Tag - environment

 
 

ENVIRONMENT

Sena Ishikawa and Saki Anan, master’s students studying giant salamanders, wash off one that was caught before taking a DNA sample and implanting a tracking chip, at Kyoto University.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 18, 2024
A tale of two nearly extinct giant salamanders
While trying to save large amphibians native to Japan, herpetologists in the country unexpectedly found a way to potentially save an even bigger species in China.
Snow and ice on the Himalayas are a crucial water source for around 240 million people in the mountainous regions, as well as for another 1.65 billion people in the river valleys below.
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 17, 2024
Low snow on the Himalayas threatens water security
Millions of people dependent on snowmelt for water face a "very serious" risk of shortages this year after one of the lowest rates of snowfall.
Workers clear the oil slick using plastic bags on Sentosa island's Tanjong Beach in Singapore on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 17, 2024
Singapore works to clean up oil spill after tanker accident
Several beaches have been closed after a tidal current carried the oil from the site to an area more than 30 kilometers away, close to the city-state's airport.
Temperatures in Paris could exceed 30 degrees on many days during the 2024 Games.
OLYMPICS
Jun 17, 2024
Japanese Olympians to beat heat with own AC despite Paris' plans for green Games
The Japanese Olympic Committee announced last December that it plans to pay for its athletes to have air conditioning in their rooms for “safety and security” reasons.
A protest accusing Deutsche Bank of greenwashing. Its subsidiary DWS was fined $25 million last year for misstating its environmental, social and governance activities.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2024
Too many companies make false claims about their social impact
Exaggerated claims about companies' positive social and environmental impact ruin our chances of achieving a sustainable future. An entirely new system is needed.
A growing number of local governments in Japan are selling reusable oversize waste collected from households on marketplace app Mercari.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2024
Japan local governments using Mercari app to recycle oversize waste
From clothing boxes to furniture, the initiative aims to raise awareness of reusing goods while reducing carbon emissions from incineration.
A person uses a tong with a camera and GPS system attached to pick up litter, part of an initiative to boost participation in collecting trash.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Jun 16, 2024
Japan’s gamified environment apps target a greener mindset
Government funding has helped drive a boom in environmental and social app development.
After just 1.3 degrees Celsius of warming above preindustrial levels, the countries with the most refugees, asylum-seekers, and displaced people are already among those hardest hit by climate change.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2024
It’s far cheaper to help migrants before they leave home
As global temperatures rise, so will the frequency of heat waves, droughts, floods, pandemics, natural disasters, food and water shortages and conflicts over resources.
In Catan: New Energies, players must decide between fossil fuels and clean energy.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 15, 2024
In Catan: New Energies, the goal is avoiding climate catastrophe
When put to the test, players were racked by indecision, laying bare the complexity of solving climate change.
The iAEON app allows users to view their shopping history and save e-receipts on their smartphones to facilitate returns and act as proof of purchases.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 14, 2024
Aeon to roll out e-receipts nationwide
Customers can opt for e-receipts instead of paper ones when shopping by using the group’s iAEON app at participating stores.
Boys bathe at a public water facility along a street amid a heat wave in Jalandhar, India, on Thursday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 14, 2024
What is heat stress and how is it measured?
The World Meteorological Organization estimates heat kills around half a million people a year but says the true toll is unknown.
Soyo Hinata (right) and Lillian Ono, members of Climate Case Japan, with a petition for human rights relief before submitting it to the Japan Federation of Bar Associations in Tokyo on Wednesday
JAPAN / Society
Jun 12, 2024
Activist group asks Japan's bar association for help on climate action
It will likely take more than a year for the association to scrutinize Climate Case Japan's petition before deciding what steps to take next.
Kali Adem port, north of Jakarta, is flooded due to rising sea levels and land subsidence. Climate change has a dire impact on the lives and livelihoods of coastal communities, therefore exacerbating maritime security challenges.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2024
Climate change threatens security in the Indo-Pacific
Leaders need to recognize that climate change is a maritime security challenge due to its impact on coastal regions, which exacerbates old problems and creates new ones.
A park in the city of Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2024
Japan eyes partner hotels for national parks
The ministry is considering forming such tie-ups with around five hotel operators that are active in preserving the environment and contributing to local communities.
Women at a water well as a sand storm passes by in Ethiopia
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 6, 2024
Climate disasters in Africa push women to sell sex, risking HIV progress
Hunger is pushing women and girls into sexual exploitation and increasing the risk of HIV, health experts and aid workers have warned.
A white-tailed eagle is released backed to the wild in Hokkaido in February after having been treated for bird flu with human-use influenza drug.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Jun 6, 2024
White-tailed eagle treated with human drug returns to wild
After having been released in the wild in February, subsequent tracking verified that the bird was successfully living independently in its natural habitat.
Pedestrians holding umbrellas during a downpour in Tokyo in June 2023
JAPAN / Science & Health / OUR PLANET
Jun 2, 2024
The growing link between extreme rain and respiratory health in Japan
Researchers have found a strong association between respiratory mortality and severe downpours of the kind being made worse by climate change.
As mind-numbingly big as the clean-energy price tag may be, it’s actually a bargain compared with the potential economic destruction of unabated climate change.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2024
$215 trillion to save the planet is a bargain
And as mind-numbingly big as $215 trillion may be, it’s actually a bargain compared with the potential economic destruction of unabated climate change.
A ground crew worker refuels a plane at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Arizona.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 31, 2024
Waste-to-fuel company that raised $1 billion verges on collapse
Fulcrum BioEnergy has recently laid off nearly all of its staff of about 100 and halted most of its operations, according to more than a half-dozen former employees.
Massive oil reserves mean the U.S. is less enthusiastic about energy transition than China, which is charging ahead with clean technology.
COMMENTARY / World
May 30, 2024
America is joining its frenemies back in the fossil fuel club
For most nations, the energy transition isn’t just sought for climate reasons, it’s also a strategic and economic necessity.

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