Blogging the End of the World™
October 18, 2011 (AFP) – More than twice as many tonnes of Atlantic bluefin tuna were sold last year compared with official catch records for this threatened species, according to a report released on Tuesday. This “bluefin gap” occurred despite enhanced reporting and enforcement measures introduced in 2008 by the 48-member International Commission for the […]
BANGKOK (AP) – The Thai capital needs 1.2 million sandbags to construct a 3.7-mile wall within 48 hours to keep encroaching floods from swamping into the city, Bangkok’s governor said Monday night. “Every second counts,” said Sukhumbhand Paribatra, whose call for city residents not to let down their guard posed a contrast to government statements […]
By Derek Cheng, James Ihaka, Jamie Morton, and Paul Harper 18 October 2011 Salvage workers are bracing for the death of the “creaking, groaning” MV Rena, now sitting precariously on Astrolabe Reef and expected to flood more oil into the sea. The same pancake-sized blobs of oil that have blotted the Western Bay of Plenty […]
By HIROKO TABUCHI14 October 2011 TOKYO – Takeo Hayashida signed on with a citizens’ group to test for radiation near his son’s baseball field in Tokyo after government officials told him they had no plans to check for fallout from the devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Like Japan’s central government, local officials said there was […]
By Henry Blodget11 October 2011 The “Occupy Wall Street” protests are gaining momentum, having spread from a small park in New York to marches to other cities across the country. So far, the protests seem fueled by a collective sense that things in our economy are not fair or right. But the protesters have not […]
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghanaian Chronicle10 October 2011 An increased body of evidence shows that climatic variability is adversely affecting Ghana’s natural resources such as land, water, forests, and vegetation, as well as human capital. Climate change is, therefore, expected to have significant impact on key resource-dependent sectors, such as agriculture and food production, and […]
Here’s a lovely essay on doom from killing Mother, via Gail. The whole thing is worth a read and makes a nice bookend with Gail’s recent post, “Coping With Our Demise”. […] Being the scientist and avid student of human behavior that I am, in reality, sadly, I do not hold out much hope for […]
BY TINA LAM, DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER14 October 2011 Reacting to a cool-off in concern over global warming, former Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore was unbowed and unrepentant in blaming recent storms, droughts and wildfires on climate change. Gore, speaking Thursday in Detroit, reeled off statistics about huge downpours in […]
By Ilaina Jonas7 October 2011 NEW YORK (Reuters) – The average vacancy rate for large U.S. shopping malls reached its highest level in 11 years in the third quarter, as department store closings took effect and retailers scaled back their floor space due to shaky consumer sentiment, according to a report issued on Friday. Preliminary […]
October 15 (NRK/Press release) – The melting of the Arctic sea ice is progressing much faster and more dramatically than earlier estimated, according to new research by the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI). This means that the Arctic Sea could be free of ice in the summer in ten years time, rather than the 50 to […]
