Tag - pollution

 
 

POLLUTION

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel will visit Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, next week to show support for Tokyo's decision to release treated water from the Fukushima No. 1 plant.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 24, 2023
U.S. envoy to eat Fukushima fish in show of solidarity and safety
Rahm Emanuel said he will meet with local residents to "physically show support and then to express confidence in the process."
Sushi made with fish imported from Japan at a Japanese supermarket in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2023
China's sushi fans flounder over Fukushima water release
Chinese sushi lovers have expressed reservations after Japan kicked off plans for the disposal of wastewater from the stricken Fukushima No. 1 plant.
Flames reach upward along the edge of a wildfire near Mistissini, Quebec, in June.
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 23, 2023
As wildfires multiply, a new era of air pollution
The average American had already been exposed to 450 micrograms of smoke per cubic meter by early July, worse than from 2006-2022.
Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency inspect treated water tanks at the Fukushima No. 1 plant in June.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 22, 2023
China and Russia sought vapor release plan for Fukushima water
Beijing and Moscow jointly claimed in a document sent to Tokyo in late July that the move would have a smaller impact on neighboring countries.
Supermarket owner Takashi Nakajima, 67, prepares raw fish to sell at his store, near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2023
For Fukushima shop owner, water release spells battle for survival
Japan said on Tuesday it would start discharging more than 1 million metric tons of the treated water on Thursday
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.
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.
Ventilation stacks and cranes at the disabled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant are seen from a beach in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, in February.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 19, 2023
Decision on when to release Fukushima water could come Tuesday
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will meet with his ministers Tuesday to discuss when to release the treated radioactive water stored at the nuclear plant.
Japanese seafood is offloaded at a port in Taicang, a city in China's Jiangsu province, in March.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 13, 2023
China tells Japan blanket seafood testing meant to protect consumers
The testing is believed to have been adopted to pressure Tokyo over its plan to release treated radioactive water from the Fukushima No.1 nuclear plant.
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 Daya Bay nuclear power station at Daya Bay in Huizhou, China.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 8, 2023
Tritium in Chinese nuclear wastewater above Fukushima levels
China has stressed the difference between the Fukushima water and that released by nuclear plants in normal operations.
A camp of informal gold miners in Los Amigos, in the Madre de Dios region, Peru. The Peruvian government estimates that illegal miners dump about 180 metric tons of mercury in Madre de Dios annually.
WORLD
Aug 7, 2023
Gold mining in the Amazon poisoning scores of threatened species
Miners in southeast Peru use mercury to find gold — inadvertently contaminating hundreds of species native to the area.
Noriko Tanaka of the NPO Mothers' Radiation Lab Fukushima — Tarachine collects seawater samples to measure for radioactive materials in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, on June 13.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2023
Fukushima mothers take on radioactivity watchdog role
Comprising 13 members, a nonprofit is taking measurements from fish and seawater, driven by serious concerns over the upcoming discharge of radioactive water.
Tanks containing water from the disabled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant are seen at the plant in the town of Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, in March.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 1, 2023
Japan and China clash in Vienna over Fukushima water plan
China told a meeting for the 2026 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference that the international community is concerned about the plan.
A facility to dilute treated radioactive water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2023
Japan takes to anime to promote Fukushima water release safety
Four videos of one to two minutes in length have been uploaded on YouTube as the ministry is seeking to counter what it calls false information.
Storage tanks for radioactive water at Tokyo Electric Power Co's tsunami-crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2023
No change in plan to release treated water, minister says
Japan's industry minister says there is no change to plan to start releasing treated water from Fukushima nuclear plant this summer.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2023
China’s blanket testing for Japanese seafood affecting Japanese businesses
Seafood from five Japanese firms remains at Chinese customs, running the risk of a ¥100 million loss if they end up spoiling.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2023
China's blanket seafood testing deals blow to Japanese firms
The newly implemented testing is seen as a move to pressure Tokyo over its plan to begin releasing treated radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2023
Japan seeks experts' dialogue with China on Fukushima water release
China, which remains opposed to the plan, has yet to respond to the call for a working-level consultation, sources said.

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