Tag - environment

 
 

ENVIRONMENT

Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Apr 30, 2016
Hailing the benefits of raising a stink
In the 1980s, when I was living in northern Nagano Prefecture and hiking the mountains with members of the local Hunters Association, I was always making a lot of fuss about the depredation of ancient forests being instigated by the Forestry Agency — a branch of the national government that, at the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Apr 26, 2016
Alien red-ear sliders greatly outnumber Japan's own turtles
Invasive red-ear slider turtles now vastly outnumber endemic Japanese turtles and are causing significant stress to the ecosystem, the Environment Ministry said Friday.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 15, 2016
El Salvador declares a drought emergency for the first time ever
El Salvador declared a water shortage emergency for the first time in its history on Thursday, citing the effects of climate change and the El Nino phenomenon, the country's president said.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 5, 2016
Climate change threatens hearts, lungs but also brains: U.S. study
Climate change can be expected to boost the number of annual premature U.S. deaths from heat waves in coming decades and to increase mental health problems from extreme weather like hurricanes and floods, a U.S. study said Monday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 24, 2016
U.N. expects record first-day signatures for Paris climate deal
The United Nations expects the number of countries that will sign the Paris climate change agreement at an April 22 ceremony in New York to exceed the record for the number signing up to an international accord on the day it opens, a U.N. official said on Wednesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Mar 4, 2016
Obama-led EPA rule to curb mercury air pollution stands: Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court sided with the Obama administration on Thursday in rebuffing a bid by 20 states to halt an Environmental Protection Agency rule to curb emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants from power plants.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Mar 2, 2016
China's green push seeks to counter unfettered growth
An affable academic who cracks jokes and cycles to work, Chen Jining is the face of China's cleanup, turning his environment ministry from "most embarrassing" to a powerhouse that has taken on those driving growth at all costs.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 1, 2016
Japan pushes ahead with Hokkaido carbon capture test despite quake concerns
Japan is preparing to test its biggest project yet for capturing and storing greenhouse gas pollution under the seabed despite concerns about cost and the safety of pursuing the technology in a region prone to earthquakes.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 26, 2016
Gas from thawing permafrost could add further to global warming, study says
Arctic permafrost that is thawing due to global warming is releasing greenhouse gases, further compounding the problem of climate change, according to a study released on Thursday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Feb 17, 2016
Top court-frozen Obama climate plan may get new legal life with Scalia's death
A vote to block the Obama administration's ambitious climate regulation was one of Antonin Scalia's last acts as a Supreme Court justice. His sudden death may have opened a new path to the rule's survival.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Feb 11, 2016
Australian cuts to climate change research may hit drive into Asia
Funding and job cuts at Australia's climate change research body could undermine the country's goal of dominating the Asian premium food market by placing farmers at a disadvantage to U.S. and European competitors.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 9, 2016
Japan's environment minister denies mocking radiation fears of Fukushima residents
Environment Minister Tamayo Marukawa came under fire Tuesday for what opposition lawmakers called an insensitive gaffe that appeared to ridicule the fears of people in Fukushima Prefecture over radiation exposure.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Feb 6, 2016
Swans, and us, at risk as wetlands shrink
Soon after the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011, and the huge tsunami it triggered that killed almost 16,000 people and left more than 2,500 missing in the Tohoku region of northeastern Honshu, our C.W. Nicol Afan Woodland Trust contacted the many towns affected and invited survivors to...

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’