Fukushima groundwater contaminated with leaking radioactive water – Japan reconstruction minister to visit Chernobyl site

27 April 2013 (JIJI) – Samples of groundwater taken from monitoring holes around the sunken reservoirs at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant are proving radioactive, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Saturday. Strontium and other radioactive elements were detected in samples taken from 13 of the 22 observation holes dug around the reservoirs, which were […]

Scientist says pollution from China is killing a Japanese island’s endangered trees – ‘This is proof that when such a big country industrializes, its effect will spread everywhere’

By MARTIN FACKLER24 April 2013       YAKUSHIMA, Japan (The New York Times) – A mysterious pestilence has befallen this island’s primeval forests, leaving behind the bleached, skeletal remains of dead trees that now dot the dark green mountainsides. Osamu Nagafuchi, an environmental engineer with a passion for the island and its rugged terrain, believes he […]

2013 has eighth warmest start on record, despite cooler-than-average winter in much of Northern Hemisphere

Global Highlights The combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces for March 2013 tied with 2006 as the 10th warmest on record, at 0.58°C (1.04°F) above the 20th century average of 12.3°C (54.1°F). The global land surface temperature was 1.06°C (1.91°F) above the 20th century average of 5.0°C (40.8°F), the 11th warmest March […]

Japan lawsuit seeks evacuation of children out of Fukushima radiation zone after nuke disaster – ‘Why is Japan about to repeat the mistakes of Chernobyl?’

By Yuri Kageyama14 April 2013 TOKYO (Associated Press) – Their demand: The right to live free of radiation. The plaintiffs who started the legal battle: 14 children. A Japanese appeals court is expected to rule soon on this unusual lawsuit, filed on behalf of the children by their parents and anti-nuclear activists in June 2011 […]

Australia to tackle Japan on whaling at UN world court

THE HAGUE, 12 April 2013 (AFP) – Australia is to fire the opening salvoes in a legal battle before the United Nations’ highest court in June aimed at stopping Japan’s whaling research programme in Antarctica. “The International Court of Justice … will hold public hearings in the case concerning whaling in the Antarctic, Australia versus […]

Fukushima tank springs major leak – 120 tons of radioactive water escape from underground facility

7 April 2013 (Kyodo) – Around 120 tons of contaminated water with an estimated 710 billion becquerels of radioactivity has probably leaked into the ground under the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. revealed Saturday. “It is the largest amount of radioactive substances that has been leaked” since the crippled facility’s cold […]

Google Street View sends cameras into Namie, an abandoned town in Fukushima where once 21,000 people lived

By David McNeill27 March 2013 TOKYO (Independent) – Google’s Streetview cars have been in to the area around the Fukushima nuclear plant for the first time. Their maps reveal the destruction wrought by Japan’s huge earthquake – and give the 21,000 residents forced to flee the chance to see what they left behind. It is […]

‘Don’t make the mistake we did’: Fukushima survivor to Queensland

By Marty Silk12 March 2013 (AAP) – A survivor of the Fukushima nuclear accident is urging the Queensland government to reinstate a ban on uranium mining. Japanese dairy farmer Hasegawa Kenichi is in Brisbane with a delegation from the Japanese disaster relief organisation Peace Boat. “Uranium is something the human body cannot handle, cannot cope […]

Robots have failed Fukushima Daiichi and Japan – ‘For all of Japan’s high-tech prowess, none of those lauded humanoid helpers were any good at all’

By Michael Fitzpatrick20 March 2013 (FORTUNE) – Two years since a shudder in the Earth’s crust devastated Japan, the country’s scientists and engineers are still attempting to develop technologies to make Fukushima safe from radiation. But progress has been slow and—because of institutional failings—more advanced technologies have not been available to workers at the sire. […]

Sharks win endangered species protection – ‘The smell of corruption and underhand deals around the halls was foul, and it was everywhere’

By Gary Stokes, Coordinator, Sea Shepherd Hong Kong18 March 2013 BANGKOK (Sea Shepherd Conservation Society) – The room erupts in cheers and applause as the result of the vote is announced, the Oceanic white tip shark is now safely listed on the CITES Appendix II. Shortly followed by the three Hammerheads, the Porbeagle Shark and […]

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial