Blogging the End of the World™
The weak economy is taking its toll, with an increasing number of bodies in Los Angeles County being cremated at taxpayers’ expense. By Molly Hennessy-Fiske The poor economy is taking a toll even on the dead, with an increasing number of bodies in Los Angeles County going unclaimed by families who cannot afford to bury […]
By Roland Buerk, Tokyo correspondent, BBC News, Choshi Few industries have been immune to the worldwide collapse in demand, and the fishing industry in Choshi in Japan has been no exception. The high price of fuel drove some boats out of business. Then with the downturn, came a decline in the exports of fish. … […]
Global ocean temperatures rose to the warmest on record, according to data released last week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The combined average global land and ocean surface temperature for June was second-warmest since global recording-keeping began in 1880. NOAA reports that both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres experienced record sea surface […]
Researchers for the first time have linked air pollution exposure before birth with lower IQ scores in childhood, bolstering evidence that smog may harm the developing brain. CHICAGO – Researchers for the first time have linked air pollution exposure before birth with lower IQ scores in childhood, bolstering evidence that smog may harm the developing […]
Boulder CO (SPX) Jul 21, 2009 – All reservoirs along the Colorado River might dry up by mid-century as the West warms, a new study finds. The probability of such a severe shortage by then runs as high as one-in-two, unless current water-management practices change, the researchers report. The study’s coauthors looked at the effects […]
Baghdad (AFP) July 20, 2009 – Iraq’s water resources ministry on Monday called for talks with neighbouring Turkey and Syria after the flow of water in the Euphrates river fell by more than half in less than a month. The ministry is aiming for “an urgent meeting with ministers and experts from the three countries […]
Japan has been hit by an invasion of giant Nomura’s jellyfish which are stifling the fishing industry and posing a danger to swimmers. By Aislinn Simpson The massive sea creatures, called Echizen kurage in Japanese, measure up to six feet (1.83 meters) in diameter and weigh more than 450 pounds (204 kilos). For the past […]
Growing Deserts, Growing Dust Storms Carbon dioxide emitted in China raises carbon dioxide levels everywhere. Dust and particulate pollution tends to have its greatest impacts locally, but it can cast a wide net too. New research on a massive 2007 dust storm that began in the Taklimakan desert of Xinjiang, reveals a cloud of dust […]
As Wetlands Shrink, Oil and Gas Jobs Replace Farming, Fishing and Trapping By Kari Lydersen, Washington Post Staff Writer GOLDEN MEADOW, La. “Every morning is like Christmas morning” during shrimping season, says Whitney Dardar, 73, a Houma Indian who loves fishing in the bayous of southwestern Louisiana as his forebears have done for two centuries. […]
The Ganges River Dolphin faces a high risk of extinction in India’s Brahmaputra river system unless critical habitat is protected, report conservationists. Once abundant in the Ganges and Brahmaputra river systems in India and Bangladesh, the population of the Ganges River Dolphins has fallen sharply over the past century due to accidental bycatch by fishermen, […]
