Japan 2030: Tackling climate issues is key to the next decade
The new decade kicked off with images of Australia in flames. As the country's bushland has burned over the past few months, more than an estimated 10 million hectares have already ...
Balance of power: Redefining Japan's energy needs
Sitting silently among the rolling pastures, rice paddies and lush forests of the idyllic village of Otama are rows upon rows of photovoltaic solar panels — vast swaths of dark gray injecting dissonance into the postcard-like landscape local residents pride themselves on. These solar farms ...
Thousands evacuated after Philippines' Taal volcano sends up ash cloud
A volcano near Manila spewed a massive cloud of ash into the sky on Sunday, forcing the precautionary evacuation of thousands of residents, authorities said. Government seismologists recorded magma moving toward the crater of Taal, one of the country's most active volcanoes located 65 kilometers ...
Throwaway society: Rejecting a life consumed by plastic
How much single-use plastic do you think you consume in an average week living in Japan? What if you were to collect all the plastic bottles, shopping bags, food cartons, hand wipe wrappers, straws, cutlery, packaging, packaging-within-packaging and packaging-within-packaging-within-packaging that you accumulate in a week, ...
Emergency on 'lucky island': Iki Island seeks to lead Japan's fight against the climate crisis
It's golden hour on Iki, a pristine island in southwestern Japan. A gentle breeze cools the day to a perfect 24 degrees Celsius. The roads are clean, the trees are green, a playground sits atop a grassy hill. Locals call Iki a "lucky island" ...
More than 1,000 traumatized Australian bush fire evacuees transfered to safety of Melbourne
Over 1,000 residents and vacationers who had been stranded on a beach by bushfires in southeastern Australia landed near Melbourne on Saturday after a 20-hour journey on two ships, relieved to escape terrifying smoke and fire. Teenagers, couples, seniors and families, plus dozens of pets ...
The fallen apples of Typhoon Hagibis
When the Typhoon Hagibis floods hit Nagano, it near-destroyed the apple farms for which the area is famous, with contaminants in the floodwaters making it impossible to salvage any of the surviving fruit.
At least 50 people have died in Bangladesh as cold weather continues to sweep across the country, officials said. The country's lowest temperature this year — 4.5 degrees Celsius (40.1° Fahrenheit) — was recorded early Sunday in Tetulia, a border town in the north of ...
Australian firefighters burn grasslands to minimize looming wildfire risk
Thousands of firefighters burned grassland in eastern Australia on Monday in a desperate bid to starve an anticipated new front of wildfires of fuel before forecast searing temperatures Tuesday. More than 100 fires are ablaze in New South Wales and Victoria states, many of which ...
Six dead as Cyclone Bulbul smashes into Indian, Bangladeshi coasts
Six people died and more than 2 million others spent a night huddled in storm shelters as Cyclone Bulbul smashed into the coasts of India and Bangladesh with fierce gales and torrential rain, officials said Sunday. The cyclone packed winds of up to 120 kph ...
A fine tree that's worth getting to know
In postwar Japan, the government's Forestry Agency claimed that the Japanese beech was a useless tree. That's utter nonsense — beech wood is great for interiors and the tree is not only important for wildlife water management, but it also produces edible leaves and ...
Thousands of people around Asia-Pacific region take part in mass clean-up
A day after millions marched to urge world leaders to act on climate change, thousands of activists fanned out across beaches and rivers throughout Asia on Saturday, picking up garbage and drawing attention to the amount of trash that is dumped worldwide. The volunteers turned ...
