Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Virginia earthquake and a nuclear power station


I tried to measure the distance between the Virginia epicenter of today's earthquake (magnitude 5.9) and its nearby nuclear power plant.
If you click on the link below,
you'll find they are only 11.64 miles (18.73 kilometers) apart!!!!!


View Earthquake and Nuclear Power in a larger map

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Unemployment Rates in 15 Countries from 2006 to 2010

How does unemployment rate reflect economic crisis in some countries?
I looked at 15 countries I am interested in, some of which are troubled and others are struggling.
The following figure is based on the IMF's estimation.
It seems that workers in Spain, Ireland, and Greece are in the worst situation.
Descending unemployment rates in Germany and Brazil undeterred by the global financial crisis are worth further study.
Asian-Pacific countries are not stricken so hard by the financial crisis.
In addition, a dramatic change in Icelandic unemployment rates is noticeable.

Source: International Monetary Fund. (2011). World Economic Outlook Database, April 2011.  Retrieved from http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2011/01/weodata/download.aspx