Blogging the End of the World™
By M. Alex Johnson8 October 2013 (NBC News) – An unusually early and enormous snowstorm over the weekend caught South Dakota ranchers and farmers unprepared, killing tens of thousands of cattle and ravaging the state’s $7 billion industry — an industry left without assistance because of the federal government shutdown. As many as 75,000 cattle […]
By Wendy Koch9 October 2013 NORTH POLE, Alaska (USA TODAY) – Up the road from Santa Claus Lane, past the candy cane-striped streetlamps, Cathy Richard’s backyard has a problem that not even elves — or the big guy in red — could fix. The wood deck moves up and down, like a slow-motion sleigh. “You […]
By Dene Moore7 October 2013 VANCOUVER (The Canadian Press) –Last month, a diver alerted Vancouver Aquarium staff that he had found a number of dead and decaying sunflower sea stars in the cold Pacific waters of a popular dive spot just off the shore of West Vancouver. Within weeks, the tentacled orange sea stars had […]
[If, however, your nation wants a permanent underclass…] By KIMBERLY HEFLING 8 October 2013 WASHINGTON (AP) – It’s long been known that America’s school kids haven’t measured well compared with international peers. Now, there’s a new twist: Adults don’t either. In math, reading and problem-solving using technology — all skills considered critical for global competitiveness […]
NEW DELHI, 2 October 2013 (Express News Service) – It’s October and the monsoon seems to be in no mood to call it a day in the capital. With more showers predicted over the coming week, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said the monsoon this year is likely to be the longest one in […]
October 6, 2013 (Al Jazeera) – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday that Japan is open to receiving overseas help to contain widening disaster at the crippled nuclear plant in Fukushima, where radioactive water leaks and other mishaps are now reported almost daily. “We are wide open to receive the most advanced knowledge from overseas […]
By David McFadden 6 October 2013 CASCADE, Jamaica (AP) – Crocodiles were once so abundant along the salty rim of southern Jamaica that images of their toothy jaws and spiny armour crown the tropical island’s coat of arms and are stenciled on the bumpers of military vehicles. Now, the big reptiles are increasingly difficult to […]
By Tristin Hopper4 October 2013 (National Post) – Little is known of Gregory Logan from court documents. He is a former Mountie, he is in his late 50s, he hails from Grand Prairie, Alta., and, from a summer home in Maine, he orchestrated what may well be the largest narwhal smuggling ring of modern times. […]
By Andrew Darby7 October 2013 (Sydney Morning Herald) – Turns out it’s the little things we need to worry about in climate change. When they’re in trouble, a great polar ecosystem may be, too. The oceans are now absorbing so much carbon dioxide they are acidifying at an unprecedented rate, according to the International […]
By Simon Moya-Smith, Staff Writer, NBC News6 October 2013 (NBC News) – More than 80 people and their pets had to be rescued by boat from their flooded homes after more than seven inches of rain fell Saturday and Sunday in Louisville, Kentucky. The National Weather Service declared a flash flood emergency for Louisville early […]
