From Calculated Risk: An update: the graph shows the decline in real GDP (quarterly) from the previous peak since 1947. GDP is now 3.9% below the recent peak. In terms of declines in real GDP, the current recession is the worst since quarterly records have been kept (starting in 1947). Note: This includes the downward […]
By Michael Smith and Adriana Brasileiro July 31 (Bloomberg) — For four decades, Edimar Bentes and his family have survived by farming tiny clearings in the jungle near their dirt-floor shack in the state of Para in the Brazilian Amazon. On this April afternoon, Bentes, 56, squats in the driving rain and dips a glass […]
Even in areas with no flooding history, flood related insurance payments are up 15 percent By Andrew Donoghue, BusinessGreen, Businesses that may already be struggling to comprehend and comply with climate-related legislation will soon face another environmental burden – rising buildings insurance. That is the conclusion of the latest quarterly study from the AA British […]
Under GOP plan, government would pay to lease back most of the sites By Matthew Benson and JJ Hensley, The Arizona Republic Call it a sign of desperate times: Legislators are considering selling the House and Senate buildings where they’ve conducted state business for more than 50 years. Dozens of other state properties also may […]
WASHINGTON, DC, July 29, 2009 (ENS) – Polluted water at American beaches jeopardized the health of swimmers last year and climate change is making conditions worse, according to the 19th annual beachwater quality report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council. Climate change is expected to further increase the presence of pathogens that cause […]
By Art Chimes, Washington, D.C. Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are a major contributor to climate change, and now a new study has confirmed that atmospheric CO2 is also affecting the ocean chemistry, potentially threatening marine life. Montana State University scientist Robert Dore has been taking samples of water in the Pacific […]
By Gloria MaenderOctober 2003 The rapid removal of at least half a million great whales from the North Pacific Ocean by intensive industrial whaling more than 50 years ago may have unleashed a complex ecological chain reaction that has since rippled resoundingly from ocean to coastal ecosystems, according to a team of eight scientists, including […]
More than 75 million people living on Pacific islands will have to relocate by 2050 because of the effects of climate change, Oxfam has warned. By Bonnie Malkin in Sydney A report by the charity said Pacific Islanders were already feeling the effects of global warming, including food and water shortages, rising cases of malaria […]
By Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York Researchers have a dire forecast for the next six months in the western US: it’ll be exceptionally hot, very dry, and 3.66 million acres will be scorched by fires. Apologies for the End of Days-y language, but the truth is that the researchers who compile the national drought and […]
The Earth is in the throes of its “sixth great extinction event” and Australia and the Pacific are becoming the worst regions for the destruction of animals and plants, a study has found. By Bonnie Malkin in Sydney Land clearing and overlogging of forests have been highlighted as the greatest threats to land-based flora and […]
