2010 has been the deadliest year yet for coalition troops in Afghanistan, with 709 troops killed, 497 of those from the U.S. American officials have spoken of a fragile progress, with a possible small drawdown of troops starting next summer, keeping 2014 as the goal date for Afghans to take control. The United Nations released […]
Budapest (AFP) Dec 21, 2010 – A leading French environmental group warned Tuesday that October’s toxic mud spill in Hungary could cause long-term damage and called for a broad European effort to monitor its effects. “We are concerned for the mid- and long-term,” Charlotte Nithart, the director of the Robin des Bois (Robin Hood) environmental […]
By Daniel Munoz; editing by Jonathan ThatcherSun Jan 2, 2011 10:03am EST GLADSTONE, Australia (Reuters) – Large parts of Australia’s coastal northeast disappeared under floodwaters on Sunday in a spreading disaster that has brought some of the highest floods on record and forced thousands from their homes. Queensland State Treasurer Andrew Fraser described the floods […]
By Chris JohnstonJanuary 3, 2011 … [A] prominent water scientist has forecast widespread damage to the Great Barrier Reef as murky floodwaters surge into the sea off Queensland. Jon Brodie, a senior research officer with the Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater Research at James Cook University in Townsville, told The Age the floods were a […]
By The Economist onlineNov 10th 2010, 12:25 GOVERNMENTS have been indebted for centuries, running ongoing Ponzi schemes involving tax-payers, investors and future generations. But data sets on debt levels over time are rare (the most comprehensive ones only begin in the 1970s). A new paper from the IMF seeks to resolve this. Data gathered from […]
By Elizabeth Haggarty, Toronto StarDec 10 2010 With its pristine-looking, snow-covered flats and mirror-like oceans that come with frigid temperatures and limited human exposure, the Arctic looks as clean as it could get, but it’s not — nature’s northern refuge is toxic. In fact, the 2500 polar bears that roam Norway’s remote Svalbard have some […]
By Sajjad Tarakzai (AFP)31 December 2010 KUND, Pakistan — Disaster struck out of nowhere. The flash floods were so sudden that wardens at one of Pakistan’s most famed parks could do nothing to save their animals. Leopards, deer and bears all drowned as the murky waters quickly engulfed them. Kund park, a tourist spot located […]
Posted by Euan MearnsDecember 31, 2010 – 7:57am A picture says a thousand words. In this post you will find only charts and graphs conveying important points from the world of energy 2010. Readers are invited to post their favorite charts from 2010 in the comments. Instructions are given at the end of this post. […]
By Jimmy LangmanJanuary 01, 2011 Two and a half years ago, the baker river in Chilean Patagonia suddenly tripled in size, causing a virtual river tsunami. In less than 48 hours, roads, bridges, and farms were severely damaged and dozens of livestock drowned. Residents were in disbelief. Jonathan Leidich, an American whose company regularly leads […]
BBC1 January 2011 A senior official has described the flooding in Queensland, Australia, as a disaster of “biblical proportions”. State Treasurer Andrew Fraser said the economic impact would be severe, with huge costs compounded by lost income from mining, farming and tourism. Rockhampton, where 77,000 people live, is the latest city bracing for impact, amid […]
