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Workers harvest grapes of Merlot in Contessa Entellina, southwest of Sicily, in 2024.  Global temperatures hovered at historic highs in March, Europe's climate monitor said on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Apr 8, 2025

Global temperatures at near-historic highs in March, says EU monitor

In Europe, it was the hottest March ever recorded by a significant margin, driving rainfall extremes across a continent warming faster than any other.
With the weather warming up, there's no better time to make a bowl of chilled "surinagashi-jiru" (pureed soup).
LIFE / Food & Drink / Washoku Essentials
May 18, 2025

Flaunt your seasonal greens with Japan’s traditional pureed soup

Get the best flavor out of your peas and pods by simmering them in a dashi-based broth.
Japan has enforced tougher rules on companies to protect workers from heat after 30 workplace deaths and roughly 1,200 injuries were reported last year that were associated with high temperatures.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2025

Protect workers from heat waves or face fines, Japan tells firms

The revised legislation is a rare global example of a national-level policy on heat safety for employees.
In Tokyo, at least 562 people have been taken to the hospital for suspected heatstroke so far this month.
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 20, 2025

What happened to the rainy season?

The mercury has climbed across much of Japan in recent days, but the seasonal rain front is expected to return early next week.
People cross a street under the hot sun in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 26, 2025

Last week’s heat wave in Japan not possible without climate change, analysis shows

The heat wave, which came shortly after the rainy season was declared, caused a surge in ambulance calls for heat-related illnesses.
A woman wearing sun-protective clothing in Beijing on June 23
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 30, 2025

China’s scorching heat poses summer test for electricity grid

Eastern China may face a "long-lasting high temperature war,” the state weather bureau said last week.
An extreme heat warning in Death Valley, California, on July 15
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2023

Our civilization was built for a climate that’s vanishing

Weather disasters linked to climate change like those unfolding across the northern hemisphere will affect more and more of us.
SOCCER / Women's World cup
Jul 20, 2023

Soccer feeling the heat from Japan's scorching summer

Postponements of matches reflect the growing challenges facing amateur teams as they attempt to cope with Japan’s increasingly hostile summer months.
An apartment building construction site in Sumida Ward, Tokyo, on July 19. Officials at Daito Trust Construction, which oversees the building project, say heatstroke dangers are a top concern given their aging workforce.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Jul 30, 2023

In Japan, extreme heat and an aging population are a deadly mix

Heat waves combined with high humidity are weighing particularly heavily on the nation’s 36 million people age 65 and over, who are at much greater risk of severe illness and death.
Commercial fishermen form the word "SOS" to spread the message about ocean acidification caused by fossil fuel emissions, in Homer, Alaska, in 2009. Ocean acidification is one of nine planetary boundaries that determine life on Earth.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science
Sep 14, 2023

Humanity pushing Earth far beyond 'safe operating space': study

Six of nine planetary boundaries — within which the world is livable for most species, including our own — are already deep in the red zone.
Many scientists say more research into volcanoes is vital to gauge how far eruptions can briefly affect the long-term trend of global warming, which is primarily driven by burning fossil fuels.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / ANALYSIS
Sep 15, 2023

Why is 2023 so hot? A rare Pacific volcano is among the suspects

Greenhouse gas emissions are overwhelmingly to blame, scientists say, but water vapor from the Tonga eruption last year may have played a role too.
A person walks past a COP28 sign in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 1.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 28, 2023

Biggest climate talks ever confront global chaos and record heat

Greenhouse gas emissions are still rising, and promises to cut pollution remain insufficient to take the risk of unmanageable warming off the table.
With COP28 taking place during a year set to be the hottest on record, the need for more progress has never been greater.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 29, 2023

Japan's relationship with coal likely to be in focus at COP28

With the climate talks taking place during a year set to be the hottest on record, the need for more progress has never been greater.
Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber speaks during day three of the COP28 climate conference in Dubai on Saturday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 4, 2023

COP28 president’s fossil-fuel phaseout talk draws condemnation

The comments have raised questions over whether the conference will be able to unite behind a strong pledge targeting the elimination of fossil fuels.
A mosaic image of asteroid Bennu, composed of 12 PolyCam images collected by the Osiris-Rex spacecraft from a range of 24 kilometers
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2023

NASA asteroid sample being analyzed in Japan

The team is also analyzing a sample from asteroid Ryugu brought by the Hayabusa2 explorer of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
Members-only Japanese sushi restaurant Sushi Namba and jazz bar lounge Listening Room will open in Miami next summer.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 7, 2023

Top Tokyo sushi chef brings unique flavors to Miami, members only

A $10,000 fee will give members access to monthly seats at the sushi counter, as well as the bar and jazz lounge.
Cargo ships wait in the anchor zone to cross the Panama Canal from the Pacific entrance near Panama City, Panama, on Sept. 1, 2023. Ships have been waiting for days as the congestion to cross from both sides increase due to intense droughts in the country.
WORLD / Society
Jan 3, 2024

Saving the Panama Canal will take years and cost billions, if it’s even possible

Climate change-induced drought is limiting the number of ships on the waterway, which handles about 46% of containers moving from Northeast Asia to the U.S. East Coast.
A little artful application of your pizza toppings can leave you feeling like you've just put together an equally aesthetic bowl of sushi and rice.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Jan 14, 2024

Recipe: ‘Chirashi’ pizza

In traditional 'washoku' cuisine, five flavors and five ways of cooking ensure balance of flavor and nutrition.
A mid-19th century ukiyo-e woodblock print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi depicts Xu Fu’s voyage in search of the elixir of life. He can be seen near the left side of the image, with what looks to be Penglai, or Mount Fuji, in the background.
JAPAN / History / Longform
Jan 20, 2024

Eternal pursuits: A history of Japanese quests for immortality

Whether it's a permanent state of meditation or feasting on mermaid, the quest for immortality in Japan isn't too far off from those in other cultures.
Cherry blossoms bloom at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Friday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 31, 2024

Tokyo marks final day of March with record high temperature for month

Cherry blossoms in the capital finally burst into bloom on Friday, marking the latest blooming in over a decade.
Jera's thermal power station in Hekinan, Aichi Prefecture, recently started co-firing coal with 20% of ammonia, a technology supported by the government's "green transformation," or GX, policy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 7, 2024

Is Japan’s green transformation investing in the past or future?

Japan issued its first green transformation bonds, but the policy breathes new life into fossil fuel-based projects rather than pulling the plug on them.
The Naughton coal power plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming. Ministers from the Group of Seven countries have agreed on a schedule for phasing out coal-fired power plants, setting as a goal the mid-2030s.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
May 1, 2024

G7 to phase out coal-fired power plants by mid-2030s

The move was hailed as significant by some environmentalists but slammed as "too late" by others.
Children hold cork sheets to cover them from the sun while walking along a street during a countrywide heat wave in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Sunday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 1, 2024

Extreme heat is closing schools, widening learning gaps worldwide

Many countries experiencing heat waves are torn between closing schools or leaving them open, both of which negatively affect children's learning.
As mind-numbingly big as the clean-energy price tag may be, it’s actually a bargain compared with the potential economic destruction of unabated climate change.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2024

$215 trillion to save the planet is a bargain

And as mind-numbingly big as $215 trillion may be, it’s actually a bargain compared with the potential economic destruction of unabated climate change.
A man affected by the scorching heat is helped by a member of the Saudi security forces as Muslim pilgrims arrive in Mina, near Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca, on June 16.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 20, 2024

Climate change threat hangs over Hajj as hundreds perish in heat

More than 500 people have died during this year's pilgrimage, according to a tally based on foreign ministry statements and sources.
Spain defender Marc Cucurella (right) fights for the ball with Italy forward Federico Chiesa during a Euro 2024 group stage match in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on Thursday.
SOCCER
Jun 21, 2024

Spain beats Italy to reach Euro 2024 knockouts; England thwarted by Denmark

A second win in as many matches for Spain is enough for the team to secure top spot in Group B with a game to spare.
Muslim pilgrims use umbrellas to shade themselves from the sun as they arrive at the base of Mount Arafat, also known as Jabal al-Rahma or Mount of Mercy, during the annual hajj pilgrimage, on June 15.
WORLD
Jun 28, 2024

Climate change boosted deadly Saudi Hajj heat by 2.5 degrees, scientists say

The heat would have been approximately 2.5 degrees Celsius cooler without the influence of human-caused climate change, according to a team of European scientists.
A construction worker during a heat wave in Folsom, California.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 25, 2024

What the temperature doesn’t tell you about extreme heat’s hazards

After its nationwide rollout in April, the HeatRisk forecasting tool is getting a real-world test as deadly temperatures stress much of the U.S.
The latest research indicates that heat stress is likely to worsen the condition of people with Alzheimer’s disease — which accounts for over half of all dementia cases in Japan — by making them more irritated or exacerbating their cognitive decline.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Boiling Point
Jul 29, 2024

For aging Japan, a troubling link between heat and dementia

The latest research indicates that heat can exacerbate cognitive decline and worsen dementia symptoms.
An ambulance is parked at the entrance of the emergency room of Saitama Hospital in Wako, Saitama Prefecture, on July 24.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Boiling Point
Aug 20, 2024

How Japan's health care system is gearing up for more heatstroke cases

Rising heatstroke cases are weighing on the nation’s health care system, which is already wrestling with the growing burden of a rapidly aging population.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan