Blogging the End of the World™
From Calculated Risk: The graph is of the monthly Philly Fed data of the number of states with one month increasing activity. Most of the U.S. has been in recession since December 2007 based on this indicator. Almost all states showed declining activity in April. Still a widespread recession. … Philly Fed State Coincident Indexes […]
LONDON, UK, May 28, 2009 (ENS) – Populations of migratory wading birds in Europe, West Asia and Africa are declining more quickly than ever, and they need better protection of wetlands along their flyways, finds the first comprehensive overview of key sites for these small waterbirds in Europe, West-Asia and Africa. The Wetlands International’s Wader […]
American west threatened by more heatwaves than past models have predicted By Hannah Hoag Extreme temperatures are expected to become more common in the western United States by 2040 if greenhouse gases continue to rise, researchers say. Noah Diffenbaugh, a climate scientist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and his colleagues simulated climate change […]
By Mark Hume With growing evidence that pollutants are causing fish deformities in the Athabasca River and one native village struggling to understand its elevated cancer rates, 33 communities in the Northwest Territories have called for a moratorium on oil sands developments because of fears about water quality. At a conference in Inuvik, the NWT […]
‘Uncontacted’ tribes forced to flee armed gangs and bulldozers in forests of Peru, Brazil and Paraguay, says Survival International By John Vidal, environment editor Five “uncontacted” tribes are at imminent risk of extinction as oil companies, colonists and loggers invade their territiories. The semi-nomadic groups, who live deep in the forests of Peru, Brazil and […]
by Debora MacKenzie Fishing is causing cod to evolve faster than anyone had suspected it could, fisheries scientists in Iceland have discovered. This turbo-evolution may be why the world’s biggest cod fishery, the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, crashed in 1992 and has yet to recover. The Icelandic cod fishery, almost the only large cod fishery […]
As climate change causes temperatures to increase in Hawaii’s mountains, deadly non-native bird diseases will likely also creep up the mountains, invading most of the last disease-free refuges for honeycreepers — a group of endangered and remarkable birds. A just-published U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) review discusses the likelihood of a forthcoming “disease invasion” by examining […]
From Calculated Risk: The graph shows the year-over-year change in both indices. The Composite 10 is off 18.6% over the last year. The Composite 20 is off 18.7% over the last year. This is near the worst year-over-year price declines for the Composite indices since the housing bubble burst started. … Case-Shiller: Prices Fall Sharply […]
U.S. Department of the Interior will grant $15 million to 55 projects to “thin overgrown forests” [logging] and remove potential fuels for wildfires on public lands” [so the wood can be burned elsewhere]. The “hazardous fuels reduction” projects selected will create jobs in 12 states. The DOI press release on this program reports that “wood […]
By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writer SAN DIEGO – Six months ago, Jim Wiseman didn’t even have a spare nutrition bar in his kitchen cabinet. Now, the 54-year-old businessman and father of five has a backup generator, a water filter, a grain mill and a 4-foot-tall pile of emergency food tucked in his home in […]
