climate reports japan

 from japan times

3. Climate change is already here Japan is exceptionally vulnerable to climate change. The climate crisis is already affecting everything from the strength of typhoons and flooding to the timing of the cherry blossoms and autumn leaves, Eric Margolis explains in the latest Deep Dive podcast. With weather-related disasters predicted to inflict more damage more often, startups are piling into disaster prevention and reduction, leveraging their strength in tech and their ability to quickly develop goods and services to address needs in afflicted areas.  Deep Dive podcast, Episode 104: How Japan is already being impacted by climate change | THE JAPAN TIMES And no region knows more about Japan’s vulnerability to calamities than Tohoku, which bore the brunt of the triple disaster of March 2011. A number of companies around the Miyagi capital of Sendai are launching disaster tech businesses — such as apps to track people at evacuation shelters and relief supplies — thanks to initiatives by the city, the Kahoku Shimpo reports. But weather-related disasters are not the only ecological threat Japan faces. French and Japanese researchers are analyzing samples from the archipelago’s coastal waters to study how microplastics impact ecosystems, the food chain and human health. Little is known about the so-called plastisphere, where microorganisms live among discarded plastic, including whether some of the bacteria that thrive there could act as vectors for disease.
4. Wind power picks up speed While Japan remains overwhelmingly reliant on fossil fuels, here are five recent signs that wind power is gaining traction in the country and its boardrooms: Japan’s industry ministry will open bidding within months for an area off Akita, in northern Japan, for the development of an offshore wind farm. It also plans to designate four more “promising areas” as potential future sites for such facilities. Scottish utility SSE, one of the companies behind the world’s largest offshore wind park, has formed a joint venture with Pacifico Energy in Japan, gaining a foothold in one of the most promising markets for offshore wind.  Japan start-up uses turbine to harness typhoon energy | REUTERS Trading house Mitsubishi Corp. has invested in a massive wind power plant project in Laos to deliver electricity to Vietnam, in what would be the biggest onshore wind farm in Southeast Asia. Oil wholesaler Eneos said last month it will acquire Tokyo-based Japan Renewable Energy, which has know-how in wind and solar power generation, for around ¥200 billion. Eneos aims to cut CO2 emissions from its operations to effectively zero by 2040. In typhoon-prone Japan, a start-up called Challenergy has designed a turbine that works in cyclonic conditions, which typically shut down most wind installations, turning storms into a potential energy source.