Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

UNICEF warns epidemic outbreak among flood hit children

ISLAMABAD, 13 December 2010 (APP): The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that winter will worsen the threats of epidemic against children inhabited in flood hit areas, who already suffer high rates of acute respiratory infections and malnutrition. “The coming cold months will sharply increase the numbers of respiratory infections and malnutrition, two of the […]

Alarming child mortality rates in parts of southern Pakistan

By Hadi HusaniSource: International Medical Corps (IMC)13 Dec 2010 As floodwaters slowly recede across inundated areas of Pakistan, the international community and national authorities are discovering the true impact of this emergency. Given its flat terrain and semi-arid soil, significant parts of Sindh province in the south remain under water. Dadu District in Sindh has […]

Desert Southwest may be first U.S. victim of climate change – ‘Even the best-case scenario is not too good’

By Lauren Morello and ClimatewireDecember 14, 2010 A 60-year drought that scorched the Southwest during the 12th century may be a harbinger of things to come as greenhouse gases warm the Earth, according to research published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study’s authors used tree rings to reconstruct a […]

Global warming deal decades away as ‘dysfunctional’ U.S. delays commitment

By Alex Morales, Kim Chipman and Jim Efstathiou Jr.Dec 12, 2010 9:00 PM PT Delegates at the United Nations climate talks stayed up two nights in a row last week to agree on a proposal to slow global warming. Next year’s negotiations may be even tougher. The plan approved on Dec. 11 creates a climate […]

Graph of the Day: US Unemployment Rate Including Long-term Discouraged Workers, 1994-2010

The seasonally-adjusted SGS Alternate Unemployment Rate reflects current unemployment reporting methodology adjusted for SGS-estimated long-term discouraged workers, who were defined out of official existence in 1994. That estimate is added to the BLS estimate of U-6 unemployment, which includes short-term discouraged workers. The U-3 unemployment rate is the monthly headline number. The U-6 unemployment rate […]

Media Barrage #8661

Desdemona is not above proselytizing for the One True Religion™, the mighty Church of the SubGenius.     Media Barrage #8661 Technorati Tags: doom

Shark finning continues despite EU ban, says report

By Mark Kinver, Science and environment reporter, BBC News 9 December 2010 Last updated at 04:53 ET Loopholes in EU regulations mean that illegal shark finning is continuing undetected, a report warns. Finning involves cutting off a shark’s fins and throwing the rest of the carcass back into the sea – a practice that the […]

Veron: The end is in sight for the world’s coral reefs

By Joe RommDecember 7, 2010 Reefs are the ocean’s canaries and we must hear their call. This call is not just for themselves, for the other great ecosystems of the ocean stand behind reefs like a row of dominoes. If coral reefs fail, the rest will follow in rapid succession, and the Sixth Mass Extinction […]

Image of the Day: Record Low Rio Negro Viewed from Orbit

 Rio Negro, 9 December 2008     Rio Negro, 10 December 2010 By Holli RiebeekDecember 11, 2010 Widespread, severe drought gripped much of the Amazon Basin in 2010, straining the network of water that makes up the Amazon River. By December 3, one of the Amazon’s largest tributaries, the Negro River, reached a record-low 13.63 […]

Eutrophication makes toxic cyanobacteria more toxic

Gothenburg, Sweden (SPX) Dec 09, 2010 – Continued eutrophication of the Baltic Sea, combined with an ever thinner ozone layer, is favouring the toxic cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena, reveals research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. “There are several species of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, that can form surface blooms in the Baltic Sea,” explains Malin […]

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