By ORA MORISON, The Globe and Mail25 July 2012 The severe drought hitting U.S. farms may be just the latest sign of climate change and the impact it will have on the economy. Climate change and economics have been intersecting long before a drought descended upon the Midwest this year. Over the past 20 years, […]
Colorado forest before beetle infestation, September 2005 Colorado forest after beetle infestation, September 2011 Caption by Adam Voiland, with information from Thomas Veblen and Bill Romme28 July 2012 A single pine bark beetle is about the size of a grain of rice. But when the beetle population swells, it can have a major impact […]
By Alison Singer; Edited by Antonia Sohns26 July 2012 Rezaul Karim Chowdhury is from Kutubdia, a Bangladeshi island in the Bay of Bengal. When Chowdhury was younger, the palm-dotted tropical island spanned 65 square kilometers, but rising sea levels and erosion have since shrunk it by more than half, to only 25 square kilometers. With […]
[cf. Earth’s greatest mass extinction caused by coal: study] By Robert Bryce27 July 2012 Standing in the dispatch office of the North Antelope Rochelle Mine near Gillette, Wyo., Scott Durgin pointed at a flat-panel display. The regional vice president for Peabody Energy smiled. The most productive coal mine in the world was on target. Since […]
20 July 2012 (CME Group) – September Corn finished up 16 3/4 at 824 1/2, 4 1/4 off the high and 25 up from the low. December Corn closed up 17 1/4 at 795 3/4. This was 16 3/4 up from the low and 1 1/4 off the high. September and December corn traded sharply […]
By Sam Nelson and Charles Abbott; editing by Mary Milliken; desking by Andrew Hay 26 July 2012 CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The severe drought in the U.S. Midwest wreaked more havoc across the country on Thursday, forcing barges on the Mississippi River to lighten loads for fear of getting stuck and raising concerns about higher prices […]
By CORNELIA DEAN23 July 2012 WHITEHORSE, Yukon Territory – […] Today, as the road now known as the Alaska Highway celebrates its 70th birthday, cars and trucks flash along what Wally Hidinger calls “a very good standard two-lane highway” from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to Fairbanks, Alaska. “Our mantra is bare, dry pavement 365 days […]
By Alyce Hinton; editing by Jim Marshall27 July 2012 (Reuters) – The drought and extreme heat wreaking havoc across the U.S. farm belt is killing fish by the thousands in lakes and rivers and could pose a problem to migrating ducks and other waterfowl if it stretches into the fall, officials said. Authorities are tallying […]
By Jim Suhr, with additional reporting by Nelson Lampe in Omaha, Nebraska, John Milburn in Topeka, Kansas, Jason Keyser in Chicago, and Ken Miller in Oklahoma City. ST. LOUIS (AP) – The widest drought to grip the United States in decades is getting worse with no signs of abating, a new report warned Thursday, as […]
By Mamta Badkar3 July 2012 There’s been a lot written about ghost cities in China. Just outside Angola’s capital city of Luanda is Nova Cidade de Kilamba a residential development of 750 eight-story apartment buildings, a dozen schools, and more than 100 retail units, reports the BBC’s Louise Redvers. The $3.5 billion development covers 12,355 […]
