Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Massive fish kill caused by leak from China copper mine

By Wei Tian, Hu Meidong and Zhu Xingxin in Fujian, and He Na in Beijing (China Daily)Updated: 2010-07-16 07:57 Qiu Yonglu knew something was wrong when his fish refused to eat and kept circling their pool. Ten days later, they began dying. On July 12, almost a month later, he finally discovered what had poisoned […]

BP says seepage unrelated to blown Gulf well

By Kristen Hays and Tom BerginMon Jul 19, 2010 4:04pm EDT HOUSTON/LONDON (Reuters) – Energy giant BP Plc said on Monday that seepage near its Gulf of Mexico well was unrelated to the massive oil leak that has at least temporarily been capped. BP shares, which had dropped more than 6 percent after engineers detected […]

Poachers kill last female rhino in South Africa park for prized horn – Rhino poaching at all-time high

Record levels of poaching are endangering survival of rhinoceros in South Africa By Alex Duval Smith The ObserverSunday 18 July 2010 South African wildlife experts are calling for urgent action against poachers after the last female rhinoceros in a popular game reserve near Johannesburg bled to death after having its horn hacked off. Wildlife officials […]

The Great Land Grab: A rush for food security and profits

Want to avoid the next food price crisis? Tired of unreliable rice and corn exporters? Why not buy up fertile land abroad and ship your own fresh, dependable supplies of foodstuffs and biofuels back home? That solution seems to make sense for more and more cash-rich, food-importing countries. Foreign land acquisitions and long-term lease-holdings, starting […]

I Don't Believe in Global Warming, by Banksy, 20 December 2009. Photo: TheMammal via flickr

How global climate change may affect violence

July 18, 2010 (NNPA) – If global warming is a scientific fact, then we’d better be prepared for the earth to become a more violent place. That according to a recent Iowa State University study that shows as the earth’s average temperature rises, so too does violent tendencies in humans. Using U.S. government data on […]

Singapore hires Dutch engineering firm to plan for rising sea level

July 18th, 2010 In anticipation of possible rise in sea levels caused by Global Warming and Climatic Extremity, Singapore engaged the services of Delft Hydraulics, a Netherlands-based water research and consulting organisation in 1997. Delft Hydraulics subsequently set up a research centre with the National University of Singapore and the Public Utilities Board. With their […]

Dalian, China oil spill cleanup in full swing after pipeline explosion

English.news.cn2010-07-19 21:07:07 DALIAN, July 19 (Xinhua) — Over 500 fishing boats Monday joined a massive oil spill clean-up operation underway off the coast of northeastern China’s Dalian City, three days after pipelines exploded near the city’s oil reserve base, one of China’s largest. Dalian officials said Monday the fires have been completely extinguished and the […]

Image of the Day: Jakobshavn Glacier Retreat, July 2010

Jakobshavn Glacier, 14 July 2001   Jakobshavn Glacier, 10 July 2010   For most of the past century, the Jakobshavn Glacier, or Jakobshavn Isbræ, along the west coast of Greenland has extended out into the ocean as a long, narrow ice tongue. The glacier drains a large portion of Greenland’s ice sheet, and consequently, the […]

Graph of the Day: Median Duration of US Unemployment, 1967-2010

By Greg Mankiw This recession looks very different, and much more troubling, than those in the recent past.  I wonder how this dramatic change in the nature of unemployment will alter traditional macroeconomic relationships, such as Okun’s Law and the Phillips curve. Some research suggests that the long-term unemployed put less downward pressure on inflation.  […]

Coral reefs suffer mass bleaching

Coral reefs are suffering widespread damage in what is set to be one of the worst years ever for the delicate and beautiful habitats. By Richard Gray, Science CorrespondentPublished: 9:30AM BST 18 Jul 2010 The phenomenon, known as coral bleaching because the reefs turn bone white when the colourful algae that give the coral its […]

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