Tag - global

 
 

GLOBAL

COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2013
IMF's global forecast makes for dreary reading
The International Monetary Fund's latest global economic forecast makes for unhappy reading. You may remember that, some years back, it was fashionable to ask whether the world economy could continue "flying on one engine" — meaning the United States. America's boom and import appetite boosted other economies. After the U.S. crash in 2008, the role of global engine shifted to the so-called BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and other "emerging market" nations. Their strong growth offset some weakness in America, Europe and Japan. The new world helped rescue the old.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 14, 2013
Institutional incapacity weighs down recovery
What's holding back economic growth worldwide? Details vary from place to place, but a leading reason is a kind of self-willed institutional incapacity.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 12, 2013
Global threat to food supply as water wells dry up
Wells are drying up and underwater tables falling so fast in the Middle East and parts of India, China and the United States that food supplies are seriously threatened, one of the world's leading resource analysts warned on July 7.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 12, 2013
Fracking battle lines drawn in England's countryside
For a site symbolizing a future that will either poison our countryside or bring us unlimited amounts of cheap, pollution-free energy, Elswick, in northeast England, is a distinctly underwhelming destination for a visit. The gas-power station, owned by the U.K. drilling company Cuadrilla, lies in the Fylde area of the county of Lancashire and consists of a large square of cleared ground, a few cabins and some metal pipes. For most of the week, the site — surrounded by farmland — is unmanned.
EDITORIALS
Jul 6, 2013
Violence against women
The finding that more than one-third of women worldwide suffer physical or sexual violence during their lifetimes must be understood as a devastating crisis.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 5, 2013
'Wind farms are not the answer to our problems'
Why do you think scientists and politicians have been slow and reluctant to confront population growth? It might be useful to first distinguish between growth and behavior. The problem is less the current number of us in itself (yet) but more the way the majority of the 7 billion of us live and consume. This is principally the cause of almost every global problem we face. Critically, every one of these problems is set to accelerate as we continue to grow. "Confronting," as you put it, the way we live and consume is not something that politicians want to do.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 4, 2013
Financial engineers restarting the risk generator
The last thing one would expect the U.S. government to do is open the floodgates to severe risks in financial markets again. But that is what's happening.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2013
U.S. makes key climate moves, but more needed
President Barack Obama's executive actions to cut carbon pollution in the U.S. have injected a new sense of hope in the global fight against climate change.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2013
Vegetable-rich diet, exercise ease asthma woes: report
Getting regular exercise and eating fresh vegetables can ease the symptoms of asthma, the National Center for Global Health and Medicine has reported.
EDITORIALS
Jun 20, 2013
Global warming danger zone
The Japanese general public's interest in the global warming issue has been sagging of late, and few LDP government leaders appear ready to try to prop it up.
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 12, 2013
Planet on course for 5 C warming at current rate
Global emissions of carbon dioxide from energy use rose 1.4 percent to 31.6 gigatons in 2012, setting a record and putting the planet on course for temperature increases well above international climate goals, the International Energy Agency said in a report issued Monday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 10, 2013
University of Tokyo study warns of increased flood risk due to global warming
The unchecked progress of global warming would increase the risk of flooding at the end of this century in 42 percent of the Earth's land surface, mainly in Asia and Africa, according to a study published Sunday by British science journal Nature Climate Change.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 4, 2013
Sunny spin to an oily Earth
Politicians seem to be the last people in the world understanding clean energy or what kind of planet they will bequeath to their grandchildren.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2013
Tokyo urged to aid disease eradication battle
The world may be on the verge of a historic breakthrough in the quest to eradicate infectious diseases once thought incurable, and Japan needs to be a key player, said Mark Dybul, an executive of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
EDITORIALS
May 26, 2013
Super global English schools
One recent proposal likely to have a good effect on English education in Japan is allowing certain high schools to teach subjects such as science or math in English.
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2013
Weep for poor Earth itself
What would prompt a respected international investor to lament that the global economy shows signs of potential failure that has brought down civilizations before us?
WORLD
May 16, 2013
Fish moving to cooler waters for decades: study
Research shows that fish and other sea life have been heading toward the Earth's poles for more than three decades.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 29, 2013
Third option for global disaster and recession
Unfortunately a there is third option regarding the world's fate. It piggybacks civilizational collapse because of global warming with the Mother of Recessions.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 14, 2013
CO₂ forecast to boost flood risks
The risk of river flooding might grow fourfold by the end of the century if global warming reaches its maximum estimate, according to a government report summarizing a study on the impact of climate change on Japan.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2013
Deployment of Global Hawk in Japan mulled
Tokyo and Washington may deploy the Global Hawk, a high-altitude U.S. reconnaissance drone, in Aomori Prefecture to increase surveillance of North Korea.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores