Search - environment

 
 
A man walks past a pollution pod designed to mimic the air quality in New Delhi, during the COP28 summit in Dubai, on Dec 4.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 15, 2023

How the world agreed to move away from fossil fuels at COP28

This year's climate conference marked the first time in history countries expressed a unified desire to end the oil age.
Researchers prepare to conduct a mapping survey of a reforested area on a hillside near Chiang Mai, Thailand.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 18, 2023

In Thailand, drones help solve forest carbon capture riddle

Drones are part of an increasingly sophisticated arsenal used by scientists to understand forests and their role in the battle against climate change.
Customers browse through items sold as part of the Uniqlo Pre-owned Clothes Project at the brand's Harajuku store in Tokyo in October.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 19, 2023

Japan revisits used garments as inflation adds to fashion appeal

Awareness of the sector's huge environmental impact has yet to spark much interest in secondhand options in the world third-biggest clothes market.
Researchers have replicated the eye structure of insects like bees that can navigate visually based on the intensity and polarization of sunlight.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Dec 27, 2023

Insect compasses, fire-fighting vines: 2023's nature-inspired tech

Even as human-caused climate change threatens the environment, nature continues to inspire our technological advancement.
Paper pulp processed from used disposable diapers
JAPAN / Society
Jan 2, 2024

Graying Japan pushes to recycle disposable diapers to curb waste

The amount of diaper waste grew to 2.2 million tons in fiscal 2020. While efforts are being made to recycle them, high costs remain a hurdle.
Harvesting wheat in Punjab, Pakistan
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jan 7, 2024

Military men want to kickstart Pakistan’s green revolution

Islamabad argues that corporate farming is essential to ensuring food security for its 240 million people.
Kotaro Seki, CEO of Ellange, in front of the truck that he uses to collect nets from fisheries
JAPAN / Society / OUR PLANET
Jan 7, 2024

Trash into treasure: Can fishing net waste be the future of fashion?

A pair of Japanese startups are looking to solve a problem for the nation's fisheries: What to do with old fishing nets.
A Joshua Tree is seen as the York fire burns in the distance in the Mojave National Preserve on July 30, 2023. The year of 2023 was the hottest on record, with the increase in Earth's surface temperature nearly crossing the critical threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
WORLD
Jan 10, 2024

2023 declared hottest recorded year as Earth nears key limit

Climate change intensified heatwaves, droughts and wildfires across the planet, and pushed the global thermometer 1.48 C above the preindustrial benchmark.
A wild bear spotted in Joetsu, Niigata Prefecture, in October 2022
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2024

Japan to bolster measures against bears waking up from hibernation

Each prefecture will be given ¥3 million to ¥5 million in financial resources to help with the measures.
Patrick Mahomes will try to win a playoff game on the road for the first time in his career when the Chiefs meet the Bills in Orchard Park, New York, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 18, 2024

Patrick Mahomes braces for raucous environment in first road playoff game

Mahomes has played 12 playoff games at home during his career, but has never had to board a plane prior to the Super Bowl.
Fishers sort scallops aboard a French fishing trawler in the English Channel in 2021.
ENVIRONMENT / Oceans
Jan 18, 2024

Trawling the bottom of the ocean is kicking up tons of carbon dioxide

Many have opposed the practice for the damage it inflicts on seabed ecosystems, but new research shows that the climate also suffers.
Salmon farming can be a nasty business. Breeding involves removing eggs and sperm from anesthetized fish, and typically euthanizing males after extraction.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Jan 21, 2024

Scotland’s salmon farms navigate troubled waters for global industry

Despite pitching the red-fleshed fish as a more environmentally friendly alternative to beef, producers haven’t yet figured out how to scale sustainably.
Fire in the Taiga forest outside Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk in 2014
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jan 23, 2024

Scientists warn missing Russian data causing Arctic climate blind spots

The Arctic is warming between two and four times faster than the rest of the planet and holds glaciers, forests and carbon-rich frozen soils at risk of irreversible change.
A Cathay Pacific Airways aircraft prepares to land at Hong Kong International Airport. Data shows that major airlines produce almost twice as much emissions for every passenger they carry than low-cost carriers.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jan 23, 2024

No-frills flying emerges as air travel’s painful, greener future

Budget airlines’ obsession with lowering weight to save fuel happens to produce the best emissions metrics in the skies.
An aerial view of islands in Palau
WORLD / Politics
Jan 24, 2024

Palau becomes first nation to ratify U.N. high seas treaty

The so-called High Seas Treaty was adopted by U.N. member states in June, after more than 15 years of discussions.
Police in riot gear stand guard next to a barricade near a fire outside the European Parliament in Brussels on Feb. 1 during a protest by farmers from Belgium and other EU countries over price pressures, taxes and green regulation.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 6, 2024

Green backlash looms over EU elections

Polls show that while a large majority of Europeans support action to fight climate change, a many are also worried about the cost of doing this.
A sea turtle swims off the coast of Brazil. Sea turtles can migrate hundreds or thousands of miles.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Feb 14, 2024

Overhunting and habitat loss endanger migratory animals, U.N. says

One in five migratory species is at risk of extinction, according to a new report by the United Nations.
Inspections by authorities found that puppies and kittens have been traded at younger ages than permitted by law, apparently because younger animals sell better.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 16, 2024

Birth date falsifications suspected for puppies auctioned in Japan

The Environment Ministry believes breeders altered dates of birth in order to put puppies and kittens up for auction even though they were too young.
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.
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 woman peels sugar cane on a railway track to sell it to sugar cane juice vendors in a slum area in Kolkata.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Mar 7, 2024

Climate migrants in India have hysterectomies to keep working: report

The move helps women ensure that periods or pregnancy don't stop them from working.
Firefighters tackle a blaze near the village of Piedrafita in northern Spain's Asturias region on March 31.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 12, 2024

Europe must do more against 'catastrophic' climate risks, EU says

The risks are plenty and varied, including fires, water shortages, flooding, erosion and saltwater intrusion.
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.
Shintaro Tajima (left) and his son, Daisuke, pose in their forest in Hita, Oita Prefecture, in January. At their feet is wasabi growing in clusters.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Mar 18, 2024

Oita forestry firm signs carbon trade deal with Line operator

LY, which operates Line and Yahoo services, will purchase 1,500 tons of carbon credit per year from Tajima Forest for 10 years.
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.
Kumamoto-based sakura researcher Toshio Katsuki  says Japan's interpretations of the cherry tree have evolved over the course of history.
COMMUNITY / 20 QUESTIONS
Mar 22, 2024

Toshio Katsuki: 'The cherry blossoms have been my vehicle to find new relationships'

A sakura researcher tells us what drew him to the flowering trees, how their significance has changed over time and his tips on the best way to enjoy them.
Wildlife researcher Amelia Hiorns says Japan's bears feel the pressure of human presence and have learned that encountering us is not worth their time.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Mar 30, 2024

Amelia Hiorns: 'Guiding and introducing people to Japan's nature has been rewarding'

Wildlife researcher Amelia Hiorns shares how separate interests in Japan and in bears culminated in conservation work in the mountains of Nagano.
Children wash their hands with a new public pump installed as part of a climate resilient water system in Inn Chey in Kratie Province.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Mar 31, 2024

Japan sits at the forefront of climate resilient infrastructure in Southeast Asia

Japanese businesses and government agencies are pouring billions of yen into various programs across Cambodia and Southeast Asia to reduce climate risks.
Reindeer that belong to Sami herder Nils Mathis Sara, 65, run in a winter pasture near Geadgebarjavri up on the Finnmark plateau, Norway, last month.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Apr 3, 2024

Reindeer herders battle power line needed for Norway's climate goal

The conflict illustrates the difficult choices countries must make to cut greenhouse gas emissions and power future growth.
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.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?