During the 20th century, the United States experienced two major trends in income distribution. The first, termed the “Great Compression” by economists Claudia Goldin of Harvard and Robert Margo of Boston University, was egalitarian.* From 1940 to 1973, incomes became more equal. The share taken by the very richest Americans (i.e., the top 1 percent […]
By Chisa Fujioka; editing by David FogartyMon Oct 18, 2010 9:44am EDT NAGOYA, Japan (Reuters) – The world cannot afford to allow nature’s riches to disappear, the United Nations said on Monday at the start of a major meeting to combat losses in animal and plant species that underpin livelihoods and economies. The United Nations […]
Caption by Michael Carlowicz, with interpretation from Nickolay Krotkov.October 14, 2010 In early October 2010, a high-pressure weather system settled in over eastern China, and air pollution began to accumulate locally for nearly a week. By October 9 and 10, China’s National Environmental Monitoring Center declared air quality “poor” to “hazardous” around Beijing and in […]
Associated Press17 October 2010 NOWSHERA, Pakistan (AP) — With their villages in shambles, winter on its way and government help slow to arrive, Pakistan’s flood victims are scrambling to rebuild their homes. Many are taking on debt as the price of construction materials has soared following the disaster that damaged or destroyed 1.9 million houses. […]
By David Ferrara, Press-Register Sunday, October 17, 2010, 5:31 AM As BP PLC begins an intense effort Monday to remove lingering tar balls, tar mats and oil stains from Alabama’s beaches and restore the sugar-white sand, officials in the coastal towns plan to keep a daily watch on the cleanup. Crews, back hoes and the […]
By ROBERT F. WORTHPublished: October 13, 2010 AR RAQQAH, Syria — The farmlands spreading north and east of this Euphrates River town were once the breadbasket of the region, a vast expanse of golden wheat fields and bucolic sheep herds. Now, after four consecutive years of drought, this heartland of the Fertile Crescent — including […]
bY Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.comSeptember 27, 2010 Wetlands used for crops have expanded significantly over the past eighty years. According to a new study in the open-access journal Tropical Conservation Science, wetlands being utilized for crop production has jumped from 25 percent in 1926 to 43 percent in 2006 of the world’s wetlands as identified by […]
By NATHANIAL GRONEWOLD of ClimateWirePublished: October 15, 2010 The fourth in a four-part series on Pakistan’s flood disaster. Click here for part one, here for part two and here for part three. NOWSHERA, Pakistan — “I wonder if humanity exists in other parts of Pakistan.” Salma Begum 32, fumes when asked what the government and […]
By Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune October 12, 2010, 4:21 PM The sprawling band of lifeless ocean water known as the “dead zone” that forms each summer in the Gulf of Mexico has been well-documented for decades, with teams of government and research scientists analyzing the ecological impacts every year. But much less is known about […]
By Cain Burdeau, Associated PressThursday, October 14, 2010, 9:00 AM National Audubon Society experts say bird populations along Louisiana’s oil-tainted shores are doing surprisingly well nearly six months after the BP oil spill, but caution that oil continues to ooze out of the ground in many places and multiple threats remain. Bird experts with the […]
