Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Britain's wildlife – birds, mammals, and insects under threat

By David Harrison Published: 9:00PM BST 17 Apr 201 It has been called the “Domesday book of British wildlife” – a new publication, compiled by 40 of Britain’s leading scientists, provides a complete picture of the state of the country’s wild animals and plants. The book, called Silent Summer, makes for some grim reading. Farmland […]

Graph of the Day: Total Arable Land, 1961-2007

Arable land expansion has slowed down substantially in the last 50 years. This implies that much of the best arable land is already in use. Land Commodities: Investment Fundamentals Technorati Tags: soil degradation,desertification,agriculture,deforestation,habitat loss,drought,freshwater depletion

20 percent of UK plant species are endangered — UK loses one species of wild plant every two years

Stinging nettles have become the most common plants in the British countryside, while more delicate flowers like harebells and orchids are struggling to survive, according to a survey. By Louise Gray, Environment CorrespondentPublished: 8:00AM BST 17 Apr 2010 The annual survey of wild flowers by the charity Plantlife found plants that can tolerate high levels […]

Tons of plastic trash washing ashore in Washington State

Longview, WA – Waves of plastic trash are washing ashore, separated from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by storms. Why tons of trash is washing ashore on coast Technorati Tags: plastic,pollution,ocean,fish decline,bird decline

Doomsday shelter currently selling bunker space

April 12, 2010 by Lisa Zyga (PhysOrg.com) — California-based company Vivos is providing you and about 4,000 other people the chance to survive the end of the world. The company plans to build a network of 20 shelters near most major cities of the US. Each 20,000-square-foot shelter, which can hold up to 200 people, […]

Tennessee cleanup sends coal ash, anxiety, to Alabama site

By Renee Schoof | McClatchy Newspapers UNIONTOWN, Ala. — When the mound of wet coal ash began to rise in the landfill across the road from her pretty yellow house with the peonies and roses in the front yard, Ruby Holmes felt overpowered by a horrible smell. A few doors down, Mary Williams, a retired […]

EU ban and lack of ice end Canada seal slaughter

(AFP) A lack of sea ice in one of the warmest Canadian winters on record and a European boycott have ruined what was to be a banner seal hunt off Canada’s Atlantic coast this month. Canada’s Fisheries Minister Gail Shea last month increased by 50,000 the allowable catch of harp seals this season to 330,000, […]

South Africa turns to desalination during worst drought in 150 years

  Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton (Reuters) – South Africa will increasingly use desalinated seawater to meet growing demand for drinking water in coastal towns facing the worst drought in 150 years, the country’s water minister said Thursday. South Africa is a water-scarce country with an average rainfall of 450 millimeters — […]

Bangladesh reverses environmental regulation, allows toxic vessels into shipbreaking ports

  By Staff WritersDhaka (AFP) April 12, 2010 Environmental campaigners branded a move Monday by Bangladesh to ease strict controls on its vital shipbreaking industry as “suicidal”, saying it would expose tens of thousands to toxic waste. The government amended a law late Sunday to permit the industry, the world’s largest, to bring in ships […]

Iceland bank ‘Black Report’

  The English version of the Black Report on the Iceland bank failures was released today. It has it all – regulatory capture, oblivious politicians, shadow banking, loans to shareholders to buy shares and more. (ht Steinn) Here is the website with the English version. … One of the key problems identified in the report […]

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