Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Graph of the Day: Percent of Normal Precipitation in Brazil, Summer 2010

By Nick Sundt11/23/2010 The Amazon region is experiencing the third extreme drought in a dozen years — and it may turn out to be the worst on record. The droughts coupled with recent research findings, suggest that rising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases will rapidly increase the frequency and severity of droughts in the region. […]

Tearful homecoming for Pakistan flood survivors

By Hasan Mansoor (AFP)Dec 15, 2010 KHAIRPUR NATHANSHAH, Pakistan — Hajani Chandio broke down in tears when she came home after three months in a refugee camp following the catastrophic floods that ravaged Pakistan earlier this year. “My house looked like a huge rubbish dump. It was littered with rubbish and the smell was unbearable. […]

‘Massive’ explosion at Alberta oilsands injures 3

CBC NewsThursday, January 6, 2011 An explosion has rocked the Horizon oilsands site near Fort McKay in northern Alberta, injuring three employees, officials with Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., which owns the site, confirmed. The explosion occurred around 3:30 p.m. MT Thursday. A contractor at the site said the blast shot flames and smoke hundreds of […]

Video: NSW braces for floods with heavy rain on the way

AAPJanuary 7, 2011 – 11:14AM Towns in northeastern NSW are bracing for major flooding on the weekend, with more heavy downpours forecast for the already sodden region. Northern rivers bulging from weeks of persistent rain are expected to start bursting their banks from Sunday as rain sweeps the region. The State Emergency Service (SES) warns […]

World food prices surge to record, passing levels that sparked 2008 riots

By Rudy RuitenbergJan 5, 2011 4:24 AM PT World food prices rose to a record in December on higher sugar, grain and oilseed costs, the United Nations said, exceeding levels reached in 2008 that sparked deadly riots from Haiti to Egypt. An index of 55 food commodities tracked by the Food and Agriculture Organization gained […]

Ocean currents changing drastically due to global warming

Aquatic Research4 January 2011 Examination of deep sea corals reveals that there have been drastic changes to oceanic currents in the western North Atlantic since the 1970s. The influence of the cold water Labrador Current, which is in periodic interchange with the warm Gulf Stream, has been decreasing continually since the 1970s. Occurring at the […]

India extracting groundwater at three times the replenishment rate

By Mason Inman for National Geographic News Published December 31, 2010 This story is part of a special National Geographic News series on global water issues. Nearly a third of India is suffering from chronic water shortages, and making up for it with “the world’s largest groundwater mining operation,” according to experts. A band of […]

China says will take 300 years to turn back deserts

Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Created by Daniel MagnowskiTue Jan 4, 2011 BEIJING Jan 4 (Reuters) – At the current rate of progress it will take 300 years to turn back China’s advancing deserts, a senior official said on Tuesday, bemoaning the low level of investment in fighting a serious environmental problem. Over a quarter of […]

Australia floods cause ‘catastrophic’ damage

By Daniel Munoz; Reporting and writing by Michael Perry in Sydney; Additional reporting by James Regan in Sydney, James Grubel in Canberra and Rebekah Kebede in Perth; Editing by Mark Bendeich and Alex RichardsonTue Jan 4, 2011 9:24pm EST ROCKHAMPTON, Australia (Reuters) – Australia’s record floods are causing catastrophic damage to infrastructure in the state […]

Video: Floods threaten Australia’s financial health, more rain on the way

AUSTRALIA – Floods covering an area the size of France and Germany combined in north-eastern Australia have washed out crops and inundated coal mines, pushing up commodity prices and possibly reducing the national growth rate, economists said on Tuesday. Floods threaten Australia’s financial health, economists say Technorati Tags: Australia,flood,global warming,climate change,agriculture

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