Tag - environment

 
 

ENVIRONMENT

WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 27, 2014
U.S. EPA seeks tighter ozone standards to cut pollution
The Obama administration on Wednesday proposed stricter curbs on ground-level ozone, a pollutant linked to several serious health conditions. Industry groups said the move would place a heavy burden on the U.S. economy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 15, 2014
Eels face the slippery slope to extinction
Last week I was crossing the River Thames on the way to work in London, and I happened to see a cormorant emerge from the water with a thrashing eel in its mouth. The bird juggled the fish, skillfully managing to position it so it could swallow the wriggling animal headfirst.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 14, 2014
Infanticide common among adult males in many mammal species
Predators such as leopards and cheetahs are not the biggest mortal threat to baby Chacma baboons, large and aggressive monkeys that live across southern Africa. That threat comes from adult males of their own species.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 14, 2014
Chimpanzee study reveals the value of being an ape bully
For male chimpanzees, there may be a benefit to being a bully.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 14, 2014
Groups ask Obama administration to protect 5,000 Yellowstone bison
Two conservation groups asked the Obama administration on Thursday to provide Endangered Species Act protections for about 4,900 bison at Yellowstone National Park, where managers intend to cull the herd by 900 this winter.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 13, 2014
Republicans vow to fight EPA in Congress over China emissions breakthrough
Republican congressional leaders on Wednesday wasted no time in criticizing what they called President Barack Obama's "one-sided" climate deal with China, using the announcement to declare war on the administration's plan to use executive actions to combat carbon emissions.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Nov 12, 2014
Proper environmental survey must be conducted at proposed Okinawa U.S. base site
The U.S. Congress should get more involved in ensuring the U.S. government does not shirk its environmental responsibilities in Henoko.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Nov 8, 2014
Hanging around the threat of extinction
Night falls; stars are showing; yet I'm still perspiring. We set off in darkness into a night filled with hope. Our goal is to see one of the rarest creatures on Earth, a species once considered extinct, and for which even now fate hangs in the balance.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 7, 2014
Scientists devise family tree of the world's insects, the first animals to colonize land
They pollinate our flowers, vegetables and fruit. They spread deadly diseases. They flash in the summer night. They bore into the wood in our homes. And they serve as supper for birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals — including people.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 2, 2014
Denmark considers phasing out coal by 2025 in big green shift
Denmark should ban coal use by 2025 to make the Nordic nation a leader in fighting global warming, adding to green measures ranging from wind energy to bicycle power, Denmark's climate minister said on Saturday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Nov 1, 2014
What's 'weasely' about wonderful weasels?
One of the mammals we're most likely to see in our Afan woods up here in Kurohime in the Nagano Prefecture hills is the Japanese weasel (Mustela itatsi). These wonderful little animals, known as itachi in Japanese, are master hunters that can run, climb trees, swim and dive and take down birds or other...
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 31, 2014
Gray wolf reported at Grand Canyon for first time in decades
A gray wolf was recently photographed on the north rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona in what would be the first wolf sighting in the national park since the last one was killed there in the 1940s, conservation groups said on Thursday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 31, 2014
U.S. to monitor turtle exports in face of booming global trade
There were lots of snickers when a Chinese-Canadian man was caught trying to leave the United States with 51 turtles hidden in his sweatpants, but the case illustrated the serious threat facing native species from the booming international turtle trade, federal scientists said on Thursday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 31, 2014
Scientists call skin-eating Asian fungus a threat to amphibians
A skin-eating fungus that infiltrated Europe through the global wildlife trade is threatening to inflict massive losses on the continent's native salamanders including extinction of whole species and could do the same in North America, scientists say.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Oct 25, 2014
Understanding the complex web of life
"Biodiversity provides the foundation on which all life depends, including human societies," writes Nik Sekhran in the opening pages of "Biodiversity for Sustainable Development," a captivating book released earlier this month by the United Nations Development Programme.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 23, 2014
Paraguayan plant stevia upends sugar market
The maker of America's top sugar brand, Domino Sugar, is launching its first no-calorie "natural" sweetener extracted from the stevia plant in Paraguay, the strongest sign yet that the upstart product is threatening to eat into demand for sugar.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2014
Mount Fuji hiking fees to be spent partly on safety and conservation projects, prefecture says
An official in Shizuoka says the prefectural government there will spend funds from last year's Mount Fuji hikers' fees on six safety and conservation projects.
WORLD
Oct 15, 2014
Gun-slinging patrolwoman chases off polar bear at Alaskan home
A gun-slinging Alaskan wildlife manager chased off a massive polar bear that broke into an 81-year-old's house in a remote community to feast on a drum of seal oil, the Alaska Dispatch News reported.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 12, 2014
Rattlesnake repertoire boosts snakelike robot's skills
How do you make a better snake robot? You study snakes, of course.
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Oct 4, 2014
The bear cheek of our woodland friends
When I came to live here in Kurohime in the hills of northern Nagano Prefecture almost 35 years ago, I got a gun licence and joined the local hunter's association — not because I wanted to kill things, but to help me learn about the mountains, rivers, woodlands, plants and wildlife in this area.

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