Today’s newsletter looks at how Japan’s rice crops are at risk as farms face record-breaking heat. You can also read and share the full story on Bloomberg.com. 

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Japan’s rice crops are in a climate cooker

By Aaron Clark

Record high temperatures in Japan could curb the country’s rice production, threatening to create shortages of the staple grain and fresh price spikes as public resentment mounts over cost of living.

Key rice-producing regions like Tohoku and Hokuriku saw the least amount of rain in July on record that goes back nearly 80 years, while a heat wave this month has broken multiple temperature records and scorched much of the country.

Such weather extremes may impact the harvest that typically starts in late summer, at a time when rice supplies have already been strained by adverse weather in recent years. That risks fanning prices that are already about 50% higher than a year ago, which could heap pressure on household budgets and political leaders.

“Due to the heat and drought, it is almost certain that both yields and distribution volume will decrease,” Kazunuki Ohizumi, professor emeritus at Miyagi University, who specializes in agricultural policy, said of this year’s crop.

Moreover, the risk may spread to other regions depending on future weather conditions, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said in an email. This year’s production volume will be known after the autumn harvest, the ministry said.

A rice shortage caused a national crisis earlier this summer as record prices prompted some schools to cut back on the days they serve the staple for lunch, and shops and restaurants to charge more for rice dishes. The scarcity can be traced back to a sweltering summer in 2023 that produced the lowest yield in more than a decade.

Another poor harvest could unleash further criticism against the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which suffered a historic setback in upper house elections in July, in part because of the rice crisis.

Read More: How a Rice Shortage Became a National Crisis in Japan: QuickTake

If there were no impact from heat and drought, rice production in Japan this year would be expected to increase about 8% to 7.35 million metric tons because the planted area is projected to expand, said Ohizumi, citing government statistics. But the extreme weather has increased uncertainty over crop yields, making it difficult to forecast output.

Others believe the efforts to boost cultivation can offset the impact from extreme weather. Masayuki Ogawa, a professor with Utsunomiya University, said he expected rice production will increase because the planted area is expanding.

The US Department of Agriculture, which makes global crop forecasts, currently estimates Japan’s rice production in the 2025 season at 7.28 million tons. While that’s almost steady with a year earlier, it would mark the smallest crop since 2003, the data shows.

Prices are determined to a certain extent on advance contracts. But with an uncertain outlook for supply and demand, they are still likely to eventually rise, Utsunomiya University’s Ogawa said.

Continue reading the full story on Bloomberg.com. For unlimited access to climate and energy news, please subscribe.  

Record after record

Weather watching

Data check

In Japan last year there were 30 workplace deaths and roughly 1,200 injuries associated with high temperatures, according to the country’s health ministry data. 

As a preventative measure, tougher rules now being enforced in Japan will see employers fined if they fail to take adequate precautions to protect workers from extreme temperatures.

The revised legislation, which came into effect June 1, is a rare global example of a national-level policy on heat safety for employees, and comes after. Businesses face potential penalties including fines of 500,000 yen ($3,475) if provisions aren’t sufficient.

French wine makers have seen extensive damage to vines that were almost ready to be harvested after the worst fires in more than 70 years burned through the south of the country.

“The situation is catastrophic,” Franck Saillan, general secretary of the Aude winegrowers syndicate, said in an interview on Thursday.

Read More: France Contains Wildfire But Heat Wave Set to Intensify

There hasn’t been a preliminary assessment of losses yet but a large number of vineyards were destroyed, along with equipment and buildings, according to Saillan. Just 10 days before the harvest was set to begin in the region, the grapes can no longer be used due to smoke damage and traces of chemical fire retardants sprayed by firefighters, he said.

The Aude region makes about three million hectoliters out of 36.16 million hectoliters of wine produced in France annually. It’s home to well-known wines like Minervois, Corbieres and Fitou and it’s part of the Languedoc-Roussillon region, that produces about a third of the country’s wine.

Read the full story on Bloomberg.com. 

Hawaii's government is introducing a “green fee” to raise money for environmental projects by increasing tourism levies from 10.25% to 11%, costing tourists an average of $2 per day.

Some common medications can increase the risk of heat-related illness by impacting blood flow or the body’s ability to retain water. Certain drugs, including those for allergies and depression, can reduce the body's ability to sweat or cause it to sweat too much, according to US and global health organizations.

Major consumer brands are trimming plastic packaging targets. Coca-Cola and Pepsi had both pledged to use 50% recycled material in their packaging by 2030. Now Coca-Cola is aiming for at least 35% by 2035, while Pepsi intends to meet a minimum of 40% by the same year. 

A tally of recent events you may have missed on changes impacting climate policy and science under the Trump administration.

The Trump administration asked NASA staff for plans to end the missions of two satellites that measure carbon dioxide, NPR reported on Tuesday. Data from the Orbiting Carbon Observatories is used widely, including by scientists, farmers, and oil and gas companies.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNN on Wednesday that the Trump administration is “reviewing” and updating past National Climate Assessment reports. The US government previously oversaw the release of five editions of the National Climate Assessment, authored by hundreds of scientists. But those working on the sixth edition were dismissed earlier this year, and the website hosting the reports has been taken down.

Wright made other comments this week questioning the link between climate change and extreme weather while touting a report the agency put out last week. His statements and the report are at odds with a body of scientific evidence, experts told us.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it was terminating a $7 billion grant program for residential solar projects targeting lower-income households. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who introduced the program, said the move was illegal. —Amanda Kolson Hurley

Electricity demand is booming, and it’s not just because of artificial intelligence. So much so that many are ready to revisit the idea of nuclear power. Microsoft signed a $16 billion deal to reopen the Three Mile Island nuclear plant to power their data centers for the next 20 years. 

But developed countries haven’t built more than a handful of new reactors in decades. When they have tried, the cost of those nuclear plants and the time to build them has been extraordinary. Will this renewed interest yield different results? 

Nuclear scientist and partner at venture capital firm DCVC Rachel Slaybaugh joined Akshat Rathi on Zero to discuss how these new dreams of growing nuclear power can become a reality. Listen now, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube to get new episodes of Zero every Thursday.

A turbine generator inside PG&E’s Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California on Aug. 5, 2025.  Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

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