Tag - climate-change

 
 

CLIMATE CHANGE

An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Longform
Apr 7, 2025
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it
Outdated government policy, changing diets and even an earthquake scare have had an impact on the national food staple.
An artificial glacier built by local residents during the winter to conserve water for the summer at Pari village in the Kharmang district of Pakistan's mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan region are seen on March 18. At the foot of Pakistan's impossibly high mountains whitened by frost all year round, farmers grappling with a lack of water have created their own ice towers. The ice forms in the shape of cones that resemble Buddhist stupas, and act as a storage system — steadily melting throughout spring, when temperatures rise.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Apr 6, 2025
Artificial glaciers boost water supply in northern Pakistan
Warmer winters as a result of climate change has reduced the snowfall and subsequent seasonal snowmelt that feeds the valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan.
Nattanit Yiamthaisong (right), a Ph.D. student, Thongyod Chiangkanta, a technician from the Forest Restoration Research Unit at Chiang Mai University (center) and a forest guide walk through areas damaged by wildfires in Thailand's Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary on March 22.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Apr 5, 2025
'It's gone': conservation science in Thailand's burning forest
Scientists are confronting the toll that human activity and climate change are already having on forests that are supposed to be pristine and protected.
Workers build an expanded breakwater at San Antonio Port in Chile on March 13.
ENVIRONMENT
Apr 5, 2025
Rising seas test defenses of South American ports
The state-run port, which handles 1.7 million containers annually, is frequently lashed by swells several meters high as climate change wreaks havoc.
A new study questioning human-induced global warming — which claims to be entirely written by Elon Musk's Grok 3 AI — has gained traction online.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 4, 2025
Experts warn 'AI-written' paper is latest spin on climate change denial
The surge of AI in research, despite potential benefits, risks triggering an illusion of objectivity and insight in scientific research, they warn.
A report by the U.K.-based Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative warns that ignoring climate-related financial threats could expose executives to lawsuits, regulatory scrutiny, and financial losses.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 3, 2025
Japanese execs could face lawsuits for climate inaction: report
Coauthored by legal scholars specializing in corporate governance, the study underscores the mounting financial and legal risks facing companies in Japan.
Gladstone, Australia, long reliant on fossil fuel exports, is now struggling to reinvent itself as the world shifts toward clean energy, with political uncertainty and economic challenges clouding its prospects.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2025
Cleaning up a giant coal and gas port isn’t easy
Gladstone is now one of the world’s biggest fossil fuel ports thanks to decades of voracious global demand for steelmaking coal and gas.
Fluffy, low-hanging clouds generally have a cooling influence. They are big and bright, blocking and bouncing back incoming sunlight.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 30, 2025
Clouds changing as world warms, adding to climate uncertainty
Cloud behavior is notoriously complex to predict and remains a great unknown for scientists trying to accurately forecast future levels of climate change.
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore speaks during a news conference in Paris on Saturday.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Mar 30, 2025
Trump can't stop 'sustainability revolution': Al Gore
Gore also condemned the administration's treatment of universities and student activists, but said the tide is turning.
BYD's Neta S is presented at the 2025 Bangkok International Motor Show on Monday. China, led by BYD, has become the global EV leader, while other countries, including Japan, struggle to keep up with the shift toward electric vehicles.
EDITORIALS
Mar 28, 2025
In the EV race, China's BYD is leading the pack
BYD’s strong performance reflects its dominance in China’s domestic auto market, the world’s largest and most competitive for electric vehicles.
Kimio Hanawa (left), an honorary professor at Tohoku University and chair of the Meteorological Agency’s climate change advisory panel, expressed concern over rapid warming at a news conference on Wednesday in Tokyo.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 27, 2025
Without new countermeasures, Japan’s temperature could rise 4.5 C by 2100
The warmer surface temperature would lead to 17.5 more extremely hot days per year and 46.2 fewer winter days, according to the Meteorological Agency and other institutions.
Smoke and flames rise from a wildfire in Andong, South Korea, on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 26, 2025
Recent spate of wildfires in Japan and South Korea linked to climate change
A study by European researchers has concluded that the role of human-driven climate change in contributing to the wildfires was undeniable.
Demonstrators hold signs near the White House as they protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2017.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 22, 2025
What the $660 million Greenpeace verdict means for U.S. activism
Legal experts warn the decision could significantly deter other environmental groups from protesting oil and gas companies around the U.S.
Midwife Tabita dos Santos Moraes prepares cassava flour in Tefe in Brazil's Amazonas state last October. Tabita's great-grandmother taught midwifery to her aunts, who taught her mother, who taught her, starting at the age of 15.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 21, 2025
In the remote Amazon, midwives care for women stranded by drought
Years of extreme droughts in the Amazon rainforest have made river journeys to and from remote communities perilous.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (left) and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are scheduled to meet in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 21, 2025
Japan and Brazil eye mutual visits by leaders every two years
The plan is expected to be adopted during a summit between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who visits Japan next week.
Ice is seen on the Pastoruri glacier in the Peruvian Andes, Peru, in May 2024.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 21, 2025
World's glaciers are losing record ice as global temperatures climb, U.N. says
Glaciers are disappearing faster than ever, with the last three-year period seeing the largest glacial mass loss on record.
Climate change mitigation demands collective action from all levels of society, not just billionaires with private jets, as systemic change is necessary for meaningful progress.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2025
Billionaire’s private jet angst won’t save the world
Data center emissions in the U.S. already rival those of the domestic airline industry and are growing far quicker.
Protesters demonstrate against the Dakota Access Pipeline near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, in 2016.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Mar 20, 2025
Jury finds Greenpeace liable for more than $660 million in damages
The verdict was a major blow to the environmental organization.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has walked away from the banking industry’s largest climate alliance.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 20, 2025
MUFG leaves climate group as Japanese banks join Wall Street exits
MUFG follows Tokyo-based rivals Nomura Holdings and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group in leaving the Net-Zero Banking Alliance.
Tourists visit a park in front of the Imperial Palace amid snowfall in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 19, 2025
Japan's record snow in February attributed to global warming
The Meteorological Agency said global warming contributed to the record snowfall in northern and eastern Japan last month.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past