Tag - pollution

 
 

POLLUTION

Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Feb 20, 2017
China names and shames cities over insufficient smog controls
China's environment ministry has named and shamed several cities in the north of the country for not doing enough to cope with smog, state news agency Xinhua reported.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 17, 2017
Air pollution is linked to 2.7 million premature births a year
Curbing outdoor air pollution may help prevent 2.7 million premature births a year, a condition that threatens children's lives and increases their risk of long-term physical and neurological problems, scientists said on Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Feb 15, 2017
Niigata Minamata disease victims shed light on stigma in new book
The perils of mercury-poisoning are laid bare by victims of the Niigata Minamata disease who recount lingering social stigma and the importance of protecting the environment in a new book by a Tokyo publisher.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 3, 2017
After 16 attempts, a cheaper method for carbon capture at work in India
As students at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur in eastern India, Aniruddha Sharma and Prateek Bumb had one obsession: finding a cheaper, more efficient way to capture carbon emissions to combat climate change.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 3, 2017
With U.S. retreat on climate change, EU looks to China
Faced with a U.S. retreat from international efforts to tackle climate change, European Union officials are looking to China, fearing a leadership vacuum will embolden those within the bloc seeking to slow the fight against global warming.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 29, 2017
Trump's stance on climate threaten to worsen relations with China
President Donald Trump's vow to pull back from climate-change efforts endangers one of the few areas where China and the U.S. have seen eye to eye, exacerbating tensions as he takes on more contentious subjects.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 27, 2017
Beijing tells officials not to set off New Year fireworks to curb smog
The Beijing city government has told officials to lead by example and not set off fireworks or firecrackers to welcome the Lunar New Year on Friday to help prevent smog, after the city was blanketed in choking smog earlier this month.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 19, 2017
China's growth obsession leaves toxic legacy
China's addiction to stop-go economic policies is leaving a legacy of environmental destruction.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Jan 15, 2017
Beijing's air pollution goal is double WHO's acceptable standard
Beijing's air quality target for 2017 is more than double the acceptable standard set by the World Health Organization, the mayor announced on Saturday in the wake of weeks of hazardous air pollution in the Chinese capital.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Jan 10, 2017
From Iceland to Maldives, Chinese seek 'lung-cleansing' trips
Toxic haze that settled over much of China during the last three weeks has triggered a flight reflex among residents, leading to the rising popularity of smog avoidance travel packages to far-flung locations such as Iceland and Antarctica.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 5, 2017
Canada scientists: Living near heavy traffic raises dementia risk
People who live near busy roads laden with heavy traffic face a higher risk of developing dementia than those living farther away, according to researchers in Canada.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Jan 2, 2017
Beijing enjoys brief respite, but choking smog to set return on Tuesday
The heavy smog that blanketed northern China over the weekend cleared somewhat on Monday, with flights in Beijing returning to normal, but it was likely only a brief respite.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Dec 23, 2016
China's name-and-shame campaign fails to deter polluters
China has publicly named more than 20 enterprises it says broke environmental rules during this week's outbreak of hazardous smog in the country's north, its latest attempt to bring lawbreaking firms to account by shaming them.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 22, 2016
Beijing districts to cap population in bid to tackle smog, congestion
Five districts in Beijing have announced plans to cap or lower their population in the next few years, local media reported on Wednesday, as the Chinese capital bids to tackle chronic pollution and congestion.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Dec 22, 2016
China launches carbon-tracking satellite into space: Xinhua
China launched a satellite to monitor its greenhouse gas emissions early on Thursday, the latest step in efforts to cut its carbon footprint, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Dec 21, 2016
Smog chokes Chinese cities for fifth day, closing schools and factories
Northern China was shrouded in almost-record pollution for a fifth day on Wednesday, closing factories and schools and disrupting flights, traffic and shipping, with some residents complaining that emergency anti-smog measures were not operating.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Dec 17, 2016
Under pollution alert, Beijing orders 1,200 factories to shut or cut output
Beijing's city government has ordered 1,200 factories near the Chinese capital, including an oil refinery run by the state company Sinopec and a COFCO food plant, to either shut or cut output following its highest-possible warning on air pollution.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 10, 2016
Trump team memo on climate change alarms Energy Department staff
President-elect Donald Trump's Energy Department transition team sent the agency a memo this week asking for the names of people who have worked on climate change and the professional society memberships of lab workers, alarming employees and advisers.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 3, 2016
Abe, Trump and Modi get on the wrong side of climate change
Oxford Dictionaries proclaimed the word of 2016 to be "post-truth," a scary concept that was popularized by the repulsive presidential campaign waged by Donald Trump. It refers to his chronic dissembling, invention of facts and intermittent grasp of reality heralding a new era where fabulists, revivalists...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Dec 2, 2016
Australia boosts spending to keep Great Barrier Reef off danger list
Australia will spend 1.3 billion Australian dollars ($965.3 million) in the next five years to improve the water quality and wellbeing of the Great Barrier Reef to prevent the World Heritage Site being placed on the United Nation's "in danger" list.

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals