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December 04, 2024
 

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Coco Liu
A new report said that fires in the northern boreal forests, which span from Russia to North America, have almost tripled during the past 20 years.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Oct 18, 2024
Global forest fire carbon emissions have jumped 60% in 20 years
Forest fire severity — a measure of how much carbon is emitted per unit of area burned — is also up by nearly 50% globally.
The Champayan Lagoon in Altamira, Tamaulipas, Mexico. A new report finds that nearly 3 billion people and more than half of the world’s food production are in areas experiencing a worsening water shortage.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Oct 17, 2024
Water crisis endangers 8% of GDP in high-income countries, report warns
The report finds that nearly 3 billion people and more than half of the world’s food production are in areas experiencing a worsening water shortage.
A remote-controlled BurnBot RX1 prototype produces a containment line during a prescribed burn operation in Paicines, California, on Aug. 12.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 30, 2024
Robots are starting (good) fires in California
BurnBot's robot keeps combustion within its burning chamber, where propane torches and air blowers bring flame temperatures up to 1,000 degrees Celsius.
The United Arab Emirates was battered on Tuesday by its heaviest downpour since records began in 1949.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Apr 20, 2024
Dubai floods expose weaknesses to a rapidly changing climate
The United Arab Emirates was battered this week by its heaviest downpour since records began in 1949.
Jacky Im, Elizabeth Chan and Kate Maco are the founders of Neptune Robotics, a firm building robots that remove debris from the hulls of ships to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 27, 2024
Underwater robots offering practical route to greener shipping
Technology that removes the algae, barnacles and debris that accumulate on ships' hulls can reduce drag and improve fuel efficiency.
Columbia University researchers have found that on average, bottled water contain 110,000 to 370,000 tiny plastic particles in each liter, 90% of them nanoplastics.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jan 9, 2024
Bottled water has more plastic particles than previously thought
The discovery of nanoplastics, which could not be detected until recently, suggests that health concerns linked to plastic pollution may be dramatically underestimated.
A study using a late 20th century baseline determined that glaciers in south Greenland shrank in length by 18% on average, while glaciers in other parts of Greenland retreated by up to 10%.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 17, 2023
Greenland’s glaciers are shrinking at ‘unprecedented’ rate as Earth warms
Over 1,000 peripheral glaciers and ice caps are disappearing twice as fast as they did during the 20th century.
Construction workers repair a street during a heat wave in Corpus Christi, Texas, in July.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2023
Startups are inventing cooling clothes for a hotter future
With 2023 on track to be the hottest year on record, a number of startups are exploring new technologies and textiles for keeping people cool.
Takakia lepidozioides, a type of moss found mainly in the U.S., Japan and Tibet, has survived for at least 165 million years. Now it’s disappearing in the wild due to climate change.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Aug 25, 2023
This moss survived millions of years. Warming is killing it
Takakia lepidozioides, found mainly in the U.S., Japan and Tibet, has survived for 165 million years. Now it’s disappearing due to climate change.
The U.S. has 8,000 km of carbon dioxide pipelines, but will need at least 50,000 to hit climate goals, according to a carbon transport engineer at the U.S. Department of Energy.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 21, 2023
U.S. Midwest is ground zero in the fight over carbon capture
The U.S. wants to greatly expand carbon capture and storage infrastructure, including pipelines, but many projects face opposition in the Midwest.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 3, 2023
A $30 billion disaster is just the tip of a deadly climate cycle
With monsoon season fast approaching, Pakistan is still reeling from severe flooding that killed over 1,700 and displaced 8 million.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 20, 2023
AI weed-killing drones poised to reduce herbicide use while cutting costs
A handful of companies are turning to advanced technology to address the problem of chemical overuse in agriculture, with its costs to soil, drinking water and biodiversity.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2023
Offshore wind sends some North Sea birds fleeing, study finds
Using data collected from ships, aircraft and digital aerial surveys each year during March and April, researchers recorded a downward pattern in the numbers of some birds from 2010 to 2017.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 10, 2023
One-minute battery swaps are spurring EV adoption in Asia
In 2020, just 2% of two-wheelers in Southeast Asia were electric. Analysts thing that figure could reach 20% by 2030, thanks in part to battery-swapping.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2023
What Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse means for climate tech
SVB was known as a climate bank that lent big to renewable energy companies, specialized in small solar projects and served more than 1,550 customers doing climate and sustainability work.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 7, 2023
Less than 1% of Earth has safe levels of air pollution, study finds
About 99.82% of the global land area is exposed to levels of particulate matter 2.5 above the safety limit recommended by the World Health Organization.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 20, 2023
Study reveals little-known climate cooler: atmospheric dust
The study has sought to highlight how changes in atmospheric dust are not currently factored into climate modeling.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 17, 2022
A small but growing movement to make video gaming greener
While most gamers don't link the power output of their machines with environmental issues, a small group of enthusiasts are starting to think differently,
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 14, 2022
China’s censors allow environmental criticism to flourish online
Public appeals for action made on the social network Weibo reduced pollution violations at industrial plants by more than 60%, according to the study released this month.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2022
China’s tech giants lost their swagger and may never get it back
Insiders describe an ongoing sense of paranoia and paralysis, along with an unsettling realization that the sky-high growth rates of the past two decades are likely never coming back.
Japan’s 2024 buzzword of the year urges a reevaluation of past norms
Sadao Abe, who played the role of a time-traveling Showa Era teacher transported to present day in a popular TV drama, receives the 2024 buzzword of the year award for the word "futehodo," the nickname of the series.
Australian says romance scam tricked her into smuggling drugs into Japan
Donna Nelson says her life was turned upside down when she learned that the man she was falling for had tricked her into smuggling 2 kilograms of methamphetamine into Japan.
Trump says will 'block' Nippon Steel from taking over U.S. Steel
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump says he will "block" a planned takeover of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel.
Japan witnesses warmest fall on record
Hibiya Park in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Saturday. Warm weather has delayed the country's autumn foliage season — when tourists flock to see leaves turn vibrant reds and yellows.
South Korea's Yoon backs down after parliament rejects martial law
Soldiers try to enter the National Assembly building in Seoul, after South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law late Tuesday evening.
Can Japan's scientific community rebound from a Nobel nosedive?
The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo is a popular place to foster curiosity in the natural sciences.
Europe eyes 'boots on the ground' in Ukraine as possible peace deal option
A serviceman with the Ukrainian Army's 24th mechanized brigade fires a machine gun during an exercise, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the country's Donetsk region on Friday.
Seven strangers and an algorithm: Can this new dinner app help you make friends?
Timeleft uses an algorithm to match its users with five or six strangers in an effort to prompt “human connection” over dinner at a restaurant. It determines the attendees with the help of a simple personality quiz available when you sign up for the service. 
Don’t worry, you can still use your Japan health insurance card — for now
A My Number card reader at a pediatric clinic in Tokyo. While the government will stop issuing new health insurance cards on Monday, most people will remain unaffected by the move in the short term as existing health insurance cards can still be used for another year.
The Geisha bean is the leading lady of Tokyo's coffee scene
Discovered in the 1930s, the Geisha coffee plant came to worldwide fame in the early 2000s and now represents some of the best coffee on the planet — Tokyo's top cafes included.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo is a popular place to foster curiosity in the natural sciences.
Can Japan's scientific community rebound from a Nobel nosedive?
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

The celebrated artist ‘updating’ the kimono
The celebrated artist ‘updating’ the kimono

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