By Andrew Freedman 14 October 2019 (The Washington Post) – Typhoon Hagibis proved to be extraordinarily devastating for northern Japan when it struck this weekend, unleashing more than three feet of rain in just 24 hours in some locations, causing widespread flash flooding as well as river flooding. The storm has killed at least 58, according […]
By Todd Woody 8 October 2019 (National Geographic) – As global fish stocks that feed hundreds of millions of people dwindle, nations are scrambling to finalize by year’s end an international agreement to ban government subsidies that fuel overfishing. Yet as negotiations at the World Trade Organization resume this week in Geneva, Switzerland, new research shows that governments have […]
By Bob Henson 9 October 2019 (Weather Underground) – The most intense Northwest Pacific storm of 2019, Super Typhoon Hagibis, is heading toward a potential encounter with the world’s largest metropolitan area, Tokyo. After a slight weakening in Tuesday (from peak winds of 160 to 155 mph), Hagibis was back at Category 5 strength on Wednesday, with […]
By Guy Davies 27 August 2019 LONDON (ABC News) – A senior government official said Brazil would reject the $22 million G-7 countries promised to help fight the wildfires raging in the Amazon. Brazilian President Bolsonaro’s chief of staff Onyx Lorenzoni told Globo News, a Brazilian publication, that Brazil would reject the $22 million aid package, suggesting that the money […]
By Patrick Barkham 22 August 2019 (The Guardian) – An exotic plant has produced male and female cones outdoors in Britain for what is believed to be the first time in 60 million years. Botanists say the event is a sign of global heating. Two cycads (Cycas revoluta), a type of primitive tree that dominated […]
By Mari Yamaguchi 8 August 2019 TOKYO (AP) – The utility company operating Fukushima’s tsunami-devastated nuclear power plant said Friday it will run out of space to store massive amounts of contaminated water in three years, adding pressure on the government and the public to reach a consensus on what to do with it. Three […]
4 July 2019 (Kyodo) – More than 1.09 million residents across two prefectures in Kyushu, including the entire populations of three cities in Kagoshima Prefecture, were ordered to evacuate as of 6 p.m. Wednesday, as continuing torrential rain raised the risk of floods and mudslides. The amount of rainfall Friday totaled 1,010.5 millimeters in Ebino, […]
By Damian Carrington 24 June 2019 (The Guardian) – G20 countries have almost tripled the subsidies they give to coal-fired power plants in recent years, despite the urgent need to cut the carbon emissions driving the climate crisis. The bloc of major economies pledged a decade ago to phase out all fossil fuel subsidies. The figures, published […]
By Nina Chestney26 March 2019 LONDON (Reuters) – Global energy-related carbon emissions rose to a record high last year as energy demand and coal use increased, mainly in Asia, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday. Energy-related CO2 emissions rose by 1.7 percent to 33.1 billion tonnes from the previous year, the highest rate […]
By Lucy Craft 14 March 2019 TOKYO (CBS News) – As Japan marks the eight-year anniversary of the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that claimed some 22,000 lives, a new study suggests it could still be having a serious impact on the nation’s health. The disaster caused by the killer wave at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear […]
