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Jesus Picasso, a builder originally from Mexico, takes a water break during hot weather in Manvel, Texas, on July 13.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 7, 2023

Climate change already adding to workplace costs and hazards

Workers are among the most exposed to serious health risks, while employers must grapple with impaired productivity
A joint study by consultant McKinsey and data firm NielsenIQ earlier this year found that 78% of U.S. consumers say a sustainable lifestyle is important to them.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Sep 8, 2023

Shoppers say they want sustainable goods, but won't pay more

When push comes to shove, manufacturers sometimes find consumers aren't buying their sustainable products.
The threat of Mosquito-borne dengue fever is not restricted to South Asia as infection rates are rising globally with 4.2 million cases reported in 2022.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Sep 8, 2023

Mosquito-borne dengue grows deadlier in South Asia as planet warms

Disease experts say the worsening outbreaks of dengue are linked to the impacts of climate change.
A deadly parasite that’s ravaged bee populations globally has made deeper inroads into Australia.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Sep 11, 2023

Bee-killing mite's rapid spread could cost Australia billions

A mite known for feeding on bees has spread further inland toward Victoria, the nation’s biggest producer of nuts and fruit.
A sign reading "Anti-inflation challenge, second price cut" is seen near shelves at a supermarket in Nice, France, in June.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 12, 2023

The inflation crisis is fraying Europe’s climate consensus

Polls show most European voters are reluctant to bear the cost of switching to less-polluting technology.
Campaign leader Hiske Arts speaks during a meeting of climate group Fossielvrij Nederland in Amsterdam in August.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2023

Airlines face a storm over climate claims

A growing number of lawsuits, consumer complaints and rulings from advertising regulators are seeing to restrict airlines' sustainability claims.
Olive producers check a tree surrounded by a living cover crop in an olive grove in Santiesteban del Puerto, near Jaen, Spain.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Sep 15, 2023

In climate fight, Europe's farmers turn to tech and tradition

Spain and Italy are the world's top producers of olive oil, but the industry is under threat from desertification and drought.
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.
The aviation industry has promised to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, but harsher weather conditions are already forcing a rethink of critical infrastructure in airports and airfields across the world.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 18, 2023

Extreme weather is forcing redesign of world’s busiest airports

From flooded substations and overheating electronic systems to cracking runways, most airports weren’t built to endure what climate change has in store.
The Bank of Japan's headquarters in Tokyo
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 19, 2023

The Bank of Japan faces a monetary policy conundrum

The BOJ may need to interpret the 2% price stability target more flexibly.
A man in a business suit walks past activists during Climate Week in the Financial District of New York on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 20, 2023

In New York, investors fill gaps left by inaction on climate change

Wealthy nations have famously dragged their feet on meeting a pledge of contributing $100 billion per year to developing nations, now four years overdue.
Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, speaks during the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 21, 2023

Poor nations have 'every right to be angry' on climate: Guterres

The U.N. chief said that poorer countries had done the least to cause global warming but were bearing the brunt of its impacts.
Former Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel (left) helps Lewis Hamilton prepare the Mercedes team's "bee hotel" at Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Sep 22, 2023

Sebastian Vettel creates a buzz in Japan amid biodiversity crisis

The retired former champion invited current F1 drivers to make a small contribution to nature by building "bee hotels" next to the Suzuka Circuit track.
The city of Tamura, Fukushima Prefecture, is known as a haven for insects such as rhinoceros beetles.
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2023

'Insect tourism' launched in rural Fukushima city

Tamura, located in the center of the Abukuma plateau, is known as a haven for insects such as rhinoceros beetles and stag beetles.
An aerial view of part of the 95,000-hectare Rio Preto-Jacunda State Nature Reserve, in Rondonia State, Brazil, after it was burned down, on Sept. 6.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Sep 25, 2023

Arson turns Amazon reforestation project to ashes

A project that replanted trees in an illegally deforested nature reserve in Brazil was allegedly torched by land-grabbers.
An iceberg floats near Two Hummock Island, Antarctica, in 2020.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 26, 2023

Antarctic winter sea ice at record low, sparking climate worries

Researchers warn the shift can have dire consequences for animals like penguins who breed and rear their young on the sea ice.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has overseen foreign policy successes during his two years in power, including on the nation's approach to development aid and climate change.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 28, 2023

Kishida's mixed bag of successes and shortcomings

Kishida has also been adept in terms of diplomacy in at least four areas: the war in Ukraine, the Taiwan issue, development aid and South Korea relations.
The Jumeirah Beach district of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. San Francisco-based Vesta wants to dump ground-up olivine on beaches and into seawater in an attempt to speed up the ocean’s natural ability to remove carbon dioxide.
ENVIRONMENT / Oceans
Sep 29, 2023

How seeding the oceans with minerals could help slow climate change

Techniques to remove carbon from the atmosphere run into the hundreds or even thousands of dollars per ton.
If you've ever dined on fresh fish, either within Japan or anywhere else in the world, there's a healthy chance it was processed via ikejime, a Japanese technique for preserving freshness in line-caught fish.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 30, 2023

How the world got hooked on ikejime-caught fish

Roughly rendered in English as “locking in life,” this technique delivers a quick death to ensure freshness.
American disability rights activist Helen Keller paid a visit to Japan 75 years ago this month.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Oct 2, 2023

Japan Times 1948: Helen Keller recounts impression of Japan tour

Kanto residents continued to come to terms with the violence following the previous month's earthquake, and Helen Keller pays a visit to Japan.
A TotalEnergies tanker truck with sustainable aviation fuel at the 54th International Paris Airshow near Paris on June 19
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Oct 3, 2023

Too expensive, too scarce: Doubts grow over green aviation fuel

Generating the required quantities of alternative fuel would require huge areas of land and natural resources.
Tourists leave Ittoqqortoormiit, Denmark, after visiting the village on Aug. 20.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Oct 4, 2023

Inuit hunters blame cruise ships as narwhal disappear

While some view Arctic tourism as a means to reinvigorate the community, others worry it could destroy the last surviving Inuit hunting societies.
Soy farming has seldom been synonymous with sustainability, but more farmers in Brazil are working to regenerate depleted land instead of expanding the agricultural frontier.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Oct 5, 2023

Can Brazil's farmers grow more soy without deforestation?

Deforestation is fueling climate change impacts including harsher heat, drought and floods.
Dendrobium orchids — highly sought after due to their use in traditional Chinese medicine — growing in the wild in Nepal.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Oct 8, 2023

The orchid obsession: How science and smuggling meet in a global trade

Love of the flowers has a dark side, with the desire for rare varieties underpinning a robust illegal trade believed to have wiped out entire species.
Visitors walk along the Marina Barrage water catchment area in Singapore in 2009.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 10, 2023

Singapore fighting rising seas to save $50 billion in real estate

During a half-century of independence, Singapore has fought to expand its territory, inch by hard-won inch. On the tip of the Malaysian peninsula, the island city-state piled up sand to expand its coastline and reclaim land from the sea.
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2023

Japan tries 'nudge theory' in bid to curtail littering by tourists

Thea measures come as littering and other problems related to overtourism are worsening in popular destinations.
Tourists enjoy the sunset at Bali's Canggu beach in 2021.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Oct 19, 2023

In Bali, 'sea-sun-sand' tourists threaten ancient rainforest

The island seeks to limit visitors without scaring off too many job-creating visitors with exorbitant taxes.
Plastic waste in Yangon's Shwepyithar township. In a working-class neighborhood of Myanmar's Yangon, plastic waste is piled a meter high, the toxic product of what a recent investigation says is rampant dumping of Western trash.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Oct 20, 2023

'License to hide': Western plastic waste dumped in Myanmar

For years, sites across Shwepyithar township have been filling up with trash that chokes fields, blocks the drainage of rains and causes fire risks.
Air conditioners on display during an event in Guangzhou
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Oct 20, 2023

Countries asked to slash cooling emissions by 68% by 2050

The Global Cooling Pledge represents a tough request given the cooling industry is only expected to grow.
In residential areas, bears are said to be attracted to compost waste, persimmons and chestnuts.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 20, 2023

Bear attacks on the rise in Akita and Iwate due to lack of food

According to Akita Prefecture, a record 39 people were attacked from April through Oct. 11.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear