Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Scientist says hundreds may die as smog blankets Moscow

By Gleb Bryanski, additional reporting by Alexei Anishchuk and Amie Ferris-Rotman; editing by Angus MacSwanTue Jul 27, 2010 5:37pm EDT NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia (Reuters) – A prominent scientist said hundreds of people could die as smog from peat fires blanketed a sweltering Moscow for a second day on Tuesday. Moscow region chief Boris Gromov asked Prime […]

Storm blows oiled boom into Louisiana wetlands

By JEFFREY BALL JULY 27, 2010 GRAND ISLE, La.—To keep crude oil out of Louisiana’s sensitive marshes, workers have spread barriers known as boom in unprecedented amounts. Now the marshes face a new threat—from the boom itself. Recent storms have tossed dozens of miles of oil-soaked boom into the marshes, mowing down grass and threatening […]

Graph of the Day: Abundance of Australia Waterbirds, 1983-2004

Ten aerial survey bands (each 30 km in width), every two degrees of latitude, crossing eastern Australia and providing estimates for up to 50 species of waterbirds in October each year (1983-2004). Letters identify seven particular wetlands: Styx River wetlands (A), Lake Hope (B), Paroo River overflow lakes (C), and Macquarie Marshes (D). Australia State […]

Can Australia save the dingo from extinction?

By John PlattJul 26, 2010 04:45 PM Where did the Australian dingo go? Once present throughout that country, the feared predator (Canis lupus dingo) in its current form is on its way to extinction as it is either killed or breeds and hybridizes with domesticated dogs. With the disappearance of the purebred dingo comes the […]

Toxic waste reaches Potomac Aquifer

Special Report: Delaware Drinking Water at Risk — What you haven’t been told about chemicals polluting the aquifer that serves Del., Md., N.J. By JEFF MONTGOMERY, The News JournalJuly 25, 2010 Tainted groundwater is spreading across thousands of acres in northern Delaware and has reached the Potomac Aquifer, which supplies drinking water to people across […]

Russia farmers suffer ‘catastrophe’ in baking summer

By Mokrye Kurnali, Russia (AFP) July 25, 2010 Russian farm owner Ilshat Gumerov stands in the middle of his fields under the mercilessly hot sun with a look of despair on his face. His 700-hectare land in the central Volga region of Tatarstan has not been touched by a drop of rain in weeks amid […]

20 percent of livestock breeds threatened in global ‘livestock meltdown’

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (SPX) Jul 26, 2010 Urgent action is needed to stop the rapid and alarming loss of genetic diversity of African livestock that provide food and income to 70 percent of rural Africans and include a treasure-trove of drought- and disease-resistant animals, according to a new analysis presented at a major gathering of […]

Brazil Indians take hostages at Amazon dam site

Reporting by Raymond Colitt; Editing by Cynthia OstermanSun Jul 25, 2010 5:45pm EDT BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazilian native Indians on Sunday took 100 workers hostage at the construction site of a hydroelectric plant in the southern Amazon region, local media reported. As many as 400 Indians from several different tribes occupied a power plant they […]

Ancient ocean acidification intimates long recovery from climate change

It may takes tens of thousands of years for oceans to recover from the acidity caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide By David Biello  July 22, 2010 Single-cell life-forms thrive throughout the world’s oceans—and have for hundreds of millions of years. Tiny varieties known as calcareous nanoplankton build exuberant, microscopic shells—resembling wagon wheels, fishlike […]

Thick smog from heatwave fires covers Moscow

  Reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman, Tanya Ustinova, Ben Judah and Alexei Anishchuk; Writing by Amie Ferris-Rotman, Editing by Peter GraffMOSCOW | Mon Jul 26, 2010 7:53am EDT MOSCOW (Reuters) – Muscovites struggled to breathe on Monday and Red Square was blanketed in smoke as a record-setting heatwave that that has already ruined crops caused fires […]

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