by Johann Hari …The ubiquitous cranes have paused on the skyline, as if stuck in time. There are countless buildings half-finished, seemingly abandoned. In the swankiest new constructions – like the vast Atlantis hotel, a giant pink castle built in 1,000 days for $1.5bn on its own artificial island – where rainwater is leaking from […]
The persistence and severity of the drought in the Murray-Darling Basin has been described as "unprecedented" after late summer inflows to the river system fell to a 117-year low. The "bleak" outlook for next three months was adding to the grim news, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority said. Irrigation water for Australia’s food bowl will be […]
Another fine essay from Dmitry Orlov: The future does not resemble the past – or does it? When the lights go out, people burn candles and oil lamps, just like they used to before the electric grid came into existence. No longer accustomed to working with open flame, they tend to set things on fire, […]
From Calculated Risk: From The Times: Toxic debts could reach $4 trillion, IMF to warn Toxic debts racked up by banks and insurers could spiral to $4 trillion (£2.7 trillion), new forecasts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are set to suggest. The IMF said in January that it expected the deterioration in US-originated assets […]
By Michael J. Moore April 6 (Bloomberg) — CLSA analyst Mike Mayo assigned an “underweight” rating to U.S. banks, saying loan losses may exceed Great Depression levels and the government may be forced to take over large lenders. Financial shares and major U.S. stock indexes dropped after Mayo advised clients to sell shares of banks […]
The valiant effort to save North America’s biggest bird from extinction has suffered a setback –nearly one-fifth of the cranes have died in the last 12 months. Drought and a wasting disease are the latest threats. By Ed Struzik When the world’s last remaining flock of wild whooping cranes set off on its migration south […]
Conservationists criticise the government for failing to provide the resources to protect dwindling species. Biodiversity in the UK is continuing to decline according to statistics released by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Defra is studying these trends as part a Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP), aiming to "significantly reduce the rate of […]
Campaigners claim as many as 5000 killed a year in Scotland. By Auslan Cramb The Seal Protection Action Group said as many as 5,000 of the mammals were shot every year. However, the industry claims the figure is nearer 500, and insists that seals have to be controlled to protect commercial stocks. It is currently […]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – One Antarctic ice shelf has quickly vanished, another is disappearing and glaciers are melting faster than anyone thought due to climate change, U.S. and British government researchers reported on Friday. They said the Wordie Ice Shelf, which had been disintegrating since the 1960s, is gone and the northern part of the Larsen […]
By Julio Godoy BERLIN, Apr 3 (Tierramérica) – Ringed seals in the Baltic Sea are finding fewer and fewer ice caves in which to raise their young. Rising global temperatures are the problem, and in turn are depleting the main food source of the giant polar bear, say scientists. … According to the latest report […]
