Two contrasting hot/cold atmospheric reports over the weekend grab the attention of Grumpy Editor as climate change stories continue to gobble space/airtime going into the new year.
Both meteorological stories made news yesterday (Jan. 6) but few print editors placed them on the same page.
A study published Jan. 6 in Nature Climate Change notes “a scientific poll of experts” feels melting glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland may lead to global sea levels rising more than three feet by year 2100.
Jonathan Bamber, a professor in physical geography at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom and a co-author of the study, predicts “horrible consequences.”
Meanwhile, China so far this winter is struggling with the lowest temperature in almost three decades, triggering problems ranging from closed highways to power outages.
The China Meteorological Administration says the national average since late November is 25 degrees Fahrenheit, coldest in 28 years.
English-language China Daily reports about 1,000 ships are stuck in Laizhou Bay ice in eastern China's Bohai Sea.
* * * * * * * * * *
Reporting overseas becomes dangerous
Being a journalist is becoming a dangerous profession.
Last year, 141 journalists were killed in 29 countries, with Syria being the most dangerous for reporters, reports Swiss-based Press Emblem Campaign.
The number is up 31 percent from 2011.
In Syria alone, at least 37 journalists, 13 of them working for foreign media, were killed.
In addition, two freelance American reporters are missing in Syria: James Foley, who has reported for Global Post and Agence France-Presse, among others, was abducted from his car on Nov. 22 in the northwestern part of Syria, and Austin Tice, from Houston, was abducted last August.
* * * * * * * * * *
Banks claim 2012 brought best profits since '06
Not too much was said last week when U.S. banks ended the year trumpeting their best profits since 2006.
Those being nixed in seeking business or personal loans will find it interesting that the financial industry claims more people and businesses are taking out, and repaying, loans since 2009.
Meanwhile, interest paid on savings accounts and certificates of deposit is near zero.
On one-year CDs, for example, Bank of America pays an ultra-slim 0.03 percent and Wells Fargo pays a scant 0.05 percent.
Most major banks now focus on fees to boost bottom lines.
* * * * * * * * * *
In case you missed these...
Top overused 2012 phrases, tallies Lake Superior (Mich.) State University, are fiscal cliff and kick the can down the road…Former vice president Al Gore pockets an estimated $100 million as cable channel Current TV, which he founded with business partners seven years ago, is sold to Al Jazeera for $500 million…Maybe more school money management classes are needed: A Rasmussen Reports survey finds 55 percent of likely U.S. voters think capital gains should be taxed at about the same rate as other income…An Associated Press photo (with a credit line for the photographer) “showing” Hillary Clinton in a car being transported from New York Presbyterian Hospital clearly displays the driver and a male front-seat passenger, but the Secretary of State is not visible somewhere behind the car’s visor, rear-view mirror and dark interior…How to bust into TV: Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards, a Democrat who served prison time on a corruption conviction, stars in an A&E series starting Feb. 27.
Comments