Is Global Warming Good for US Jobs?

There is little disagreement about whether global warming happening, only some, like Gov. Sarah Palin, question whether it is caused by people. Beyond that fight, there is another debate: what could be the effect of these environmental factors on jobs?

While "green collar jobs" were overshadowed during the general election by the financial meltdown, they remain a top component of President-elect Obama's energy plan, with predictions of 5,000,000 new jobs. Could the green sector be that important to our future economy?

According to a report on CNN.com, the effect of environmental factors on jobs could be an employment boom, or bust. The Apollo Institute, an organization that wants a government renewable energy project, predicts three million new green jobs over the next ten years. However, the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California Berkeley expects closer to one million new jobs by 2020.

Could your salary weather the effect of environmental factors on jobs?  Find out with PayScale's full salary survey.

Career Change at Middle Age

"Career change at middle age." Just the words seem daunting, but in our ever-changing job market and the current economic downturn, more and more people are switching careers, some by choice, and others out of economic necessity.

One common route to a career change is further education. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2006 employees with a graduate or professional degree earned an average salary of $80K, while those with bachelor's degrees earned an average of $55K; that's a big difference in pay. If you're interested in heading back to school, check out online degree programs in the PayScale Education Center.

Managing a career change at middle age was a topic on money.cnn.com, which examined costs of going to graduate school in middle age. The article cited numbers from the Council of Graduate Schools: $22K a year for a public university and $34,100 at a private school. It also stated that the average debt for most students is $37K. With that in mind, does pursuing a degree to make career change at middle age make sense?

How would a new degree affect your salary?  Find out with the PayScale Salary Calculator.