Search - environment

 
 
JAPAN / Society
Apr 26, 2016

Alien red-ear sliders greatly outnumber Japan's own turtles

Invasive red-ear slider turtles now vastly outnumber endemic Japanese turtles and are causing significant stress to the ecosystem, the Environment Ministry said Friday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 24, 2016

U.N. expects record first-day signatures for Paris climate deal

The United Nations expects the number of countries that will sign the Paris climate change agreement at an April 22 ceremony in New York to exceed the record for the number signing up to an international accord on the day it opens, a U.N. official said on Wednesday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 5, 2016

Europe's shift to dark green forests stokes global warming: study

An expansion of Europe's forests toward dark green conifers has stoked global warming, according to a study on Thursday at odds with a widespread view that planting more trees helps human efforts to slow rising temperatures.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 14, 2016

Global warming seen upsetting natural cycle, may delay next ice age for 100,000 years

Global warming is likely to disrupt a natural cycle of ice ages and contribute to delaying the onset of the next big freeze until about 100,000 years from now, scientists said on Wednesday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jan 2, 2016

Teens find spicy 'udders' keep boars at bay

A couple of weeks ago, I came home in the evening and found a wild boar on the porch. It had been bled and gutted, but otherwise it was still whole and hairy. I was very busy as I had to head off to Tokyo the next morning, but that present from some kindly local hunter in the Nagano Prefecture hills...
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 23, 2015

After Paris accord, most U.S. Republicans back action on climate

A majority of U.S. Republicans who had heard of the international climate deal in Paris said they support working with other countries to curb global warming and were willing to take steps to do so, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 21, 2015

Action at grass-roots level vital to success of COP21

Shared concern and empathetic openness to the suffering of others holds the key to fighting climate change.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 17, 2015

U.S. oil export deal delivers gains for environmental lobby

The spending deal that is set to hand the oil industry a major victory by allowing unfettered exports of U.S. crude for the first time in 40 years also is delivering some major wins for environmentalists who fought that policy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 16, 2015

Abe flubs great opportunity to be a green global leader

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could have stood forward at the Paris climate talks as a world leader in the fight against climate change. Instead, he offered nothing new.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 8, 2015

Once a fixture, climate skeptics say they are being stifled at Paris summit

To be a climate change skeptic in Paris this week means facing heavy odds.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2015

Pragmatism in climate policy

The top-down approach on display at the Paris climate-change summit is being discarded in favor of a bottom-up model where countries act voluntarily on their own to curb emissions.
EDITORIALS
Nov 6, 2015

COP21 will require serious effort

It's going to take a great deal of effort to make the COP21 climate change meeting a success, and Japan, the U.S. and China and will have to lead the way.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 15, 2015

Paying-to-pollute flourishing with China planning carbon market

The world is coming to terms with the idea that putting a price on carbon emissions is necessary to fight global warming. Now there is a growing consensus on how to make it happen.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2015

Social sciences touted as climate changers at Kyoto tech forum

The role of social sciences in finding solutions to long-term energy and environmental problems will only grow in importance as the world works to meet its future energy needs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, participants at the opening day of the annual Science and Technology in Society forum said...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 3, 2015

Obama visits Alaska fishing town fighting proposed mine, has sockeye moment

President Barack Obama headed to remote fly-in native villages of Alaska on Wednesday on a trek the White House hopes will bring attention to how climate change is affecting Americans.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 15, 2015

Colorado mine waste-fouled river reopens for recreation but not for livestock, irrigation

Authorities in southwestern Colorado said on Friday it was safe for people to once again kayak and raft along a stretch of river that was fouled by toxic waste from an abandoned mine more than a week ago.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 14, 2015

Severe 'food shocks' more likely due to extreme weather, experts predict

Extreme weather such as intense storms, droughts and heat waves will cause more frequent and severe food shortages as the global climate and food supply systems change, British and American experts warned Friday.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 3, 2015

Obama's power plan won't save the world, but may save climate talks

On Monday, the administration of President Barack Obama was to release a plan to curb greenhouse-gas emissions from U.S. power plants by almost a third over the next 15 years.
WORLD
Aug 3, 2015

Obama's climate legacy takes shape with move on power plants

The Obama administration on Monday was to issue rules to cut carbon emissions from U.S. power plants, a move designed to secure the president's legacy on climate and one which has already influenced the campaigns of those who want to succeed him.
WORLD
Jul 16, 2015

World leaders strike deal on financing development

Rich and poor countries agreed on Thursday to overhaul global finance for development, unlocking money for an ambitious agenda to end extreme poverty, protect the environment and improve economic opportunity by 2030.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2015

Saving Tibet's unique heritage

With China's mega-dams, mines and military activities in Tibet set to increasingly affect Asia's environment and security, the world's leading democracies must consider playing a discreet role to help save the Tibetan plateau's unique heritage from becoming extinct.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Jun 26, 2015

China annihilates ancient coral ecosystems in its island-building: scientists

Concern is mounting among some scientists that China's reclamation work in the disputed Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea has done severe harm to one of the most important coral reef systems in Southeast Asia.
WORLD / Science & Health
May 3, 2015

Limiting global warming to 2 degrees C 'inadequate,' scientists say

Holding global warming to a temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius — the cornerstone of an expected new global climate agreement in December — will fail to prevent many of climate change's worst impacts, a group of scientists and other experts have warned.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 23, 2015

Ocean output rivals big nations' GDP, but resources eroding

Economic output by the world's oceans is worth $2.5 trillion a year, rivaling nations such as Britain or Brazil, but marine wealth is sinking fast because of overfishing, pollution and climate change, a study said on Thursday.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami