Tag - environment

 
 

ENVIRONMENT

Trees burn during the Park Fire near Chico, California.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 30, 2024
Massive California wildfire hints at bleak outlook for 2024
Two wet winters in a row covered the state in newly-grown grass and brush, then summer arrived with dry air and back-to-back heat waves, turning vegetation to fuel.
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.
A loggerhead sea turtle hatches eggs on a beach in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional voices: Chubu
Jul 29, 2024
Aichi sea turtle researchers assess risks of warmer nesting sites
The warmer the nest is, the more likely hatchlings will be female — that bodes ill for the survival of the marine species.
A crystallizer, used in the process of manufacturing nickel sulphate hexahydrate, stands at the BHP Group Kwinana Nickel Refinery in Kwinana, Western Australia, in 2019.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 29, 2024
Companies ‘paralyzed’ as Australia prepares tough climate rules
Over 6,000 companies in Australia will need to make fully comprehensive disclosures on emissions that include climate impacts across supply chains.
London Stadium, which hosted track and field during the 2012 Olympics. The stadium's primary tenant is West Ham United, but it hosts a variety of major events throughout the year.
OLYMPICS
Jul 26, 2024
How London paved the way for Olympics sustainability
Before Paris, London demonstrated in the 2012 Olympics that host cities didn’t have to end up with empty venues long after the Games are over.
Philippine Coast Guard personnel aboard a helicopter conduct an aerial survey off Manila on Thursday, after the oil tanker MT Terra Nova capsized.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 25, 2024
Tanker capsizes off Philippines, with one crew missing amid oil spill
The ship was carrying 1,494 metric tons of industrial fuel.
Gas and steam rise out of an oil refinery in the Siberian city of Omsk, Russia, on Feb.  8, 2023.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 24, 2024
Russia ‘killing’ climate, say activists awaiting top rights court ruling
Despite signing the Paris Climate accord, Moscow’s fossil fuel extraction and war in Ukraine have spiked its greenhouse gas emissions.
A lone tree stands near a water trough on the outskirts of Walgett, in New South Wales, Australia, in 2018. Energy analysts said high construction costs, plus Australia's lack of nuclear expertise and abundant land and sunshine, make nuclear a less logical choice in the country.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 23, 2024
Nuclear wildcard reignites Australia’s climate wars
Ahead of expected polls, the country’s federal opposition has unveiled plans to slow the roll-out of renewable energy and build a network for nuclear reactors.
Scientists drive their snowmobiles cross the arctic during dawn near Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, Norway, on April 10, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 23, 2024
Pentagon to bolster response to China and Russia in Arctic
Measures are needed “to ensure the Arctic does not become a strategic blind spot,” the Defense Department said in its 2024 Arctic Strategy released Monday.
Homes are surrounded by flood waters after Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Sargent, Texas, on July 8.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 22, 2024
The great climate change wealth transfer is here
Fossil fuel profits are sky-high, as are the costs of climate change. By subsidizing oil and gas while putting tariffs on green tech, governments are making things worst.
A record 219 people were attacked by bears across Japan in fiscal 2023.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 22, 2024
Hokkaido city deploys drones for bear management
The city of Nayoro will use drones — equipped with cameras and speakers — to locate bears when sightings are reported and help direct residents to safety.
At a waste center in Kamikatsu, Tokushima Prefecture, residents separate trash into 45 different categories as the town aims to become "zero waste."
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 22, 2024
How circular economy initiatives are changing the world
From Asia to Europe to Africa, public and private entities are finding new ways to revolutionize the economic paradigm from a linear to a circular model. In Japan, too.
Passersby holding parasols walk through Tokyo on July 9 amid a heatstroke alert in the capital and other prefectures.
JAPAN / Boiling Point
Jul 19, 2024
Boiling Point
This special series focused on this year’s scorching summer will also lay the groundwork for enhanced heat coverage in future years.
An Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. facility in Fujairah, which uses technology developed by 44.01, a startup backed by Sam Altman
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 16, 2024
Sam Altman-backed startup scaling technology to store CO2 in rocks
A type of rock found under every continent holds the potential key to permanently trapping planet-warming carbon dioxide under the Earth’s surface.
Japan's annual quotas for Pacific bluefin tuna catches were raised at an international meeting held in Hokkaido on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2024
Japan’s Pacific bluefin tuna catch quotas set to rise
The bluefin tuna population has been recovering in recent years from overfishing.
The potential of AI in fighting climate change is immense. It can accelerate progress by redesigning industrial processes, optimizing transport systems, maximizing energy efficiency and significantly reducing emissions.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2024
Embracing the AI-energy-climate nexus
AI’s potential to fight climate change is immense. It can accelerate progress by redesigning industrial processes, maximizing energy efficiency and reducing emissions.
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Jul 14, 2024
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
As summers get hotter across the world we’re met with a paradox: To stay cool, it seems we’re compelled to consume more.
Storage tanks at the Northern Lights carbon capture and storage project controlled by oil companies Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies in Norway. The Norwegian government is funding 80% of the initial investment for the state-of-the-art facility.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 14, 2024
A giant carbon dump gives glimpse into net-zero future
As the cost of renewables declines at pace with fossil fuel use, the need for carbon, capture and storage tech will diminish, making cost reductions a challenge.
About 100 of the roughly 200 species of snails in the Kinki region of Japan are threatened with extinction, researchers have warned.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 14, 2024
Snails becoming rarer in Japan, facing risk of extinction
About 100 of the roughly 200 species of snails in the Kinki region are threatened with extinction, researchers warn.
A Shinto priest leads prayers for safety before the opening of Kitaizumi beach in the city of Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 13, 2024
Fukushima beach opens for first time since treated water release
The Fukushima Prefectural Government said last month that no tritium was detected in seawater at eight beaches in the prefecture set to open this year.

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival