens Red Sea environment
The sinking marks the first vessel lost since the Houthis began targeting ships in November.
Tanks containing treated radioactive water on the grounds of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture
JAPAN / Society
Feb 28, 2024
Release of fourth batch of Fukushima treated radioactive water begins
Discharge of 7,800 metric tons of treated water over about 17 days will be the last for the fiscal year ending March.
Then-Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada (right) poses with his Australian counterpart Richard Marles after they signed a deal to simplify procedures for joint technical studies on defense equipment in Singapore in June.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2024
Japan and Australia to conduct joint study on underwater drones
The project is intended to contribute to future interoperability of unmanned underwater vehicles between the two nations.
An artist rendering of Japan's first Arctic research vessel, "Mirai II"
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2024
Japan's first arctic research vessel to be named "Mirai II"
The name was selected from over 7,000 suggestions from the public.
Yasuhiro Otomo and Miku Narisawa during one of Odyssey Nature Japan's educational fishing programs.
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 22, 2024
A young 3/11 survivor and her vow to protect the ocean
At 12, Miku Narisawa experienced a magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami that destroyed her home. Now she is working to protect it.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores