Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Almost all Austria glaciers shrank in 2009

VIENNA, April 9 (AFP) Apr 09, 2010 Almost 90 percent of Austrian glaciers shrank in 2009, some by as much as 46 metres (150 feet), the Austrian Alpine Association (OeAV) said Friday. In a report, the OeAV said 85 out of 96 glaciers had shrunk over the past year. The biggest changes were seen in […]

So long Suburbia: Construction in US cities shifting back to urban core

  By Jesse Fox, Tel Aviv, Israel  on 04.11.10 The boundless growth of suburban sprawl in the US, long blamed for everything from climate change to social segregation, may finally be slowing down. According to a new study by the EPA, new construction in the urban cores and older suburbs of American cities is beginning […]

Dams and drought portend grim future for Mekong Delta – River level lowest in 50 years

Upstream and lower dams could render the Mekong Delta unviable, and China’s intransigence in building them and refusing to share information about their operations will negatively impact the lives of more than 60 million people. “China has plans to construct up to eight dams in total, some sources say the number could rise to fourteen. […]

Image of the Day: Wasting of Lake Nakuru, Kenya

Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya: One of thousands of dead flamingos on the dry lake bed. The number of flamingoes living on the lake has declined dramatically, a number of factors have been blamed including the receding waters of the lake, and pollution. Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP World Water day gallery Technorati Tags: drought,freshwater depletion,agriculture,Kenya,Africa,global […]

On Plains, concern about another Dust Bowl

By Brian Winter, USA TODAY MULESHOE, Texas — James Wedel remembers seeing thunderheads on the horizon and thinking: “Oh good, we’re finally gonna get some rain.” One problem: Those weren’t rain clouds. “The wind started blowing, the dust started blowing, and you could hardly see in front of your face,” Wedel says. “Static electricity was […]

Sixteen percent of the world's mangrove forests threatened with extinction

  By Sara Novak, Columbia, SC on 04.10.10 One of the fondest memories of my honeymoon was kayaking through the mangrove forests on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. The trees were mystical, something out of a fairy tale. That’s why I was more than a little saddened to learn that forests of this kind […]

Hobet coal mine: Then and now

Caption by Rebecca Lindsey Below the densely forested slopes of southern West Virginia’s Appalachian Mountains is a layer cake of thin coal seams. To uncover this coal profitably, mining companies engineer large—sometimes very large—surface mines. This pair of images shows the growth of one of the largest surface mines in West Virginia during the past […]

Eco-certified paper made from razed orangutan rainforest

  By Jennifer Hattam, Istanbul, Turkey  on 04.10.10 European consumers of Golden Plus and Lucky Boss brand copy paper got an unpleasant surprise this week when a federation of EU environmental groups announced that the products they thought were made from sustainable sources have in fact been having “devastating impacts on Sumatran rainforests, causing deforestation, […]

All set for Maasai Mau evictions as survey ends

By SATURDAY NATION CorrespondentPosted Friday, April 9 2010 at 21:00 Survey of the Maasai Mau block of the Mau Forest Complex ended on Friday, setting the stage for the third phase of the restoration of the country’s biggest water tower. The chairman of the interim coordinating secretariat, Mr Hassan Noor Hassan, said the evictions would […]

Right whales washing up dead on Argentina coast

  ScienceDaily (Apr. 9, 2010) — A few years ago, right whales began washing up on the shores of Argentina’s Patagonian coast. So far, researchers have counted a total of 308 dead whales since 2005. These right whales in the waters around Peninsula Valdés are amidst the largest die-off of great whales ever recorded. Whatever […]

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