World economic growth is set to fall to just 0.5% this year, its lowest rate since World War II, warns the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In October, the IMF had predicted world output would increase by 2.2% in 2009. It now projects the UK, which recently entered recession, will see its economy shrink by 2.8% […]
As many as 51 million jobs worldwide could be lost this year because of the global economic crisis, says the International Labour Organization (ILO). The UN agency says that would push up the world’s unemployment rate to 7.1% by the end of 2009, compared with 6.0% in 2008 and 5.7% in 2007. … "If the […]
Fire is the most ubiquitous form of landscape disturbance, and has important effects on climate through the global carbon cycle and changing atmospheric chemistry. There has been a significant increase in large-scale wildfires in all regions of the world during the past decade. This has triggered an interest in knowing how fire has changed in […]
By DEBORA REY, ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina’s president declared an agricultural emergency Monday in the nation’s breadbasket provinces, responding to a key demand by powerful farm organizations amid the worst drought in decades. Cristina Fernandez told political and business leaders in a televised press conference that the decree will exempt thousands […]
by Richard Harris All Things Considered, January 26, 2009 · Climate change is essentially irreversible, according to a sobering new scientific study. As carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, the world will experience more and more long-term environmental disruption. The damage will persist even when, and if, emissions are brought under control, says study author […]
From Calculated Risk: S&P/Case-Shiller released their monthly Home Price Indices for November this morning. This includes prices for 20 individual cities, and two composite indices (10 cities and 20 cities). This graph shows the year-over-year change in both indices. The Composite 10 is off 19.1% over the last year. The Composite 20 is off 18.2% […]
A weak housing market and decreased consumer spending raised the state’s jobless rate to its highest level in 14 years By Dean Calbreath (Contact) Union-Tribune Staff Writer The unemployment rate in California soared to 9.3 percent last month – its highest point in 15 years – as construction firms, hotels, restaurants, casinos and amusement parks […]
By TRACIE CONE and GARANCE BURKE, Associated Press Writers Consumers may pay more for spring lettuce and summer melons in grocery stores across the country now that California farmers have started abandoning their fields in response to a crippling drought. California’s sweeping Central Valley grows most of the country’s fruits and vegetables in normal years, […]
By Rex Springston NEWPORT NEWS – The light of a cold dawn revealed an endangered species on the James River — waterman Rodgers Green of Gloucester. Green catches oysters the old-fashioned way, with 16-foot tongs that resemble two rakes attached like scissors. Disease, pollution and long-ago overharvesting have sunk Virginia’s oyster population to about 1 […]
PATANCHERU, India – When researchers analyzed vials of treated wastewater taken from a plant where about 90 Indian drug factories dump their residues, they were shocked. Enough of a single, powerful antibiotic was being spewed into one stream each day to treat every person in a city of 90,000. And it wasn’t just ciprofloxacin being […]
