…Looking at real GDP growth over these periods, the 2002–09 era looks very weak, with only 1946–49 having a lower average annual rate of growth (in these years, GDP averaged an annual decline of 2.01 percent). Average annual real GDP growth was 1.72 percent for the 2002–09 period, much lower than the average of 3.97 […]
As you know, Desdemona loves data, of all sorts, and this makes Google Analytics especially fun to use. So here are all the visits to Desdemona Despair for the last year. Here are some statistics to go with that graph. Looks like the trend is generally upward, which pleases Desdemona. Here are the top ten […]
People eat a lot of fish. In fact, per capita fish consumption has nearly doubled in the last 50 years. The problem is that there may not be any more fish if we keep catching and consuming them at this rate. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations measures how many of each […]
For the first time, climate change has been shown to alter the timing of a natural event – the emergence of the common brown butterfly For the first time, a causal link has been established between climate change and the timing of a natural event – the emergence of the common brown butterfly. Although there […]
By John Platt Mammals, birds and fish living in the High Arctic experienced an average 26 percent drop in their populations between 1970 and 2004 due to the loss of sea ice, according to a new report from The Arctic Species Trend Index (ASTI), Tracking Trends in Arctic Wildlife [pdf]. The 2010 report, commissioned and […]
Japan, Canada and scores of poor nations opposed the measure on the grounds that ban would devastate fishing economies By Guardian staff and agencieswww.guardian.co.uk, Thursday 18 March 2010 15.10 GMT A proposal to protect the Atlantic bluefin tuna prized in sushi was rejected at a UN wildlife meeting today. The decision was reached after Japan, […]
Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, editing by Michael Stott and Philippa Fletcher (Reuters) – After more than 200 million years, sturgeon are losing a battle for survival to poachers who have hunted the queens of caviar to the verge of extinction, a leading environmental group said on Thursday. Stocks of sturgeon, known in Russia as […]
Longtime doomspotters ‘Doc Jim and ‘Doc Michael have published their compendium of unhappy tidings in Converging Emergencies, 2010-2020. It’s 60 pages of face-slapping wake-up call, which begins with a quick summary of Elizabeth Kübler-Ross’s five stages of grief[*], and then dives into an overview of their big themes: Species Collapse, Resource Depletion, Biology Breach, Climate […]
By LOUIS BERGERON In the first study ever done on the local health effects of the domes of carbon dioxide that develop above cities, Stanford researcher Mark Jacobson found that the domes increase the local death rate. The result provides a scientific basis for regulating CO2 emissions at the local level and points out a […]
By COREY WILLIAMS (AP) DETROIT — Doors are expected to shut on more than a quarter of Detroit’s 172 public schools in June as the district fights through steadily declining enrollment and a budget deficit of more than $219 million, an emergency financial manager said Wednesday. Three aging, traditional and underpopulated high schools would be […]
