Blogging the End of the World™
By Michael Wines QIAOBEI, China: In this tiny hamlet in northern China’s wheat belt, Zheng Songxian scrapes out a living growing winter wheat on a vest-pocket plot, an eighth of a hectare carved out of a rocky hillside. One might think he would greet the chance this winter to till new land as cause for […]
AP – Antarctic glaciers are melting faster across a much wider area than previously thought, scientists said Wednesday — a development that could lead to an unprecedented rise in sea levels. A report by thousands of scientists for the 2007-2008 International Polar Year concluded that the western part of the continent is warming up, not […]
From Calculated Risk: Both the monthly indices (20 cities and 2 composites) and the quarterly national index were released this morning. I’ll have more on the national index shortly. The Composite 10 is off 19.2% over the last year. The Composite 20 is off 18.5% over the last year. These are the worst year-over-year price […]
From Calculated Risk: This graph shows the overall consumer confidence index from the Conference Board (graph from Northern Trust). The Present Situation Index (not shown) is low, but not as low as in some earlier recessions (the Present Situation Index is at 21.2, it fell to 16.2 in 1982). What pulled down the overall index […]
From Not Exactly Rocket Science: In late 2007, seabirds off the coast of California began to die in record numbers. The waterproof nature of their feathers and been wrecked, and they were soaked to the skin. Without an insulating layer of air trapped within their plumage, the damp birds were suffering from extreme cold. These […]
BBC – We have a special report from Argentina on a devastating drought that has killed more than a million cattle. The plight of Argentina’s farmers Technorati Tags: Argentina,drought,financial collapse
by Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com Nearly one quarter of Papua New Guinea’s rainforests were damaged or destroyed between 1972 and 2002, report researchers writing in the journal Biotopica. The results, which were published in a report last June, show that Papua New Guinea is losing forests at a much faster rate than previously believed. Over […]
I’ll be in the woods, recharging my batteries. Next post on Monday.
From Climate Progress: From January 2008 to January 2009, the planet warmed a remarkable 0.37°C (see data here). This is 20 times (!) the annual rate of warming in recent decades and 20 times what most climate models have projected we should be experiencing. The N.Y. Times and WSJ have made this stunning news of […]
From Greenbang: Interested in seeing some visual evidence of the global financial meltdown? We’ve found some fascinating links to images that demonstrate clearly the crash in demand for consumer goods. For example, how many people aren’t buying cars these days? Check out The Truth About Cars’ “Worldwide Auto Inventory Glut in Pictures.” It’s pretty incredible. […]
