Tag - pollution

 
Menu
Search
 
April 27, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

POLLUTION

Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks stand on a log as plastic bottles and trash float on the the El Cerron Grande reservoir in Potonico, El Salvador, in 2022.
ENVIRONMENT
Apr 22, 2024
Negotiations on global plastic treaty to resume in Canada
After promising to finalize a treaty by the end of this year, 175 countries are meeting in Canada from Tuesday to hammer out the details.
The Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant (background)
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2024
Tepco starts fresh release of treated water from Fukushima nuclear plant
This is the fifth round in total since the water release started in August 2023.
A group of plaintiffs in a lawsuit demanding that they be recognized as Minamata disease patients hold a news conference in Niigata on Thursday following a ruling by the Niigata District Court.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 19, 2024
Japanese court orders damages over Niigata Minamata disease
Similar lawsuits have been filed at four district courts across the country.
Former United States Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during the ninth Our Ocean Conference at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, in Athens, Greece, on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Apr 17, 2024
World leaders call on nations to swiftly ratify U.N. ocean treaty
Four countries have formally ratified the treaty, while 89 countries have signed it, expressing their intent to ratify it.
The U.S. military’s Kawakami Ammunition Depot in Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture. High levels of PFAS have been detected in well water around the facility.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Apr 15, 2024
U.S.-Japan pact hampers PFAS survey at U.S. facility in Hiroshima
The bilateral Status of Forces Agreement gives exclusive authority to the U.S. forces over the management of their facilities in Japan.
Japan's emissions in fiscal 2023 represents a 23% reduction from 2013 levels, but it’s still a way off from the 46% reduction the government has pledged to make by 2030.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2024
Japan’s annual emissions drop as industrial pollution shrinks
Emissions slipped 2.3% in the year ending March 2023 to 1.085 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, the environment ministry said.
3M’s Cottage Grove, Minnesota factory had been churning out varieties of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances known as PFAS since the 1950s.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Apr 9, 2024
PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ pervasive in water worldwide, study finds
The study of over 45,000 water samples worldwide found that about 31% of groundwater had levels of the chemicals considered harmful to human health.
China’s greenhouse footprint can be boiled down to three factors: its economic growth, the energy intensity of that growth and the carbon intensity of that energy.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2024
China’s growth ambitions will erase the world’s climate gains
Global greenhouse pollution hit a record and increased 1.1% last year, the International Energy Agency reported. That was almost entirely a China story.
3M’s Cottage Grove, Minnesota, factory had been churning out varieties of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances since the 1950s. Recent studies have linked widely used compounds within the chemical family to reduced immune response and cancer.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 4, 2024
How PFAS 'forever chemicals' affect human health
There is firm evidence that at least one of the more than 4,000 human-made chemicals called PFAS causes cancer.
Lawyers representing plaintiffs in lawsuits seeking damages for Minamata disease hold banners outside the Kumamoto District Court in the city of Kumamoto on Friday, criticizing the ruling as “unjust.”
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 22, 2024
Japan court rejects redress claims by unrecognized Minamata victims
Across Japan, nearly 1,800 individuals have filed similar lawsuits, with 1,400 cases consolidated in the Kumamoto district court.
A commuter walks along an overpass in Jakarta.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Mar 20, 2024
Only 10 countries had healthy air quality in 2023, report finds
Sources of PM2.5 pollution vary widely, but the overwhelming cause is the burning of fossil fuels.
To squeeze more energy out of the wind, turbines are getting bigger and bigger, which means that ships capable of installing them are in growing demand.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 17, 2024
Offshore wind’s next big problem: Not enough ships
As economies go green and utilities retire fossil-fuel power stations, wind is emerging as one of the most popular forms of alternative energy.
Climate protesters interrupt a campaign event for former U.S. President Donald Trump in Indianola, Iowa, on Jan. 14.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2024
What would a Trump win mean for the climate?
Even if Trump wins and tries to take a wrecking ball to climate policies, he ultimately can't derail the renewables revolution gaining momentum in the U.S.
A hiker walks toward Asahidake in Hokkaido. The health and environmental issues around PFAS could be a particular problem for Japan, which boasts a number of globally renowned outdoor brands and related suppliers.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Mar 10, 2024
Japan’s revered outdoor brands face down PFAS challenge
Outdoor apparel consumers are generally more environmentally conscious, but are likely to be using products that have a big environmental footprint.
The Rubymar cargo ship sinking off the coast of Yemen on Feb. 27. The vessel had 21,000 metric tons of ammonium phosphate sulfate fertilizer on board.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 6, 2024
Yemen faces 'environmental disaster' as sunken ship threatens Red Sea
Leaking fuel and fertilizer from vessel struck by Houthis could harm marine life and impact coastal communities that rely on fishing.
PFAS does not break down easily and remains in the body and the environment for a number of years, and is thus called “forever chemicals.”
JAPAN / Explainer
Mar 4, 2024
Japan’s food safety panel drafts intake limit for 'forever chemicals'
The report spells out the “tolerable daily intake” of PFAS through food for the first time. Here's what you need to know.
A satellite image shows the Rubymar cargo ship on Friday after it was heavily damaged in a Feb. 19 missile strike claimed by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
WORLD
Mar 3, 2024
Ship sunk by Houthis threatens Red Sea environment
The sinking marks the first vessel lost since the Houthis began targeting ships in November.
A housing development next to the Sasol’s petrochemicals plant in Sasolburg, South Africa.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 2, 2024
What it's like to live in the most polluted place on Earth
Coal and steel plants offer steady work for residents in South Africa's Vaal Triangle, yet they’re also pumping out harmful emissions.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a presidential permit for energy development that he signed during a tour of an oil rig in Midland, Texas, in July 2020.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2024
How the planet could survive another Trump term
In his first term, Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, rolled back environmental regulations, unleashed gas drilling and more.
Smoke rises from the Posco steel mill in Pohang, South Korea.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 26, 2024
South Korea’s biggest polluters made millions from carbon sales
Seoul was one of the first in Asia to start an emissions-trading system, but it has fallen short of encouraging industrial polluters to reduce pollution.
New JAL chief concerned about yen’s ‘excessive’ weakness
Mitsuko Tottori became Japan Airlines’ first female CEO on April 1, having risen through the ranks as a flight attendant and heading the flight attendant and customer experience divisions.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Yen inches closer to intervention point as BOJ meeting starts
The rate of the yen against the U.S. dollar is displayed in the trading room at foreign exchange brokerage Gaitame.com in Tokyo on Thursday.
Princess Aiko makes debut at imperial garden party
Princess Aiko attends an imperial garden party in Tokyo on Tuesday.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Tokyo's Koto Ward by-election a race unlike any other
Natsumi Sakai, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s candidate and one of four female candidates running in the by-election, touts her experience as a cancer survivor and midwife as having prepared her to tackle issues that women currently face.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Top U.S. and China diplomats talk tough amid warnings of new ‘downward spiral’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Friday
Kyotographie's strong 12th edition shines light into the margins
Yassine Alaoui Ismaili, who goes by Yoriyas, turned to photography, shooting motion while in motion himself, after an injury forced him to give up his career as a professional breakdancer.
For amateur sumo, a fresh start offers hope against time-wasting and gamesmanship
Wrestlers prepare for the start of a bout at the 2023 Sumo World Championships in Tokyo. Starting this month, placing one hand on the clay first is no longer allowed.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

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
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Students ‘study abroad’ on island of Suo Oshima
Students ‘study abroad’ on island of Suo Oshima

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER