Tag - environment

 
 

ENVIRONMENT

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a ministerial meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 22, 2023
Japan to begin releasing treated Fukushima water Thursday
Despite fishing cooperatives' lingering worries of reputational damage, the government will go ahead with its plan.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (left) meets with Masanobu Sakamoto (right), head of the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations, and other representatives at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 21, 2023
Japan's release of Fukushima treated water could start Thursday
The government is set to announce Tuesday when the release of tritium-laced water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant will begin.
Japan's major paper manufacturers are developing a new fiber to expand the use of wood amid a decline in domestic demand for paper.
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2023
Japan paper industry to develop new wood fiber material
With demand for paper in the doldrums, the industry is looking to expand the use of wood, a renewable resource, beyond paper products.
A handful of trees stand at the Tabqa Reserve near the village of Jaabar, in the Kurdish-held part of Syria's Raqqa province.
WORLD / Society
Aug 21, 2023
Illegal logging turns Syria's forests into 'barren land'
Fuel shortages and rampant poverty have pushed many Syrians to chop the trees to sell or use for heating, dealing a blow to the nature surrounding Jaabar.
The port in Ensenada as Tropical Storm Hilary hits Baja California state, Mexico, on Sunday.
WORLD / Society
Aug 21, 2023
Storm Hilary puts California at risk of catastrophic flooding
A state of emergency was declared for much of Southern California, with flash flood warnings throughout a region more accustomed to drought.
Surging populations of plant-eating insects are disrupting farms and the food supply chain, causing problems far more serious than sticky windshields from bug excrement.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2023
The insect apocalypse is coming to your neighborhood
Polar bears and sea turtles get most of the attention as victims of climate change, but when the bugs invade we're all going to feel it personally.
The Inflation Reduction Act’s tax breaks for clean energy will help mitigate climate change but they will not meet the 2050 net-zero carbon goal.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 17, 2023
Biden’s climate bill was too tame
U.S. President Biden and the Democratic Party's Inflation Reduction Act was too tame on fixing the climate.
U.S. President Joe Biden during an event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday. The president has crisscrossed the nation visiting groundbreakings and factories to sell his agenda, dubbed Bidenomics, with the Inflation Reduction Act as the centerpiece.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 17, 2023
Fires and heat block Biden from taking victory lap for climate law
It’s not the first time circumstances beyond Biden’s control have undone his efforts to revel in a victory.
Cirebon-1, an 11-year-old coal power station in West Java, Indonesia, is set to close early, sparing the planet millions of tons of carbon dioxide.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 16, 2023
Indonesian facility shows cutting coal is a hard sell for banks
The early closure of the Cirebon-1 coal plant could be a decarbonization model for Asia, but big banks have been shy about fueling the transition.
The ocean has absorbed a whopping 90% of the warming that’s occurred in recent decades as a result of increasing greenhouse gases. Shipping is responsible for a large portion of those emissions, pumping out more than a billion tons in 2018.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 16, 2023
Shipping's quest for greener fuel runs into climate complications
Three-and-a-half years ago, a new rule was established to cut ships’ sulfur emissions. Yet some scientists have linked that to warmer ocean temperatures.
A man scoops up millet from a sack for a photograph at a wholesale market in India.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 15, 2023
'Superfood' millet may be arid regions' answer to climate change
The forgotten crop is making a global comeback riding on its high nutritional value and ability to grow on arid land.
Florida's Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Marco Rubio launch the 'Keep Florida Free' tour on primary night. In May, DeSantis signed a sweeping anti-ESG bill he says targets the "woke” bias of the finance industry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 15, 2023
Even as the term is 'weaponized,' bankers still pay heed to ESG
About two-thirds of survey respondents said the anti-ESG movement will force firms to stop using those three letters in conversations with clients.
A farmer picks coffee beans at his plantation in West Java, Indonesia, on Aug. 2.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 14, 2023
World's fourth largest coffee crop threatened by El Nino
Lower coffee output in Indonesia could trigger a steeper rise in prices, which have climbed more than 40% in 2023.
A burned palm tree droops in Lahaina on Maui, Hawaii, on Friday, two days after the historic town was devastated by wildfire.
WORLD / Society
Aug 14, 2023
How climate change turned lush Hawaii into a tinderbox
The devastation on Maui happened in a state defined by its lush vegetation, a far cry from the dry landscape normally associated with fire threats.
As long as coal plants are still operating, it is a good idea to make them capture their carbon dioxide emissions. But the sooner that coal is replaced by renewables, the better it will be for the planet.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2023
Carbon capture and the changing economics of power generation
Carbon capture policies could unwittingly extend the life of dirtier energy sources.
Treated water stored in massive tanks at the Fukushima No. 1 plant
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2023
Japan to conduct quick tritium tests on Fukushima wastewater
The rapid analysis system will enable test results to come out as early as the following day.
The summit of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, in Belem, Brazil, on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / ANALYSIS
Aug 11, 2023
Despite 'weak' accord, Amazon summit calls for rich to pay up
The final joint statement demanded that developed countries make good on a promise to deliver $100 billion annually in climate financing.
The "furoshiki" style of wrapping gifts takes advantage of a fabric that can be used more than once.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 10, 2023
Eco-friendly eating with a healthy helping of Japanese
Sustainability-related vocabulary isn't the only way to get your thoughts across on sustainable food practices in Japanese.
Heat haze permeates the skyline of Manama, Bahrain.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 10, 2023
How is climate change driving dangerous 'wet-bulb' temperatures?
Dubai, for example, is forecast to see air temperatures hover around 43 degrees Celsius. But climate experts say air temperature alone can be misleading.
Smoke billows as wildfires driven by high winds destroy a large part of the historic town of Lahaina in Mauii County, Hawaii, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Aug 10, 2023
Hawaii wildfires kill 36 as 'apocalypse' hits resort city
Multiple neighborhoods were burnt to the ground as the western side of the island was nearly cut off.

Longform

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