Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Gone: a look at extinction over the past decade

A survey of twelve species lost to extinction over the past ten years. By Jeremy Hancewww.mongabay.comJanuary 03, 2010 No one can say with any certainty how many species went extinct from 2000-2009. Because no one knows if the world’s species number 3 million or 30 million, it is impossible to guess how many known species—let […]

Half of euro zone countries at risk of sovereign default

In 2010, many nations in the currency bloc will attempt to shore up finances and sustain fitful economic recoveries By TERENCE ROTH After two years of crashing banking systems and economic recession, the euro zone enters 2010 with a full-blown debt crisis. The European Commission warns that public finances in half of the 16 euro-zone […]

Elephants, other iconic animals dying in Kenya drought

By Nick Wadhams in Nairobi, for National Geographic News, September 21, 2009 This story is part of a special series that explores the global water crisis. For more clean water news, photos, and information, visit National Geographic’s Freshwater Web site. More than sixty African elephants and hundreds of other animals have died so far in […]

Kenya: Poor rainfall worsens food insecurity

  By Susan Anyangu-Amu, 31 December 2009 The European Commission Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO) has raised a red flag over the worsening food security situation in the Horn of Africa. Mr Karel De Gucht, the European Commissioner in charge of development and humanitarian aid, attributes the disastrous situation to the terrible potential of climate change. […]

Climate change depletes Saudi surface water by 30 percent

By Hana Namrouqa (MENAFN – Jordan Times) With people in over 17 Arab countries living well below the water poverty line of 500 cubic metres annually, Arab decision makers on Monday called for coordinated efforts to address the impact of climate change on the limited resource. Experts said more than 75 per cent of the […]

Graph of the Day: Kenya Food Security, October 2009

The 2009 short rains season is underway across most areas of the country. Above‐normal rains have been reported in most of the eastern half of the country, while rains have picked up in some areas reporting lower than average cumulative October rainfall. Food insecurity remains high for severely drought–affected pastoral and marginal agricultural households (Figure […]

The Photography of Brian Ulrich: Ghosts of Shopping Past

Interview by Nozlee Samadzadeh Landscaping overgrows, walls develop mildew, ceilings cave in—a building can be shut down, but that doesn’t make it go away. Brian Ulrich’s photographs of closed-down malls and big-box retail stores reveal the potential ghost towns lying inside successful shopping complexes all across America. Photographer Brian Ulrich lives and works in Chicago. […]

Manatee death rate seven times sustainable level — boat strikes preventing species' recovery

SAN FRANCISCO- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finalized new stock assessments for manatees that puts the population of Florida manatees at about 3,800 and a Puerto Rico population at 72. The stock-assessment reports resulted from settlement of a lawsuit brought by the Center for Biological Diversity that sought updated assessments, since the Service […]

Phase two of Mau evictions to begin

By Kipchumba Kemei The Government will next month embark on the second phase of the controversial Mau Forest evictions. Kenya Forest Service sources say the exercise will kick off shortly after President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga tour the forest for a tree planting ceremony along Narok North-Molo districts borders. The first exercise ended […]

Graph of the Day: Fannie Mae Serious Delinquency Rate, Jan 1998 – October 2009

Here is the monthly Fannie Mae hockey stick graph. Fannie Mae reported today that the rate of serious delinquencies – at least 90 days behind – for conventional loans in its single-family guarantee business increased to 4.98% in October, up from 4.72% in September – and up from 1.89% in October 2008. “Includes seriously delinquent […]

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