From Calculated Risk: This graph shows broker’s commissions as a percent of GDP. Not surprisingly – giving the housing bubble – broker’s commissions soared in recent years, rising from $56 billion in 2000, to $109 billion in 2005. Commissions have declined to an annual rate of $57 billion in Q1 2009 – the lowest since […]
By Shar Adams Australia is exhibiting climate change weather patterns that were not predicted to manifest till 2020, says one of the country’s most prominent climate change scientists. Professor Ian Lowe, AO, an award-winning scientist and author of a number of books on climate change, said that when he wrote his first book, Living […]
By PETER S. GOODMAN and JACK HEALY As job losses rise, growing numbers of American homeowners with once solid credit are falling behind on their mortgages, amplifying a wave of foreclosures. In the latest phase of the nation’s real estate disaster, the locus of trouble has shifted from subprime loans — those extended to home […]
An unusually high number of the storms has left a film of dust on the Rocky Mountain snowpack, causing it to melt earlier and forcing farmers to adjust. This could be the new normal, scientists say. By Nicholas Riccardi Reporting from Denver — A series of unusual spring dust storms has left the snowcapped mountains […]
For Risti Ariyani, the dream of working abroad and helping her family is over. Her contract with a computer components factory in Malaysia was abruptly canceled because of the global financial crisis, leaving her no choice but to return home to Central Java. “My family was counting on me,” the 20-year-old said. “Everyone, including my […]
Falling water levels trouble residents, raise pollution By Lee Bergquist of the Journal Sentinel Scientists and property owners say they are worried about the long-term effects of a prolonged drought on fishing and water quality in northern Wisconsin as they’ve watched some lakes drop to their lowest point in 70 years. As people flock to […]
Lands commissioner says our children will live with consequences By JOEL CONNELLY State Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark looks out at Washington’s unhealthy forests from a pilot’s seat, flying his plane from Olympia to his family’s ranch in the remote reaches of Okanogan County. “It is just mind-numbing the damage you see on west facing and […]
By Laurie Nowell A NEW El Nino effect is developing in the Pacific Ocean, threatening to extend Australia’s crippling drought and bring destructive weather along the east coast. A new analysis of the El Nino effect suggests they are occurring more frequently – offering further evidence of global warming. And, in a double whammy for […]
Australia has lifted protection levels for the Tasmanian devil, the world’s largest surviving marsupial carnivore, from vulnerable to endangered. The devil population, which is found on the island state of Tasmania, has been decimated by a facial tumour disease. The number of Tasmanian devils in the wild is thought to have fallen by up to […]
The oldest and largest trees within California’s world famous Yosemite National Park are disappearing. Climate change appears to be a major cause of the loss. The revelation comes from an analysis of data collected over 60 years by forest ecologists. They say one worrying aspect of the decline is that it is happening within one […]
