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July 24, 2026
 

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Mark Gongloff
A man drinks from a water fountain amid a heat wave in New York City on July 4.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2026
Energy efficiency is no communist plot
Politics, not policy, drives the backlash against power conservation in the U.S.
Critics argue the Trump administration is using foreign pollution as a justification to relax smog regulations, potentially worsening air quality and public health in U.S. cities.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2026
Blaming Asia and Mexico for U.S. pollution is absurd
President Donald Trump¡¯s ¡°Environmental Protection Agency,¡± a name growing more ironic by the day, is giving polluters some wiggle room.
Rising global temperatures, worsened by climate change, war, trade disruptions and a looming El Nino, are increasingly threatening global food production.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2026
The world¡¯s food supply is under a quadruple attack
Heat makes it much harder to effectively grow crops, raise livestock and harvest fish, as detailed in an extensive new United Nations climate change report.
Ambitious plans for space-based solar power face steep costs and engineering hurdles, making them far less practical than rapidly advancing terrestrial renewables.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2026
Solar in space is a solution in search of a problem
The thinking behind space solar makes some sense: The sun doesn¡¯t always shine on Earth, which means solar panels on the ground aren¡¯t always gathering energy.
Under Mark Zuckerberg, Meta plans to use employee computer activity data to train AI systems while investing heavily in automation that could replace human workers.
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2026
Meta is making workers train their AI replacements
Meta plans to put tracking software on its employees¡¯ computers to track their mouse movements, clicks and keystrokes.
While climate-change skeptics downplay the issue, earlier blooming cherry trees in Washington and Kyoto serve as visible indicators of the climate crisis, driven by global warming.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2026
Cherry blossoms are proof of a planet going awry
It was the seventh consecutive year in which the trees flowered earlier than their 20-year average.
Air travel keeps deteriorating ¡ª especially in the U.S., with longer lines, higher costs, and fewer amenities ¡ª leaving millions of travelers increasingly frustrated and feeling economically squeezed.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2026
Flying is abysmal and It¡¯s only getting worse
Regardless of airline: Seats get smaller, lines get longer, amenities become rarer and more expensive, customer service gets worse and more flights are delayed and canceled.
Bill Gates speaks at a summit on climate and growth at the Bercy Finance Ministry in Paris in December 2023. Gates has recently shifted his stance on climate change, advocating for a focus on adapting to a warmer world rather than pursuing emissions reductions.
COMMENTARY
Nov 2, 2025
Bill Gates is wrong to quiet-quit the climate fight
He says he¡¯s still in it. But his heart no longer appears to be. Worse, he¡¯s giving ammunition to those fighting against further progress.
NASA says its satellite imagery shows the Earth is becoming drier ¡ª at least the parts where most people live.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2025
The Earth is drying out and we need to act urgently
Measurements from NASA¡¯s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites suggest the continents have been losing fresh water at an alarming rate since 2002.
Pope Francis was known for his strong environmentalism, highlighted by his influential 2015 encyclical calling for global climate action.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 23, 2025
The next pope will help decide the planet¡¯s fate
As much of the world retreats from climate activism, the Vatican has a chance to stand out by choosing another vocal environmentalist to lead 1.4 billion Catholics.
Wall Street banks, under political pressure and tempted by short-term gains, are abandoning climate commitments and pouring billions into fossil fuels, risking both environmental catastrophe and massive future economic losses.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2025
Wall Street will regret helping the world burn
For an industry in the business of money, it sure has a funny way of ensuring its destruction.?
U.S. President Donald Trump receives a status report on Hurricane Dorian in the Oval Office in September 2019.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2025
Trump keeps up his ¡®Sharpiegate¡¯ attack on science
The nomination of Neil Jacobs to run NOAA highlights U.S. President Trump¡¯s loyalty-over-expertise approach to leadership.
Houses destroyed in the Palisades Fire along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California, on Thursday
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 12, 2025
California fires expose a $1 trillion hole in U.S. home insurance
Santa Ana winds and wildfires are natural to California, but climate change and human development have made them far more destructive.
A truck drives through a flooded street in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton in South Daytona, Florida, on Friday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 10, 2024
Hurricane Milton shows there¡¯s no ¡®normal¡¯ storm season
It may be hard to believe, but about a month ago, people were calling this year¡¯s hurricane season a bust.
The destruction left behind by the Borel Fire near Lake Isabella, California, on July 29
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2024
Wildfires are getting weirder. Case in point: ¡®firenados.¡¯
Sometimes fire thunderstorms even create their own lightning, which spawns new blazes miles away.
For hundreds of thousands of people around the world every year, heat is deadly. In the U.S., it takes more lives than hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes or floods.
COMMENTARY
Jun 20, 2024
Heat waves are deadlier than hurricanes. Make them ¡®disasters.¡¯
For hundreds of thousands of people around the world every year, heat is deadly. In the U.S., it takes more lives than hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes or floods.
After just 1.3 degrees Celsius of warming above preindustrial levels, the countries with the most refugees, asylum-seekers, and displaced people are already among those hardest hit by climate change.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2024
It¡¯s far cheaper to help migrants before they leave home
As global temperatures rise, so will the frequency of heat waves, droughts, floods, pandemics, natural disasters, food and water shortages and conflicts over resources.
As mind-numbingly big as the clean-energy price tag may be, it¡¯s actually a bargain compared with the potential economic destruction of unabated climate change.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2024
$215 trillion to save the planet is a bargain
And as mind-numbingly big as $215 trillion may be, it¡¯s actually a bargain compared with the potential economic destruction of unabated climate change.
Climate change, with its natural disasters, is putting nuclear facilities and weapons complexes at risk.
COMMENTARY
Apr 4, 2024
Climate change and nuclear waste are a toxic stew
Nuclear power could be a crucial part of a clean-energy transition, but not if it comes with a high risk of multiple Fukushima-like catastrophes.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a presidential permit for energy development that he signed during a tour of an oil rig in Midland, Texas, in July 2020.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2024
How the planet could survive another Trump term
In his first term, Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, rolled back environmental regulations, unleashed gas drilling and more.
Japan scientists identify clusters of protein believed to trigger Alzheimer¡¯s disease
A team of researchers said they found a ¡°seed¡± that accelerates the amyloid beta accumulation process in the brain, naming it ¡°Peak 1 amyloid beta,¡± as seen in a mouse's brain.
Indian brothers make manga debut in Japan
Two Indian brothers made their manga debut in Japan with "Kung Fu Kung Fool" ¡ª an action-comedy series that follows the adventures of a notorious thief and a young boy.
Japan weighs regulating Pokemon cards amid trading mania
A Pokemon event is held in Jakarta on July 11
Low-income families in Japan cut food and air conditioning during summer break
Yumiko Watanabe, the chairperson of nonprofit Kidsdoor, explains the results of a survey in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on July 1.
Iran strikes on CIA facilities prompt questions about possible Russian role
Iranian drones are displayed in an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on Jan. 13, 2025.U.S. officials have acknowledged that Russia has ?provided targeting ?and other support for Iran in its drone strikes on U.S. targets in the Persian Gulf region.
Can Japanese comedy get laughs in English? Yoshimoto Kogyo lets the jokes rip
Wes-P has millions of followers and his viral clips made him recognizable out of Japan.
The 180-day locals: Life on Japan¡¯s digital nomad visa
Christopher Flinn works remotely from Tokyo earlier this month. Japan issued 646 digital nomad visas in 2025, but tourism officials are hoping to increase that figure in the coming years, with Japan's relatively cheap cost of living and the weak yen seen as potential draws for young professionals.
Japan reveals hint of new defense spending target in fiscal blueprint
The Self-Defense Forces' Type 16 mobile combat vehicle fires during a joint live-fire drill with U.S. Marines as part of the annual Resolute Dragon exercises in Yufu, Oita Prefecture, on June 28.
Summer has arrived in Japan and so have hot sleepless nights
Amid the heat and humidity in Japan, a good night¡¯s sleep is growing increasingly elusive without the heavy use of air conditioning.
Maya Ongaku¡¯s DIY dream is getting bigger
The members of Maya Ongaku ¡ª (from left) Tsutomu Sonoda, Shoei Ikeda and Ryota Takano ¡ª grew up on the Shonan Coast south of Tokyo and have been friends since their school days.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

For many people, utility poles and power lines have become such a familiar part of Japan¡¯s landscape that they often go unnoticed.
Why Japan¡¯s utility poles won¡¯t be disappearing anytime soon
By Alex K.T. Martin

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