Tag - environment

 
 

ENVIRONMENT

A gas station damaged by Hurricane Helene in Perry, Florida, on Sept. 27. Extreme weather and climate change are exposing the flaws in how we handle hazardous waste.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 3, 2024
Toxic waste is at the mercy of climate change
Among Hurricane Helene’s roster of disasters is a storm surge that deluged a retired nuclear power plant in Florida. While radioactive material there remains secure, according to operator Duke Energy, one of the plant’s industrial wastewater ponds overflowed amid the flood. With luck, any resulting...
A sunset in the Arctic Ocean observed from the Japanese oceanographic research ship Mirai on Sept. 24
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2024
Japanese ship Mirai ends this year's Arctic mission
The vessel left the city of Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, in late August for the mission.
Rescue personnel search for missing people in debris after flooding along the Tsukada River Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Sept. 23.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 30, 2024
Lessons from Japan’s fight against floods as the climate changes
As climate change intensifies flood risk, Japan should rely more on adaptive and nature-based solutions to prepare for disasters like the recent deluge in Ishikawa.
Knowing how Earth’s temperature behaved deep in the past can also help scientists test climate models that predict the future.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 30, 2024
We just got a wake-up call from the time before dinosaurs
The die-offs happen when the Earth’s temperature changes too rapidly for organisms to evolve and adapt — as is starting to happen now.
An area of Amazon rainforest deforested by illegal fire in the municipality of Labrea, Amazonas State, Brazil, on Aug. 20.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 24, 2024
Amazon forest loses area the size of Germany and France, fueling fires
The world's biggest jungle is crucial to the fight against climate change due to its ability to absorb planet-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
An aircraft operated by Singapore Airlines takes off at Sydney Airport on Aug. 27. A trial that started last month in Asia makes it a reality to shave precious minutes off hourslong trips, depending upon what route a pilot chooses to take.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Sep 23, 2024
How shortcuts across the skies can make flights greener: Q&A
In a trial of user-preferred routing, several airlines in Asia can take shortcuts on 38 routes to save time and fuel.
Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 18.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Sep 23, 2024
'Convergence' growing on global plastics treaty: U.N. environment chief
At negotiations in November in South Korea's Busan, countries are hoping to seal a potentially groundbreaking deal to tackle the problem of plastic pollution.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to kill thousands of barred owls in California, Oregon and Washington to protect the endangered spotted owl.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2024
If killing one species might save another, should we do it?
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to kill thousands of barred owls in California, Oregon and Washington to protect the endangered spotted owl.
The top three U.S. money managers — State Street, Vanguard, and BlackRock — have dramatically reduced support for environmental and social proposals.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 23, 2024
Big three money managers cut support for climate proposals
Total shareholder support for environmental and social resolutions fell to about 19% during the latest proxy season from roughly 22% in the year-earlier period.
Kirin Holdings and others have established the technology to grow hops indoors.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 22, 2024
Brewers developing climate change-resistant beer ingredients
Reduced barley yields stemming from droughts and extreme temperature could see beer prices rise in Japan, some experts have said.
A drone view shows a burned area following a recent wildfire on Mount Penteli, near Athens in August.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 20, 2024
As wildfires wipe out forests, Greeks debate: To replant, or not?
Tree loss raises the risk of flash floods from rains on denuded grounds no longer protected by tree canopies and root systems, as well as higher air temperatures.
Candidates for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election take part in a debate in Tokyo on Saturday. Of the nine candidates, three — Takayuki Kobayashi, Taro Kono, and Shigeru Ishiba — have been particularly vocal with their views on the country's energy strategy.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 19, 2024
LDP presidential hopefuls face tough choices on Japan's energy future
Candidates must decide what role nuclear power will play in the government's long-term energy strategy.
The Ferrari of Charles Lecrerc, with a Shell logo placed prominently on the car's nose, during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 18, 2024
Energy companies have spent $5.6 billion on 'sportswashing': report
The report says soccer, auto racing, rugby and golf are the sports most sponsored by energy companies.
Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean observed from aboard the Mirai research vessel on Monday
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 17, 2024
Japan's arctic research vessel Mirai reaches sea ice area
Mirai has arrived at what is known as the ice edge, where countless pieces of ice stretching across the horizon bob with the waves.
Men use a stole to cover themselves from the sun as they wait in a line outside a polling station to cast their votes during the sixth phase of India's general election in Bhubaneswar, India, on May 25.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 16, 2024
Surviving a climate disaster isn’t likely to change how you vote
If people are in fact casting ballots based on their experiences of disasters, it appears to be a small number of them.
Fruits and vegetables sit wrapped in plastic in a supermarket in Tokyo in 2021
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Sep 16, 2024
'Easy, convenient, cheap': How single-use plastic rules the world
Negotiators hope to reach the world's first treaty on plastic pollution this year, but single-use plastic remains hugely popular as a cheap and convenient choice.
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, speaks during a campaign rally at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on Aug. 17.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 16, 2024
Trump stalks global climate talks as COP29 draws near
The election lands awkwardly as governments try to build global consensus in coming months not just around climate but stronger protections for the environment.
An oil slick in the waters off the coast of Manila Bay, in Pamarawan, Malolos, Bulacan province, Philippines, on July 29.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 14, 2024
Philippine fishers call for justice after oil tanker sinks
The largest oil spill in the country since 2006 prompted the government to impose a fishing ban that has pushed the industry toward debt and hunger.
The town of Jasper, Alberta, on Aug. 15 after a wildfire devastated the tourism hot spot
WORLD
Sep 12, 2024
Canada's tourism continues to reel from threat of wildfires
Scientists paint a gloomy future for Canada, with more and larger blazes sparked by a warming climate.
Redevelopment of the Meiji Jingu Gaien district has trees in the area marked according to their status — trees marked in red were to be cut down in the original plan while those in blue were to be transplanted. In the updated plan, trees marked in red will no longer be felled, and those in blue will remain where they are.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 9, 2024
Updated Meiji Jingu Gaien redevelopment plan to keep more trees
Fewer trees will be felled and more new ones planted, while construction will also take place further away from the park's iconic ginkgo trees.

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers