Home/Posts Tagged ‘japan’
Posts Tagged ‘japan’
Science & Technology, Weird & Wonderful, Jan 4th, 2012,
The Green Slime are coming! It sounds like a bad Cold War science fiction movie, but slime is smarter and more cunning than you think. Scientists in Japan are researching how slime molds navigate in search of food. Though slime mold has no brain, it shows signs of intelligence and can even navigate itself through a maze by organizing its cells and finding the most direct route to a food source. From the Telegraph: Humans are not the only living things with information-processing abilities. Simple creatures can solve certain kinds of difficult puzzles. If you want to spotlight the essence…
Tags: intelligence, japan, mould, scientists, slime
Conservation, Dec 9th, 2011,
2.3bn yen ($29 million/ €22 million) in victims’ aid for the March 11 tsunami, which devastated communities on the northeastern coast of Japan, has been diverted to the country’s whaling industry. This discovery has sparked outrage from environmentalist groups like Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd and could further damage Japan’s international reputation. Junichi Sato, executive director for Greenpeace Japan, is quoted in the Independent: Not only is the whaling industry unable to survive without large increases in government handouts, now it’s siphoning money away from the victims of the 11 March triple disaster, at a time when they need it most….
Tags: Greenpeace, japan, minke, Sea Shepherd, tsunami, whale
Climate & Change, Politics, Nov 30th, 2011,
COP 17 updates, anyone? Anyone care about the future of the climate, planet Earth or its human and non-human inhabitants? No? Well neither do your leaders, apparently. Wo what are they doing there, anyway? One aspect of the climate summit in Durban, South Africa seems to be various large polluting countries balking at committing to reduce emissions unless every other country does. This effectively means that none of them really want to. Not enough to take a stand. Make no mistake: the rule of the day is economic self-interest. Brazil, China, India are not considered industrialized nations and want exemption…
Tags: China, climate, cop 17, Durban, emissions, EU, global, japan, kyoto, REDD, Russia, treaty
Politics, Pollution, Oct 26th, 2011,
Last week representatives from over 170 countries met at a UN environmental conference in Colombia to work towards a ban on the exportation of hazardous waste from rich countries to the developing world. The measure is to ratify an amendment to the Basel Convention, a treaty forged in 1989 with the aim of ensuring that individual states take care of their own waste instead of dumping it in poor countries. The US, which is the top exporter of e-waste, still hasn’t signed on. The US has no rules for exporting its e-waste, most of which ends up in China as…
Tags: China, e-waste, export, japan, Philippines, toxic waste, US
Nature, Sep 21st, 2011,
As powerful Typhoon Roke approaches Japan’s mainland authorities are appealing to 1,3 million residents to evacuate their homes and move to higher ground. 5 people are already believed to be dead from heavy rains, flooding and strong winds, which are set to increase as the typhoon makes landfall in central Japan. From AFP: In Nagoya, in central Japan’s Aichi prefecture, officials have advised about one million residents to leave their homes because of fears that rivers might burst their banks. The storm is expected to move northwards up the coast to Tokyo. So far over 200 domestic flights have been…
Tags: dead, flooding, japan, Nagoya, Typhoon Roke
Sustainable living, Aug 23rd, 2011,
Power failures caused by the incident at Fukushima nuclear plant following the earthquake and tsunami last March have sparked a new energy saving trend in Japan. Setsuden or ‘power saving’ is catching on in Japan in a big way. As far as public opinion goes, clean energy is in, nuclear and fossil fuels are out. From the Guardian: Tokyo, a bustling capital famous for its neon lights, has now turned into a city of darkened buildings and slower running trains. Billboards at major crossings flash daily rates of power consumption that tell whether the city has conserved sufficient energy to…
Tags: CFL, energy, japan, LED, light bulbs, nuclear, power, saving, setsuden
green living, Politics, Videos & Documentaries, Aug 19th, 2011,
Since the tsunami and resultant meltdowns at Fukushima nuclear plant, views in Japan towards nuclear power are changing. In a country with a history of earthquakes, which has suffered so much from a recent natural disaster, unease regarding nuclear power is understandable. While the true consequences wrought by the nuclear meltdowns remain unknown; caution and even fear influence public opinion in Japan regarding atomic power, and to a lesser extent, government policy. Aside from countries like Germany, which announced a shut down of all nuclear reactors by 2022, nuclear power is growing on a global scale, as can be seen…
Tags: atomic power, japan, nuclear power, plant
Conservation, Politics, Jul 12th, 2011,
The International Whaling Commission is currently holding talks on the British island of Jersey. Issues being dealt with at the IWC talks include the effects of oil and gas exploration on gray whales in Russia’s far eastern waters. Western gray whales are an endangered species and number only 130. Seismic guns, used to find underwater oil and gas deposits off the coast of the Russian island of Sakhalin, have been shown to disturb the whales. The gray whales’ only summer feeding ground is located in a small area off of Sakhalin. Read more on that story in this BBC News…
Tags: gas, gray, hunt, Iceland, IWC, japan, oil, whale meat, whales
Politics, Pollution, May 24th, 2011,
Four major power companies warned that the post-Fukujima backlash against nuclear power in Germany country could result in future winter blackouts. These blackouts would ostensibly occur if Germany decides to decommission all its nuclear power stations. The companies claim that solar and wind power could not meet demand in the case of insufficiently windy or sunny weather. Chancellor Angela Merkel recently signaled she would support closing all of Germany’s 17 nuclear power stations by 2022. Seven nuclear power stations have been off-grid ever since Merkel announced in the immediate aftermath of the Fukushima disaster a “three-month moratorium” on her controversial…
Tags: blackouts, earthquake, Fukushima, Germany, Green Party, japan, Merkel, nuclear, plants, power, reactors, tsunami
Nature, Videos & Documentaries, Apr 7th, 2011,
Japan’s meteorological institute issued a tsunami alert after a quake measured at 7.1 struck the country’s northeast Thursday night – the same part of the country which suffered from the massive 9.0 quake and resultant tsunami in March. The earthquake was first believed to be 7.4, but was later downgraded to 7.1 by the U.S. Geological Survey, and the tsunami warning has since been lifted. Nonetheless, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center cautioned: Earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within 100km of the earthquake epicenter. 28,000 people are dead or still missing…
Tags: earthquake, japan, tsunami, warning
Actions, Videos & Documentaries, Mar 31st, 2011,
There have been many victims of this month’s earthquake and resultant tsunami disaster in northern Japan. The loss of human life, livelihood and property is immense and the suffering continues. Less attention has been given to the countless animals – wild, domestic and livestock – who have also suffered and are still in dire need of help. The title of this post has two meanings because there are two categories of help. There are still many animals stranded in or facing terrible and dangerous conditions in the areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami. There are also many who have…
Tags: animals, disaster, dogs, earthquake, japan, rescue, tsunami
Politics, Pollution, Videos & Documentaries, Mar 19th, 2011,
The debate over nuclear energy has heated up in Europe. Though always controversial, the events post earthquake and tsunami in Japan have brought the issue to the forefront in the media and political arenas in some European countries. In May a government safety review of nuclear plants in the UK will be released, taking account of the events at Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. For more on this story see this article from BBC News. In Germany, where nuclear power is always especially controversial, the issue has sparked political action of late. From Deutsche Welle: The governing CDU/FDP coalition…
Tags: debate, earthquake nuclear, Europe, Germany, japan, plant, power, tsunami, UK
Nature, Pollution, Mar 16th, 2011,
Japan is struggling to cope with a difficult tsunami/earthquake relief effort in the face of cold temperatures, food shortages, power outages and nuclear crisis. Please refer to this post for a list of links for aid agencies to donate to the relief effort. From the Guardian’s previous live blog (no longer being updated): The country faces an increasingly desperate humanitarian crisis caused by the direct effects of Friday’s huge earthquake and resultant tsunami, one made worse by freezing weather. The official death toll has now hit 4,255 deaths, with 8,194 people registered as unaccounted for. Survivors, many of them homeless,…
Tags: cold, disaster, earthquake, Fukushima, japan, nuclear, relief effort, tsunami
Pollution, Videos & Documentaries, Mar 15th, 2011,
Japan has suffered greatly in recent days after a 9.0 earthquake struck the north of the country and triggered a tsunami which destroyed countless homes and likely killed over 10,000 people. Millions have been left without electricity, while food and water scarcity as well as lack of heat are threatening parts of northern Japan. Most of the media, however, has been gripped by the explosions and resultant radiation leaks at three reactors at a Japanese nuclear power plant called Fukushima Daiichi in Fukushima prefecture. The nuclear safety crisis that Japan now finds itself in the grip of is perhaps the…
Tags: Daiichi, diaster, earthquake, explosion, Fukushima, japan, nuclear, plant, radiation, tsunami
Actions, Nature, Mar 13th, 2011,
In addition to Google Person Finder’s 2011 Japan Earthquake service and ShelterBox’s aid program for victims, several other organizations are mobilizing to help those affected by the recent tsunami and earthquake in northern Japan. Japanese authorities have upgraded the quake to a 9.0 on the Richter scale. I have been keeping up to date on the situation via the Guardian’s live news blog, where it was posted that Save the Children has set up a fund for Japan’s earthquake/tsunami victims. You can access Save the Children’s UK earthquake/tsunami site here and the US version here. Yahoo News has also provided…
Tags: aid, donate, earthquake, help, japan, tsunami, victims
Nature, Mar 11th, 2011,
Japan is reeling from one of the worst earthquakes in recorded history and the resultant tsunami and flooding. The quake measured at 8.9 on the Richter scale, causing severe damage and massive floods in the northeast of the country. Aftershocks continue to affect the nation while other pacific countries, particularly Oceanic islands, the Philippines and Indonesia are preparing for tsunamis. Though it’s early days yet, there are ways being set up to aid victims of the earthquake and tsunami. Google Person Finder has set up a page for the 2011 Japan Earthquake for people to post messages looking for lost loved…
Tags: aid, earthquake, help, japan, Person Finder, ShelterBox, tsunami
Climate & Change, Politics, Dec 8th, 2010,
Last Monday’s Climate talks in Cancun could lead to a breakthrough in the climate negotiations. China, one of the nations most looked at in Cancun, has made a proactive offer to have its personal reduction targets binding by submitting them to an international United Nations resolution by the end of the week. By doing so, China is taking on a very positive and flexible position, and maybe even providing a way out of negotiations blocked by many different factors. Offering to have its personal reduction target objectives written down in a binding international agreement puts pressure on other countries, especially…
Tags: binding climate treaty, Cancun Climate Conference, China, cop16, emission target reductions, japan, Kyoto Protocol, U.S.
Climate & Change, Nature, Politics, Wildlife & Flora, Nov 3rd, 2010,
I was reading an article in The Guardian yesterday, in which George Monblot expressed is view on the success, or should I say failure, of last week’s Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya. According to him “we’ve been conned. The deal to save the natural world never happened”. Already, I like the guy. But let’s get back to the subject matter for a minute. The big biodiversity convention that was going to change the way we treat plants, animals and nature did in fact produce a declaration, proclaimed by the senior staff of the convention, in tune with major national…
Tags: biodiversity summit, convention on biodiversity, declaration, george monblot, japan, Nagoya, Nature, wildlife
Conservation, Videos & Documentaries, Wildlife & Flora, Oct 4th, 2010,
In terms of conservation, plants do not receive as much attention as cute cuddly animals like pandas or polar bears. Let’s face it – they don’t even rank up there with giant salamanders. But plants provide food for all living things and are essential to life on Earth. The untapped medicinal and technological resources in plant life around the world are unknown but potentially invaluable. Therefore preserving plant species and maintaining botanical biodiversity is an important, if often overlooked, issue. One fifth of the 380,000 plant species on Earth are threatened by extinction, mostly due to human activity. This month,…
Tags: biodiversity, biological, convention, diversity, japan, Nagoya, plants, species
Conservation, Nature, Wildlife & Flora, Sep 28th, 2010,
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” -Mahatma Gandhi The beginning of September typically marks the beginning of the dolphin hunt in Taiji, Japan—where the award-winning documentary, The Cove, was based. However, this month proved to be much different. Ric O’Barry, his son, Lincoln, Sea Shepherd, and a whole group of activists have made their way to Japan to protest the dolphin hunt. It was basically believed that as long as they (the activists) maintained a presence in Taiji and kept at least some media attention on the…
Tags: activists, annual dolphin hunt, Blood Dolphins, dolphins, how you can help, japan, killed, Lincoln O'Barry, OPS, pilot whales, protests, Ric O'Barry, Risso's dolphins, save the dolphins, SaveJapanDolphins.org, Sea Shepherd, slaughtered, Taiji, The Cove
