Tag - heat

 
 

HEAT

Last year was the hottest on record in Japan and globally. An enduring stretch of peak warm weather worldwide has prompted scientists to look for the causes as they try to understand whether we have entered a dangerous phase of accelerated heating.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2025
Creating the best possible climate models is existential
Scientists' work in building and interpreting climate models must be fine-tuned so that this data can inform the policies capable of living up to the challenge of global heating.
The Celtics'  Kristaps Porzingis is helped off the court after suffering a cut during the second half against the Magic in Boston on Wednesday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Apr 24, 2025
Celtics beat Magic in physical battle in Game 2
The Celtics took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Thunder guard Cason Wallace dunks against the Grizzlies during the second quarter in Game 1 of their playoff series in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on Sunday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Apr 21, 2025
Thunder open playoff campaign with record victory
The Thunder's 51-point margin of victory was even more remarkable given that Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had his statistically worst performance of the season.
People walk near Tokyo's Sensoji temple in July 2024 amid a heat wave.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 19, 2025
Japan to start special heatstroke alert system Wednesday
The Environment Ministry will issue the special alert when dangerous heat levels are expected.
Heat guard Tyler Herro dunks against the Bulls during their play-in game in Chicago on Wednesday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Apr 17, 2025
Heat scorch Bulls in play-in contest; Mavericks rout Kings
Herro led from the front in a wire-to-wire victory that eliminated Chicago from postseason contention.
Students raise their hands in class in front of fans at an elementary school in Manila on March 21. Last year, heat waves forced millions of children in the Philippines out of school. It was the first time that soaring temperatures had caused widespread class suspensions, prompting a series of changes.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Apr 14, 2025
Early holiday, more fans: Philippines' schools adapt to climate change
Heat waves forced millions of children in the Philippines out of school in 2024, the first time that soaring temperatures had caused widespread class suspensions.
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.
 Whales sense their surroundings largely through sound and create complex vocalizations, or songs, when they’re searching for mates and food.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 22, 2025
Why we should worry when whales stop singing
A new study has found that whale songs can act as a barometer for the effects of climate change on ocean ecosystems.
The Saitama Prefectural Police will trial polo shirt-type uniforms with high breathability from May to help officers bear the scorching heat in summer.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2025
Police in Japan to abolish skirts in uniforms in April
The move reflects the fact that a vast majority of female police officers already opt to wear pants.
A flooded road in the Philippines following heavy rain in July 2024
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 19, 2025
Extreme weather in 2024 forced most people to flee in 16 years
The climate damages also exacerbated a food crisis in more than a dozen countries, according to a report.
A construction site in Tokyo in July 2018. Businesses failing to take measures to prevent severe heatstroke among employees will be subjected to criminal punishment from June.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 13, 2025
Japan to get tough on businesses not taking heatstroke countermeasures
Violators will be punishable with up to six months' imprisonment or a maximum fine of ¥500,000 ($3,380).
The findings suggest that heat waves and rising temperatures from climate change could be chemically modifying people’s DNA and speeding up their biological aging.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 12, 2025
Extreme heat linked to accelerated aging in older adults, study finds
The analysis found that those living in areas prone to extreme heat showed more accelerated aging at a molecular level compared those who live elsewhere.
Highway One after a portion of the road collapsed into the Pacific Ocean in Monterey County, California, in March 2024
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Feb 4, 2025
These roads aren’t built for wilder weather driven by climate change
Worldwide warming temperatures are hammering roads that were built for a different climate and ballooning repair budgets.
Climate scientists say that global warming is making extreme weather events more frequent and intense.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jan 13, 2025
2024 hottest recorded year, crossed global warming limit
Excess heat is supercharging extreme weather, and 2024 saw countries all over the world suffer disasters that cost more than $300 billion.
The sun sets over the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes in Death Valley National Park, near Furnace Creek, during a heat wave impacting Southern California in July.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jan 10, 2025
Record heat pushed 2024 above global warming threshold of 1.5 C
A clear acceleration in rising temperatures has puzzled scientists, even as the evidence of the fast-warming atmosphere became impossible to miss.
A pedestrian walks past air conditioning units in Tokyo in July. The year 2024 was the hottest for Japan since records began, the Meteorological Agency said.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2025
Japan says 2024 hottest year on record
The average temperatures from January through December were 1.48 degrees Celsius higher than the 1991-2020 average, according to the Meteorological Agency.
People cover themselves with umbrellas during a hot summer day in Tokyo's Ginza district in August. Temperatures shot up in early July, even before the official end of the rainy season, and the high temperatures persisted well into the fall.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Dec 29, 2024
Japan’s weather in 2024: Record temperatures hurt people’s health and wallets
Average temperatures across the nation and surrounding seas exceeded last year’s record-breaking levels "by a significant margin," affecting everything from well-being to farming.
Passersby hold umbrellas as they walk under strong sunlight as the Japanese government issued heat stroke alerts in 39 of the country's 47 prefectures in Tokyo on July 22.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 12, 2024
Climate change forged a new reality in 2024: 'This is life now'
As the year draws to a close, the environmental conclusion is both blatant and bleak: 2024 was the hottest year since records began.
A health ministry survey showed that 5,824 people age 65 and older died in a bathtub in their home or other residential facilities in 2022, more than double the number of people who died in a traffic accident.
JAPAN / Explainer
Dec 10, 2024
Winter chill, hot baths and the risk of heat shock: How to stay safe
Heat shock has come under the spotlight after popular actor and singer Miho Nakayama was found dead at her home last week.
Factory workers make jeans in Dhaka in March 2023.
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2024
Extreme heat puts garment factory workers at risk, study shows
New European Union regulations make retailers selling in the bloc legally liable for conditions at their suppliers.

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Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.