Blogging the End of the World™
By Jeremy Hance Serrania de San Luca is a rainforest-covered massif rising to 2,300 meters (7,500 feet) in northern Colombia. Despite being little-explored and containing several endangered species, the forest is threatened by industrial gold mining operations, according to the local conservation group ProAves. Already the forest has been reduced to 10 percent of its […]
From Calculated Risk: The blue line is the number of workers unemployed for 27 weeks or more. The red line is the same data as a percent of the civilian workforce. According to the BLS, there are almost 5.0 million workers who have been unemployed for more than 26 weeks (and still want a job). […]
At least 45% of Indian land is environmentally “degraded”, air pollution is rising and flora and fauna is diminishing, according to a report. The State of Environment Report is the first to be published for eight years and is the first to use satellite imagery to support its findings. It focuses on water, energy, food, […]
Baghdad (AFP) Aug 11, 2009 – Iraq’s water minister accused Turkey on Tuesday of breaking a promise to increase water flows down the Euphrates river, saying Ankara was actually holding back on the precious commodity. He was responding to remarks by Turkey’s visiting foreign minister that his country had fulfilled its promises and was considering […]
Thousands of suffocating fish have been spotted dying off a British beauty spot where the sea has been turned red by what experts believe could be a rare killer bloom of toxic algae. Warnings have been issued around St Austell Bay, Cornwall, where the mysterious rusty brown seas threaten to poison bathers, infect food and […]
Boreal forests in some of the world’s wealthiest countries are being rapidly destroyed by human activities — including mining, logging, and purposely-set fires — report researchers writing in Trends in Ecology and Evolution. Assessing the status of the boreal forest that stretches across Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia, and Russia, Corey Bradshaw and colleagues found that less […]
Canberra, Australia (SPX) Aug 13, 2009 – Tasmania’s east coast is recording its highest-ever winter water temperatures of more than 13 degrees C – up to 1.5 degrees C above normal – due to a strengthening of an ocean current originating north of Australia. Satellites have given oceanographers an insight into a remarkable phenomenon – […]
ScienceDaily (Aug. 12, 2009) — Mosquitoes with the potential to carry diseases lethal to many unique species of Galápagos wildlife are being regularly introduced to the islands via aircraft, according to new research published today. The southern house mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus, was previously thought to have been introduced to the Galápagos in a one-off event […]
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Groundwater levels in northern India have fallen about 20 percent more than expected because of excessive pumping, threatening to spark a major food and water crisis, according to a study based on U.S. space agency data. The study, led by Matthew Rodell of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said […]
By KEITH BRADSHER SHENZHEN, China — In this sprawling metropolis in southeastern China stand two hulking brown buildings erected by a private company, the Longgang trash incinerators. They can be smelled a mile away and pour out so much dark smoke and hazardous chemicals that hundreds of local residents recently staged an all-day sit-in, demanding […]
