Tag - forests

 
 

FORESTS

An area of Amazon rainforest deforested by illegal fire in the municipality of Labrea, Amazonas State, Brazil, on Aug. 20.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 24, 2024
Amazon forest loses area the size of Germany and France, fueling fires
The world's biggest jungle is crucial to the fight against climate change due to its ability to absorb planet-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
A drone view shows a burned area following a recent wildfire on Mount Penteli, near Athens in August.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 20, 2024
As wildfires wipe out forests, Greeks debate: To replant, or not?
Tree loss raises the risk of flash floods from rains on denuded grounds no longer protected by tree canopies and root systems, as well as higher air temperatures.
A firefighter sprays water to fight a forest fire in the city of Sao Carlos, Sao Paulo State, Brazil, on Wednesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 13, 2024
A continent ablaze: South America surpasses record for fires
Satellite data has registered 346,112 fire hot spots so far this year, topping the earlier 2007 record of 345,322.
Brazil's Indigenous Chief Raoni Metuktire at Igarape Park in the country's Para state in 2023
ENVIRONMENT
Sep 7, 2024
As the Amazon’s biggest champion approaches 100, he’s still fighting
The Amazon’s plight set the tone for Raoni Metuktire’s remarkable life, which has taken him out of Brazil’s central Mato Grosso state and all over the world.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2024
Warm weather expected to delay autumn foliage
Higher temperatures are expected this fall, as heat lingers on from Japan's joint hottest summer on record.
Burned land along a road following wildfires in Riberaio Preto, in Brazil's Sao Paulo state, on Aug. 27
WORLD
Sep 2, 2024
Amazon jungle fires spew toxic smoke to Brazil’s largest city
A curtain of smoke is spreading across Brazil, making its way to Sao Paulo and possibly heading toward neighboring countries Argentina and Paraguay.
An infant orangutan with its mother in Sepilok, Malaysia, on Saturday
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 19, 2024
Apes to stay at home as Malaysia tweaks 'orangutan diplomacy'
Countries that buy Malaysian palm oil can "sponsor" one or more orangutans, and the funds collected will be used to implement conservation programs, minister says.
Avocados hang off a tree at an orchard in Tancitaro, Michoacan state, Mexico
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Aug 7, 2024
Avocado goldrush links U.S. companies with Mexico's deforestation disaster
The U.S. demand for avocados divides communities in Mexico, where it is both a driver of economic growth and a catalyst for environmental crises.
The edge of a wildfire near Mistissini, Quebec, Canada on June 12, 2023
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 30, 2024
World's forests failed to curb 2023 climate emissions, study finds
That means a record amount of carbon dioxide entered Earth's atmosphere last year, further driving climate change.
Smoke from a fires in the Pantanal, the world's largest wetland, in Corumba, Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil, on June 12.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 24, 2024
From floods to fire: On Brazil's climate front line
Brazil faces months of record wildfires, with devastation already under way and set to worsen in coming months as high heat and winds tear through the midwest.
An aerial view of a burnt area in the Amazon rainforest near the Lago do Cunia Extractive Reserve, on the border of the states of Rondonia and Amazonas, northern Brazil, on Aug. 31, 2022. Brazil recorded 13,489 fire outbreaks in the Amazon in the first half of this year, according to satellite data available on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 2, 2024
Brazil's Amazon sees worst 6 months of wildfires in 20 years
They were caused by a historic drought that struck the world's largest tropical rainforest last year, experts say.
A firefighting plane disperses fire retardant over a wildfire in Puertollano, near Tarifa, Spain, on June 4.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / ANALYSIS
Jun 14, 2024
Airplanes won't solve Europe's wildfire problem, but prevention might.
Climate change is costing Europe tens of billions of euros per year, and that will rise if nothing is done to reduce emissions and invest in prevention.
The annual white paper on forests and forestry includes a special section on pollen allergies for the first time.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2024
Government white paper includes goal of halving cedar pollen in 30 years
The annual report on forests and forestry, adopted at a Cabinet meeting on the day, includes a special section on hay fever for the first time.
Pine trees in a coniferous forest Canterbury, New Zealand
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 28, 2024
Millions more trees isn’t the climate fix New Zealand envisaged
The result of a project linking incentives for forestry development and emissions trading turned out to be less effective than hoped.
Toshihiro Kinjo (center), a research support technician at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, inspects an audio recording device in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 3 as Masako Ogasawara, a research support specialist at OIST, looks on.
PODCAST / deep dive
May 23, 2024
What does climate change sound like in Okinawa?
This week, Japan Times climate editor Chris Russell joins us to discuss what researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology are listening to.
A drone view of fire and smoke from burning vegetation rising in a rainforest in Canta, state of Roraima, Brazil, on Feb. 29.
ENVIRONMENT
May 21, 2024
Brazil's Amazon fires off to record 2024 start as green union blames firefighting budget cut
A record drought, brought on by the El Nino climate phenomenon and global warming, is thought to be behind the fires.
Orangutans at Malaysia's National Zoo in Kuala Lumpur in 2021. The orangutan is critically endangered, with a population of less than 105,000 on the island of Borneo, according to conservation group WWF.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 9, 2024
Malaysia eyes 'orangutan diplomacy' with nations that import palm oil
But concerned wildlife advocates are calling for alternative measures to protect the ape's habitat and improve the sustainable production of the commodity.
Pollen from cedar tree forests in Nagano Prefecture. The government faces an uphill battle in reducing cedar trees amid a labor shortage in the forestry industry.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 2, 2024
Japan's pollen countermeasures face challenges amid slow cedar logging
A persistent labor shortage and tepid demand for timber stand in the way of the government's aim of reducing the trees responsible for hay fever.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida rides on a forestry processor during an inspection of afforestation in Hitachiomiya, Ibaraki Prefecture, in October.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2024
Japan groups eye online market to promote use of domestic lumber
The process of reforestation has faced obstacles, primarily stemming from the considerable burdens placed on forest owners.
Toshihiro Kinjo (center), a research support technician at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, inspects an audio recording device in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 3 as Masako Ogasawara, a research support specialist at OIST, looks on.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Apr 21, 2024
Hearing the impact of climate change in Okinawa, one bird call at a time
From Okinawa to Australia, “passive acoustic monitoring” projects are feeding scientists with data about changes to ecosystems and biodiversity.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone. 
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan