A bald eagle, one of the Endangered Species Act’s success stories, near Castle Dale, Utah. Photo: Brandon Thibodeaux / The New York Times

Trump Administration weakens protections for endangered species – “If we make decisions based on short-term economic costs, we’re going to have a whole lot more extinct species”

By Lisa Friedman 12 August 2019 WASHINGTON (The New York Times) – The Trump administration on Monday announced that it would change the way the Endangered Species Act is applied, significantly weakening the nation’s bedrock conservation law credited with rescuing the bald eagle, the grizzly bear and the American alligator from extinction. The changes could […]

A thermometer show the temperature of over 40 degrees at the Volklingen Ironworks in Volklingen, Germany on 24 July 2019. Photo: Harald Tittel / AFP / Getty Images

AccuWeather misleads on global warming and heat waves, a throwback to its past climate denial

By Jason Samenow and Andrew Freedman 9 August 2019 (The Washington Post) – A week after a punishing heat wave torched the eastern two-thirds of the country, setting numerous records, AccuWeather chief executive Joel Myers cast doubt on the scientific finding that heat waves in the United States and elsewhere are worsening because of climate change. […]

Caricature of Don Blankenship, CEO of Massey Energy in 2009. Graphic: Ian Murphy

14 Most Heinous Climate Villains

By Mike Roddy and Ian Murphy 29 December 2009 (The Buffalo Beast) – The science of climate change is pretty basic: humans dig up fossilized carbon to fuel power plants and internal combustion machines, releasing CO2 into the atmosphere. Result: greenhouse effect global heating. Around 50% of all the species on the planet are predicted […]

Coverage of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV3) vaccine, in the high income group, 2008-2018. Data: WHO/UNICEF national immunization coverage estimates, 2018 revision. Graphic: WHO/UNICEF

Global vaccination rates stalled in 2018 due to conflict, inequality, and complacency – Measles cases more than doubled to almost 350,000 – 20 million children missed out on lifesaving measles, diphtheria, and tetanus vaccines

NEW YORK/GENEVA, 15 July 2019 (UNICEF) – 20 million children worldwide – more than 1 in 10 – missed out on lifesaving vaccines such as measles, diphtheria and tetanus in 2018, according to new data from WHO and UNICEF. Globally, since 2010, vaccination coverage with three doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3) and one […]

Screenshot of the Desdemona Despair page on Twitter. Graphic: James P. Galasyn

Desdemona is live on Twitter

12 July 2019 (Desdemona Despair) – Desdemona readers have been requesting this feature for years, and it’s finally here: Also, you can check out Desdemona on Facebook: See you in the social media trenches. Aux barricades!

Example of coastal flooding in Alamitos Bay, California with 0.25 m of sea level rise and storms. This example illustrate that there are locations with significant flood risks for small amounts of sea level rise when storms are considered. Graphic: Barnard, et al., 2019 / Scientific Reports

Trump officials deleting mentions of “climate change” from U.S. Geological Survey press releases – “It’s an insult to the science”

By Scott Waldman 8 July 2019 (Science) – A March news release from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) touted a new study that could be useful for infrastructure planning along the California coastline. At least that’s how President Donald Trump’s administration conveyed it. The news release hardly stood out. It focused on the methodology of […]

Artist’s rendering of the proposed liquefied natural gas plant in Kitimat, B.C. Photo: LNG Canada / Flickr

Canada government announces “largest private sector investment in Canadian history” for B.C. natural gas project, two weeks after declaring climate emergency – “This is not what concerned citizens expect”

24 June 2019 (CBC News) – The federal government is pumping $275 million into LNG Canada’s $40 billion liquefied natural gas project in Kitimat, B.C. Finance Minister Bill Morneau made the announcement Monday in Kitimat, announcing the $220 million will be directed toward buying energy-efficient gas turbines for the project, with the additional $55 million […]

Share of people who believe vaccines are safe in 2018. Data: Gallup World Poll 2018. Graphic: Wellcome

France, Russia top list of anti-vaccine nations – Social media the vector for “real infection of misinformation”

By Michael Skapinker 26 June 2019 (Financial Times) – The richer countries are, the less their citizens believe that vaccines are safe. In the US and Canada, only 72 per cent believe vaccines are safe. In the northern European arc from Ireland and the UK through the Nordic countries, the figure is about 73 per […]

Immigration Customs and Enforcement dropped off more than 100 migrants mostly from Guatemala at the Phoenix Greyhound bus station at 2115 E. Buckeye Road. Roberto Ramirez, 6, was in ICE custody with his father, Gaspa Ramirez. He claims that treatment by officers was bad and children were getting sick because of cold weather. Photo: Nick Oza / The Arizona Republic

Flu, lice, and open toilets: What attorneys saw at migrant child processing centers in Texas – “In my 22 years of doing visits with children in detention, I have never heard of this level of inhumanity”

By Gaby del Valle 22 June 2019 (Vice News) – Attorneys who work with migrant children recently visited two Border Patrol processing centers along the U.S.-Mexico border — and what they saw paints a bleak picture of the Trump administration’s treatment of child migrants. [It seems Desdemona’s worst fears are being realized: Children of Men, […]

A truck moves around the Oregon state Capitol during a protest against climate bills that truckers say will put them out of business, in Salem, Oregon on 12 June 2019. Photo: Sarah Zimmerman / AP Photo

Threats from militia groups shut down Oregon capitol a day after GOP lawmakers fled over climate bill: “safety of legislators, staff, and citizen visitors could be compromised”

By Nicole Einbinder 22 June 2019 (Insider) – Oregon lawmakers have shut down the state capitol after receiving threats from militia groups who are vowing to protect Republican senators who bolted earlier this week to prevent the passage of climate change legislation. Conflict first arose on Thursday when 11 GOP senators went into hiding to block the […]

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