Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Graph of the Day: Abundance of Steller Sea Lions at Año Nuevo Island, 1990-2004

The decline of the central California breeding population cannot be attributed solely to any single threat listed below, but instead is the result of a combination of multiple threats. In some cases, exposure to one threat may make the animals more susceptible to the others (e.g., high level of contaminants may make an animal more […]

China says dams not to blame for low Mekong levels

By Ambika Ahuja, Editing by Alan Raybould and Ron PopeskiHUA HIN, ThailandMon Apr 5, 2010 8:41am EDT (Reuters) – China on Monday denied that its dams were reducing water levels on the Mekong River and blamed problems along the river on unusually dry weather, but it also offered to share more data with its neighbors. […]

Medicine residues may threaten fish reproduction, Swedish study finds

  ScienceDaily (Apr. 5, 2010) — Researchers at Umeå University and the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have discovered that traces of many medicines can be found in fish that have been swimming in treated waste water. One such medicine, the hormone levonorgestrel, was found in higher concentrations in the blood of […]

Sierra Leone allows pair trawling despite signing international fishing conventions

By Tatafway Tumoe – SEM Suddenly, with the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) indicting former Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister  Haja Afsatu Kabba, everyone it seems has suddenly become interested in the manner in which this sector is operating in the country. What most people have however failed to realize is that the present government is […]

China attempts inducing rain for drought

By Staff WritersBeijing (UPI) Mar 30, 2009 In an attempt to bring relief to drought-stricken southwestern China, the government fired cannons and launched rockets loaded with cloud-seeding chemicals throughout the weekend. Results ranged from drizzle to moderate rain to downpours in 11 cities and prefectures, yet meteorologists said the induced rain would have a limited […]

Drought causes coal shortage in central China province — Three Gorges reservoir six meters lower than last year

13:22, April 04, 2010Source:Xinhua About 300,000 tonnes of thermal coals were needed in central China’s Hubei Province as lingering drought in the upstream region has cut the hydropower, local officials said Sunday. About 30 percent of Hubei’s electricity capacity comes from hydropower generation, but the drought in southwest China has lowered the water level in […]

Even in the desert, plants feel the heat of global warming

By Monica Konija, National Science Foundationlivescience.com – Sat Apr 3, 9:02 am ET Global warming is a hot topic, and it’s causing concern for scientists studying winter annuals in the Sonoran Desert. While desert winters have become warmer and drier over the years, climate changes have pushed the arrival of winter rains later in the […]

EPA study confirms damage from strip mining

By Ken Ward Jr.Staff writer CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Federal government scientists say a “growing body of evidence” shows that mountaintop removal coal mining is destroying Appalachian forests and dangerously polluting vital headwater streams. In a new report, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency outlines the results of dozens of scientific papers published over the last decade […]

Arctic thaw frees overlooked greenhouse gas

Editing by Philippa Fletcher OSLO (Reuters) – Thawing permafrost can release nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, a contributor to climate change that has been largely overlooked in the Arctic, a study showed on Sunday. The report in the journal Nature Geoscience indicated that emissions of the gas surged under certain conditions from melting […]

New timber ban fails to stop illegal logging in Madagascar

  www.wildmadagascar.orgApril 04, 2010 Rainforest timber continues to be cut illegally from Madagascar’s national parks despite a recently announced moratorium on precious wood exports and logging, reports a source from the Indian Ocean island nation. On March 24, Madagascar’s transitional authority unveiled decree (no. 2010-141) prohibiting all exports of rosewood and precious timber for two […]

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