Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Ireland snails face extinction

By John Platt Poor water quality and habitat loss are driving Ireland’s terrestrial and freshwater snails, along with related species into extinction, according to new research by the National Biodiversity Data Center (NBDC), a three-year-old organization established to study that country’s biodiversity. The study (pdf) of nonmarine Irish mollusks found that of 150 species, one […]

Arctic climate change ‘is happening much faster than our most pessimistic models expected’

By Rod NickelWINNIPEG, ManitobaFri Feb 5, 2010 7:32pm EST WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) – Climate change is transforming the Arctic environment faster than expected and accelerating the disappearance of sea ice, scientists said on Friday in giving their early findings from the biggest-ever study of Canada’s changing north. The research project involved more than 370 scientists […]

Graph of the Day: All Published Himalaya Glacier Mass Balance Measurements, 1960s – 2000s

The graph shows all published Himalaya-Karakoram (HK) measurements; they are more negative after 1995 than before. The map shows where the measurement sites are. Mass balance varies greatly year to year; these are series averages. Boxes suggest estimated uncertainty. The apparent trend is less uncertain than any one measurement. The data indicate either accelerating loss […]

Gov. Perdue asks Georgians to make water conservation commitments ‘that we have never asked of them before’

By Tom Baxter and Dick Pettys February 4, 2010 — Georgians will be called to a new “culture of conservation” under water legislation outlined Wednesday by Gov. Sonny Perdue, struggling in the twilight of his term to find a solution to the long-running water dispute with neighboring Florida and Alabama. At a news conference Wednesday […]

Michigan continues turning paved roads to gravel

Associated Press • February 2, 2010 More Michigan counties are returning stretches of previously paved roads back to gravel to save money. The County Road Association of Michigan said Tuesday that 35 miles were returned to gravel in 2009. Thirty-eight counties have combined to pulverize about 100 miles of pavement and lay down gravel in […]

Climate change causes wolverine decline across Canada

  By Matt WalkerEditor, Earth News The wolverine, a predator renowned for its strength and tenacious character, may be slowly melting away along with the snowpack upon which it lives. Research shows wolverine numbers are falling across North America. Their decline has been linked to less snow settling as a result of climate change. The […]

Phase III of Mau Forest eviction begins

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 4 – The government announced on Thursday that it was embarking on phase III of the Mau Forest reclamation exercise. In a statement, the head of the Interim Coordinating Secretariat Hassan Noor Hassan said the next phase will entail the recovery of titled forestland in Maasai Mau trust land forest. The Maasai […]

Yunnan, Guangxi reel from historic drought

By Chen Jia in Beijing and Wu Jiachun in Kunming (China Daily)Updated: 2010-02-04 07:16 The worst drought in 50 years is leaving millions of people and animals without drinking water in Yunnan province and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. Zhu Zhenghong, 76, from Niubi village in the mountains outside Kunming, capital of Yunnan, sits on […]

San Joaquin Valley water prospects ‘remain as if we are in a fourth year of drought’ despite Sierra snowpack

By Kate CampbellAssistant Editor Issue Date: February 3, 2010 As a panel of leading scientists convened last week to examine information used to restrict water transfers from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta on behalf of protected fish, the state’s water supply situation took on new complexities. Water districts and elected officials in the San Joaquin Valley […]

Graph of the Day: Snout Position of the Gangotri Glacier, 1942-2008

A study of data from all available sources illustrates that the main trunk of the Gangotri glacier has been in a continuous state of recession during the past century. The length of the glacier has been computed for different years based on available data. The trend shows that the length of the glacier has reduced […]

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