Blogging the End of the World™
By Yereth Rosen ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – Oil companies scouring the coastline of Alaska’s North Slope for new production sites are converging on the same territory as hungry polar bears trying to escape shrinking and thinning sea ice. Polar bears have not attacked any workers recently, but oil companies are reporting four times as many […]
From Calculated Risk: This graph shows the year-over-year (YoY) change in consumer credit. Consumer credit is off 4.4% over the last 12 months. The previous record YoY decline was 1.9% in 1991. Here is the Fed report: Consumer Credit Consumer credit decreased at an annual rate of 5-3/4 percent in August 2009. Revolving credit decreased […]
By MARY PEMBERTON, Associated Press Writer ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A government study found that a group of endangered beluga whales in Alaska is declining, raising concern that bolstered protection for the animals is not coming quickly enough. The downward trend comes after two years where numbers for the Cook Inlet belugas appeared to have stabilized. […]
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-PicayuneOctober 05, 2009, 9:46PM A new study [pdf] for the federal Minerals Management Service concludes that the construction of pipelines related to oil and gas production in the Outer Continental Shelf of the Gulf of Mexico “can cause locally intense habitat changes, thereby contributing to the loss of critically important land […]
By Bill Rankin, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution The judge overseeing the tri-state water wars case on Monday again ruled against Georgia and all but told the state it should stop litigating claims to Lake Lanier water rights and settle the case once and for all. In a three-page order, Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson frowned […]
From Calculated Risk: This graph breaks down net job gains and losses by firm size since 1992. During the current employment recession, small firms have accounted for about 45% of the job losses – much higher than during the 2001 recession. Small Business and Employment Technorati Tags: financial collapse
By RUSSELL SADLERJournal of the San Juans Correspondent NORTHWEST OF YELLOW ISLAND, SAN JUAN CHANNEL — “Lost” gill nets are never really lost. Fishing boat operators cut loose snagged nets and get their boats free and head for port. The derelict nets remain where they were snagged — often for decades — catching and killing […]
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – As many as 6.2 million Ethiopians need emergency humanitarian assistance due to severe drought, an official from the Oxfam charity said on Monday. The Ethiopian government puts the number in need at 5.3 million. Pastoralist communities in the country’s southern Borena area have been particularly hard hit by the lack of […]
Galkayo, Somalia (AFP) Oct 4, 2009 – Living in twig and cloth shelters after fleeing raging violence in Mogadishu, a severe drought has worsened the misery of thousands of Somalis settled outside the central town of Galkayo. The prolonged drought affecting millions across war-ravaged Somalia is forcing more people into Margaga camp, which was initially […]
Fumes from wood fires and from diesel engines accelerate melting, Indian scientists warn By Randeep Ramesh and Suzanne Goldenberg, The Observer, Sunday 4 October 2009 Glaciers in the Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau that feed the river systems of almost half the world’s people are melting faster because of the effects of clouds of soot […]
