Last Friday afternoon, on a conference call hosted by the National Research Council to present a recent report on the Arctic region, Stephanie Pfirman, an
environmental science professor at Barnard College, said Arctic ice
coverage is shrinking and that thicker sea ice blocks, which anchor much of the landscape, are rapidly melting.
Standard & Poor's increased Liberty Mutual's rating one level to BBB from BBB - after Berkshire's National Indemnity Co. agreed
last week to provide as much as $ 6.5 billion of
coverage for the insurance company's liabilities for asbestos,
environmental and workers» compensation policies.