By Stian Reklev; Editing by Nick Macfie21 January 2014 BEIJING (Reuters) – Pollution from China travels in large quantities across the Pacific Ocean to the United States, a new study has found, making environmental and health problems unexpected side effects of U.S. demand for cheap China-manufactured goods. On some days, acid rain-inducing sulphate from burning […]
[UPDATE: Japan whaling ship stopped at Australia Exclusive Economic Zone – ‘Today the Australian government enacted the will of their people by forbidding entrance of these despicable poachers into the Whale Sanctuary’] 9 January 2014 (SSCS) – The Yushin Maru No. 3, one of three harpoon ships of the Japanese whaling fleet, is currently approaching […]
5 January 2014 (SSCS) – The Sea Shepherd Fleet has located all five vessels of the Japanese whale poaching fleet, including the Japanese factory ship, the Nisshin Maru, inside the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. The Steve Irwin, The Bob Barker, and The Sam Simon are now in pursuit of the whaling fleet, driving them away […]
By MASAKAZU HONDA4 January 2014 URUMA, Okinawa Prefecture (The Asahi Shimbun) – Yoshitatsu Uechi recalls with disgust the disregard for worker safety, the makeshift plans and the cost-cutting measures, including the use of adhesive tape on key equipment, at his job last year. He said an emphasis on saving time and expenses was clear when […]
By Mari Saito and Antoni Slodkowski30 December 2013 SENDAI, Japan (Reuters) – Seiji Sasa hits the train station in this northern Japanese city before dawn most mornings to prowl for homeless men. He isn’t a social worker. He’s a recruiter. The men in Sendai Station are potential laborers that Sasa can dispatch to contractors in […]
By Ken Buesseler28 August 2013 (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) – On 11 March 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake—one of the largest ever recorded—occurred 80 miles off the coast of Japan. The earthquake created a series of tsunamis, the largest estimated to be over 30 feet, that swept ashore. In addition to the tragic human toll […]
By Nikolas Kozloff23 November 2013 (Huffington Post) – Despite mounting evidence that global warming is leading to devastating environmental disasters in the Pacific region, the U.S. and its partners are suspicious of climate change advocates. Rather brazenly, Washington and its Pacific allies spy on those who are intent on reining in global warming. Indeed, […]
10 December 2013 (ABC) – The Australian Government says it intends to honour its promise to send a Customs ship to monitor Japanese whalers. But the Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt says he’s still working through some of the “operational issues”. “We will have clear monitoring in the Southern Ocean, and I just ask for […]
SHIMONOSEKI, YAMAGUCHI PREF., 7 December 2013 (KYODO) – Three ships have left Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, to join the mother vessel Nisshin Maru and hunt up to 935 Antarctic minke whales and 50 fin whales through March. The Fisheries Agency had kept secret the departure date of the whaling fleet as a precaution against obstruction by […]
By Antoni Slodkowski5 December 2013 NAHA, Japan (Reuters) – Storage tanks at the Fukushima nuclear plant like one that spilled almost 80,000 gallons of radioactive water this year were built in part by workers illegally hired in one of the poorest corners of Japan, say labor regulators and some of those involved in the work. […]
