Tag - climate

 
 

CLIMATE

Air conditioners are assembled at a unit of Daikin Industries at a plant in Shiga Prefecture in August 2017.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2024
Japan air conditioner sales booming amid scorching heat
Households are rushing to buy energy-saving products as replacements to curb soaring electricity bills. Demand in cold regions is also rising.
A construction worker in Tokyo's Akasaka district on Aug. 21. With 886 cases, 54 of them fatal, during the period from 2019 to 2023, the construction industry leads Japan’s tally for occupational heatstroke.
BUSINESS / Boiling Point
Sep 1, 2024
Clocking off: Japan’s hotter summers put limit on outdoor work
Climate change is forcing businesses to sacrifice productivity in the name of safety in industries ranging from construction to transportation.
Torrential rain in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward on Friday as Shanshan brought heavy precipitation to the capital.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 30, 2024
How climate change made Shanshan more likely and more devastating
The devastating winds of Shanshan were 26% more likely due to climate change, a rapid analysis has found, highlighting the impact of warming on severe storms.
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.
Activists attend a news conference after a ruling by the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Aug 30, 2024
Top South Korean court says climate law doesn't protect basic rights
The court asked the legislature to revise the carbon neutrality act by the end of February 2026.
Waves break against protecting walls as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Keelung, Taiwan, on July 24.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 29, 2024
Climate change fueled deadly Typhoon Gaemi, study finds
Typhoon Gaemi's wind speeds were 7% more intense due to human-caused climate change, and its rainfall was 14% heavier in Taiwan and 9% heavier in Hunan.
Pope Francis arrives at the weekly general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 29, 2024
Pope Francis takes climate message to Southeast Asia on 12-day trip
It will be the longest trip yet by Pope Francis, who now regularly uses a wheelchair due to knee and back pain.
A member of the Self-Defense Forces wipes away sweat as he conducts a search and rescue operation at a landslide site caused by heavy rain in Kumano, Hiroshima Prefecture, on July 11, 2018.
ENVIRONMENT / Boiling Point
Aug 29, 2024
Can Japan handle a heat wave and natural disaster at the same time?
Recent typhoons and the Nankai Trough megaquake alert have put the spotlight on how the country would deal with a dual disaster.
Yasuyuki Kurosawa at his paddy fields in Meiwa, Gunma Prefecture. Tending the crops "is something that we cannot avoid, so we must do what we must do even if it's hot," the 77-year-old farmer said.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2024
Heatstroke risk won't stop Japan's aging farmers as temperatures soar
Agriculture accounts for about 1% of Japan's economy and almost 70% of its 1.4 million farmers are age 65 and above.
Naoto Ooka inspects a new heat-resistant rice breed called Emihokoro that has been planted at the government-run Saitama Agricultural Technology Center in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, on Aug. 7.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2024
As sweltering summers ravage crops, Japan bets on heat-resistant rice
Supermarkets have struggled to keep rice shelves stocked in recent months.
Cars are flooded in a local street during the pass of a winter storm in Lodi, New Jersey, on Jan. 10.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 28, 2024
Extreme rain is a growing climate threat to the northeastern U.S.
A warming world will bring more rain-induced flooding to the United States' Northeast, a region of millions who aren't prepared for it.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris addresses the United Nations' COP28 climate change conference in Dubai on Dec. 2. Harris and Donald Trump are poles apart when it comes to climate change.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2024
America’s coming climate election
Clearly, the positions of the two U.S. presidential candidates on the climate crisis could not be more different.
Mosquitoes under a microscope in a lab at Sahmyook University in Seoul on July 24
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Aug 27, 2024
As the world warms, South Korea's latest border threat is mosquitoes
Climate change, especially warmer springs and heavier rainfall, could bring more mosquito-borne diseases to North and South Korea.
Despite changing attitudes toward office attire, with younger generations pushing for more casual dress codes, traditional views on professional attire persist.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2024
Shorts at the office? Go for it.
Despite changing attitudes toward office attire, with younger generations pushing for more casual dress codes, traditional views on professional attire persist.
Oceanographic research vessel Mirai is docked at the port of Sekinehama in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, on Monday before it embarked on an Arctic voyage later in the day.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2024
Japan's Mirai research vessel embarks on Arctic journey
Mirai is tasked with ocean research and weather observations in the Arctic Ocean, in hopes of finding the cause and impact of rapid global warming in the area.
A huge seawall has been constructed along a coast in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2024
Infrastructure ministry to boost aid for port flood prevention
The ministry also plans to provide tax breaks to companies working on raising seawalls systematically.
A Rapidus factory construction site in Chitose, Hokkaido, on July 24. The plan to ramp up renewable energy usage in the region to 60% by 2030 is part of a larger concept known as “Hokkaido Valley.”
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Aug 26, 2024
Hokkaido more plugged in to renewable energy than rest of Japan
The local government aims to raise its share of renewable energy to 60% from the current 40%, but Hokkaido's grid needs to be upgraded first.
Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls' School in Kanoi village near Jaisalmer, India, earlier this month. In the sweltering heat of India's Thar desert, an architecturally striking school is an oasis of cool.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 24, 2024
Indian desert school's unique design offers respite from heat
Temperatures inside the school, designed by U.S. architect Diana Kellogg and built by local artisans, can be as much as 20% lower than those outside.
Emergency responders assist a man who collapsed during lengthy heat wave in Phoenix in July last year.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 24, 2024
Heat kills thousands in the U.S. every year. Why are the deaths so hard to track?
As heat waves become more frequent and intense, researchers and activists say the lack of effective tracking is leading to needless deaths.
Traditionally seen as a cautionary tale of collapse due to overpopulation, recent research suggests that Easter Island's population was likely small and that they adapted to environmental challenges through innovative agricultural practices.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 23, 2024
Easter Island collapse gets the fresh look it deserves
Once viewed as a cautionary tale of overpopulation, recent research suggests Easter Island's population was small and adapted through innovative agriculture practices.

Longform

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.