Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Half of North America freshwater mussel species in decline

Norman, Okla.–Biodiversity in freshwater systems is impacted as much or more by environmental change than tropical rain forests, according to University of Oklahoma Professor Caryn Vaughn, who serves as director of the Oklahoma Biological Survey. “When we think about species becoming extinct, we don’t necessarily think of the common species in freshwater systems, many of […]

Maximum height of extreme waves up dramatically in Pacific Northwest

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A major increase in maximum ocean wave heights off the Pacific Northwest in recent decades has forced scientists to re-evaluate how high a “100-year event” might be, and the new findings raise special concerns for flooding, coastal erosion and structural damage. The new assessment concludes that the highest waves may be as […]

Graph of the Day: California Groundwater Storage Loss, October 2003 – March 2009

Observed ground water trends in the Sacramento and San Joaquin River basins, Oct. 2003 to March 2009. NASA Data Reveal Major Groundwater Loss in California’s Heartland Technorati Tags: freshwater depletion,drought,agriculture,California,GRACE,North America

Drug money eclipses oil exports in Mexico

By Jason Lange, ZAPOPAN, MexicoFri Jan 22, 2010 7:40am EST ZAPOPAN, Mexico (Reuters) – At a modern factory in a city whose main claim to fame is an image of the Virgin Mary revered for granting miracles, Mexican pharmaceuticals firm Grupo Collins churns out antibiotics and other medicines. But the United States contends that the […]

Graph of the Day: Mammal, Bird, and Amphibian Declines by Cause

Red List Index (RLI) for (a) birds, (b) mammals and (c) amphibians showing trends driven by the impacts of invasive alien species (IAS)  compared with trends driven by other factors, for the proportion of species expected to remain extant in the near future without additional conservation action; n = 9,785 nondata deficient extant bird, 4,555 […]

Little owl in decline across Britain and Europe

Nature Notebook: Unlike similar introductions, the little owl has been an attractive addition to Britain’s avifauna By Michael McCarthyTuesday, 26 January 2010 Here’s some sad news for birdwatchers and classicists alike: the wise old owl is in decline. Across Europe, the bird which began the association between owls and intelligence is dropping in numbers – […]

Torrential rain not enough to end California drought

By Bonnie Hulkower, New York, New York on 01.25.10 …While this week of rain has brought some relief to water officials, much more rain and snow is needed to pull California out of its three-year drought. The state could emerge from drought, but only if the rain is persistent, and is complemented by heavy snowfall […]

10,000 hectares of rainforest remain on Java

By Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.comJanuary 24, 2010 From 2003-2006, Java lost approximately 2,500 hectares a year (10,000 hectares of forest in total) according to the Forestry Ministry. Despite the rate of loss being far lower in Java than other Indonesian islands (such as Borneo, Sumatra, and Sulawesi), Java is particularly threatened because there is so little […]

Koala forest to be logged for wood chips

By BEN CUBBYJanuary 25, 2010 LOGGING is set to start within weeks in a forest that supports the last known koala colony on the NSW far south coast. The NSW Government is yet to release data from a comprehensive survey of koala habitat and population in Mumbulla and Murrah state forests, near Tathra, even though […]

Australia’s Snowy River on 'life support'

By DEBRA JOPSON REGIONAL AFFAIRSJanuary 25, 2010 WATER that the State Government plans to release from Lake Jindabyne dam into the Snowy River over the next three days will do no more than supply ”life support” to a river which is dying through neglect, a local watchdog body has claimed. From today extra water – […]

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