Tag - environment

 
 

ENVIRONMENT

Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 5, 2016
Europe's shift to dark green forests stokes global warming: study
An expansion of Europe's forests toward dark green conifers has stoked global warming, according to a study on Thursday at odds with a widespread view that planting more trees helps human efforts to slow rising temperatures.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Feb 3, 2016
FBI joins probe into Flint's 'man-made crisis' water contamination
The FBI is joining a criminal investigation into lead contaminated drinking water in Flint, Michigan, exploring whether any laws were broken in a crisis that has captured international attention.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Jan 28, 2016
Blue skies over Beijing? Decaying suburbs bear cost as China cuts pollution
On the outskirts of Beijing, the disused factories of Chaomidian show the impact of China's drive to shut down thousands of small firms causing big pollution. Amid scrap heaps and idle machinery, the community has clean air these days — and no jobs.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 28, 2016
Breakthrough in mapping tropical forests reveals broad extent of tree loss
New advanced satellite maps of tropical countries reveal that more than 90 percent of recent tree cover loss took place in natural forests rather than plantations, threatening ecosystems and biodiversity, research shows.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Jan 24, 2016
False emissions reporting undermines China's pollution fight
Widespread misreporting of harmful gas emissions by Chinese electricity firms is threatening the country's attempts to rein in pollution, with government policies aimed at generating cleaner power struggling to halt the practice.
BUSINESS
Jan 19, 2016
Japan approved 85,550 MW of renewable energy projects since 2012
Japan has given the go-ahead to 85,550 megawatts of clean-energy projects since the introduction of an incentive program in July 2012, with solar comprising the vast bulk of the new capacity.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 14, 2016
Bid to mine 600 million tons of coal on U.S. federal lands tests Obama's green agenda
President Barack Obama's State of the Union pledge to better manage fossil fuel development will face a test within days, when federal officials rule on whether to open public lands containing more than 600 million tons of coal to more mining.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 14, 2016
Global mercury emissions down 30% as less coal is burned
Global emissions of mercury from man-made sources fell 30 percent from 1990 to 2010, in part from decreasing use of coal, the U.S. Geological Survey reported Wednesday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 14, 2016
Global warming seen upsetting natural cycle, may delay next ice age for 100,000 years
Global warming is likely to disrupt a natural cycle of ice ages and contribute to delaying the onset of the next big freeze until about 100,000 years from now, scientists said on Wednesday.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2016
Time for the world to face up to climate reality
Technological progress makes it possible to build a low-carbon economy; but strong public policies are necessary to ensure implementation.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 8, 2016
Three people missing, 100 homes destroyed by Western Australia bush fire
A major bush fire in western Australia destroyed nearly 100 homes and left three people unaccounted for as it tore through a small rural town south of Perth, emergency officials said on Friday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 8, 2016
Drought hits global cereals output, study finds
Droughts and extreme heat have cut national cereal production by 9 to 10 percent on average around the world in the last half-century, and the impact has worsened since the mid-1980s, researchers said.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jan 2, 2016
Teens find spicy 'udders' keep boars at bay
A couple of weeks ago, I came home in the evening and found a wild boar on the porch. It had been bled and gutted, but otherwise it was still whole and hairy. I was very busy as I had to head off to Tokyo the next morning, but that present from some kindly local hunter in the Nagano Prefecture hills...
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 30, 2015
Posh New York City hotels pledge to go green, hope to inspire others around world
Some of New York's most iconic hotels, comprising more than 11,000 guest rooms, promised to cut their carbon footprints on Tuesday and join a city effort to improve the energy efficiency of buildings.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 29, 2015
Switzerland has kept records for 150 years and this December clocks in as the warmest
Switzerland will mark its warmest December since the country that founded winter tourism began keeping records 150 years ago.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 23, 2015
After Paris accord, most U.S. Republicans back action on climate
A majority of U.S. Republicans who had heard of the international climate deal in Paris said they support working with other countries to curb global warming and were willing to take steps to do so, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2015
Greece is also running an ecological deficit
To enable lasting economic progress, countries need to break the link between GDP growth and overuse of the environment.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 21, 2015
Action at grass-roots level vital to success of COP21
Shared concern and empathetic openness to the suffering of others holds the key to fighting climate change.
EDITORIALS
Dec 17, 2015
Paris agreement is just a start
The nations of the world have only promised to take baby steps to curb global warming, with no binding mechanism. The true test will be whether they follow through and actually effect change.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 17, 2015
U.S. oil export deal delivers gains for environmental lobby
The spending deal that is set to hand the oil industry a major victory by allowing unfettered exports of U.S. crude for the first time in 40 years also is delivering some major wins for environmentalists who fought that policy.

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’