Earth Protect Blog

Over two-thirds of Japan’s biggest coral reef is dead, the country’s Environment Ministry has found.  Increased coral bleaching, which is mainly caused by rising ocean temperatures was blamed, following a survey.  The Sekiseishoko coral reef is set between the remote Ishigaki and Iriomot...

The Japanese were kept in the dark from the start of the Fukushima disaster about high radiation levels and their dangers to health, writes Linda Pentz Gunter. In order to proclaim the Fukushima area 'safe', the Government increased exposure limits to twenty times the international norm. Soon, many ...

By Byron Kidd Cycling to work in Tokyo may do more than just keep you healthy, fit and happy, it also may help you earn a little additional income on the side if our employer isn't smart enough to have a bike to work policy in place. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare 86% of Ja...

Gland, Switzerland -- Contracting governments to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) should reject any new proposal from Japan to resume whaling in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary near Antarctica, according to WWF, the global conservation organization.Japan officially announced its intention to ...

Thousands of dolphins are killed there every year, right around this time. Countless others are captured and sold to marine parks. If you’ve seen The Cove, an Academy Award-winning documentary about the hunt in Taiji Cove, you know just how gruesome it is. The water turns bright red in a site t...

More than two dozen striped dolphins were slaughtered in the fishing town of Taiji, according to conservationists. Sea Shepherd, who was in the area monitoring the activity, reported that the dolphins were herded into a cove with tarpaulin coverings to conceal the slaughter. The town of T...

A firm in Japan is planning to build a solar power plant on the moon. Called the LUNA RING, the project will harness sun's power and beam it to the earth. The Shimizu Corporation, the firm planning this incredible feat, plans to place solar cells near the moon's equator. The belt of cells will be a...

The public hearings in the case concerning whaling in the Antarctic at the International Court of Justice were concluded yesterday. The Court will now begin its deliberation (Press release). The Court Judgment will be issued by this winter. The trial has not attract enough attention from public, ex...

TOKYO — Japan's nuclear regulator on Wednesday upgraded the rating of a leak of radiation-contaminated water from a tank at its tsunami-wrecked nuclear plant to a "serious incident" on an international scale, and it castigated the plant operator for failing to catch the problem earlier. The Nuclear...

Japan has told the United Nation's highest court that Australia's anti-whaling stance is part of a "civilising mission and moral crusade" that is totally out of place in the modern world. Tokyo did not hold back in its opening submission to the 16 judges of the international court of...

The sweeping grasslands of the African savannah might not exist without elephants. They knock down so many trees that forests transform into plains, where other grazers and birds feed. Elephants maintain the shape of the land, and without them, everything would change. And for many, that would make ...

TOKYO -- Japan's public wants the government to phase out nuclear power according to the results of town hall-like forums to give the public a say in the debate on the nation's energy supply post-Fukushima. The forums brought together 286 citizens for two days in early August in Tokyo from...

  Japan plans to go ahead with its Southern Ocean whaling program this year despite threats from activists to disrupt the annual hunt.   Japan's fisheries minister said measures would be taken to ensure the safety of the whalers and the hunt would go ahead. It is expected to begin in ...

SAINT HELIER, Jersey (AFP) – Japan and the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd on Tuesday swapped angry words at the world whaling conference here over the hunting of cetaceans around Antarctica. In a plenary session of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), Japanese delegation chief Kenji Kagawa ...

        By way of comparison, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster that occured in 1986 in the Ukraine, Russia- heretofore the worst nuclear disaster on record- burned for 10 days and cumulatively killed an estimated 1 million people worldwide. The Fukushima, Japan nuclear disaster...

TOKYO -- Fears about contaminated seafood spread Wednesday despite reassurances that radiation in the waters off Japan's troubled nuclear plant poses no health risk. Although experts say radioactive particles are unlikely to build up significantly in fish, the seafood concerns in the country that g...

We have yet to realize the true devastation of the 9.0 Magnitude earthquake, and resulting tsunami, that struck the north Pacific coast of Japan on March 11. All over the world, hearts go out to those affected by this tragedy. Now is the perfect time to do a project that can help give the people in ...

Winds are set to blow low-level radiation from Japan's quake-crippled nuclear power plant out over the Pacific Ocean in coming hours, easing health worries after drifting toward Tokyo early on Tuesday, experts said.       After the more serious 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Sovie...

TOKYO — Interpol this week placed the head of US-based anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd on an international wanted list at Japan's request, authorities in Tokyo said Friday. The Japan Coastguard was informed by Interpol Thursday about the listing of Canadian Paul Watson, 59, for allegedly conspiring...

Dolphins and whales have a long gestation period – about 11 months and they can nurture their young for years. They are not prolific breeders. The Southern Atlantic Blue Whale has yet to recover from the devastation wrought on that species by rampant over-fishing. Out of perhaps 311,000 Antarctic Bl...