Graph of the Day: Peak Employment: U.S. Civilian Participation Rate, 1948-2011

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 […]

U.S. strip mall vacancy rate nears 21-year-high – Regional mall vacancy highest in 11 years

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 […]

Texans face billions in water works bills as drought saps economy

By David Mildenberg and Whitney McFerron 13 October 2011 Allan Ritter pushed a bill to make 25 million Texans pay an extra $3.25 a year to help provide water for decades. Then, with a record drought devastating farms and ranches, the state representative’s party leaders waded in. “We couldn’t get the votes,” said the Republican […]

New England cottontail rabbit on verge of extinction in Rhode Island

Media Contact: Todd McLeish, 401-874-789214 September 2011 KINGSTON, R.I. – Rhode Island’s native rabbit, the New England cottontail, is on the verge of being extirpated from the state after a survey of appropriate habitat and historical breeding sites by more than 100 University of Rhode Island students and staff from the R.I. Department of Environmental […]

Graph of the Day: Global Mercury Emissions from Human Activities, 1990-2007

The elemental form of mercury is not as toxic to humans and wildlife as the organic form of mercury, methylmercury, which can accumulate in blood, feathers, and fur. An inorganic element found in the earth’s crust, mercury is naturally released into the environment through geological events such as volcanic eruptions. Elemental mercury (abbreviated Hg, from […]

Texas drought hampering wildlife reproduction, ‘killing deer like flies’

BY RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI, ASSOCIATED PRESS13 October 2011 HOUSTON — In a 30-mile area of the Texas Panhandle, biologists found 76 white-tailed deer — but zero babies. Not far away, they located only three quail on a stretch of road where they would see 15 in a normal year. In South Texas, a biologist reports a […]

Video: The Colorado River: Running Near Empty

Photographer Peter McBride traveled along the Colorado River from its source high in the Rocky Mountains to its historic mouth at the Sea of Cortez. In this Yale Environment 360 video, he follows the natural course of the Colorado by raft, on foot, and overhead in a small plane, telling the story of a river […]

Texas officials censor all references to climate change and sea level rise in official publication

By Joe Romm 12 October 2011 In one of the most flagrant recent instances of scientific censorship, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) refused to publish a report chapter unless all mention of climate change and its impact on sea level rise were eliminated.  The author — Rice University oceanographer John Anderson, a leading […]

‘Unusual mortality event’ continues: 4 dead dolphins wash up on Gulf Coast beaches in 5 days

By Ben Raines, Press-Register 12 October 2011 DAUPHIN ISLAND, Alabama –  A dolphin carcass, bloated and violet in the morning sun, was found on Fort Morgan early Saturday, bringing the number lost since the BP oil spill to more than 400. Three other dolphins have washed up in Alabama in the past week, including a […]

Heavy rains for drought-stricken Texas – Houston precipitation still 22 inches below normal

By Jeff Masters10 October 2011 A slow-moving low pressure system brought the heaviest rains of the year to large portions of rain-starved Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas over the weekend. Radar-estimated rainfall amounts reached eight inches over portions of Texas between Dallas and Abilene. Houston got 20% of their rain for the entire year–3.02″–on Sunday, breaking […]

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