Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Man convicted for killing and eating China's last Indochinese tiger

By John Platt The last Indochinese tiger in China was killed and eaten by a man who has now been sentenced to 12 years in prison for his crime. The Indochinese tiger (also known as Corbett’s tiger or Panthera tigris corbetti) is an endangered tiger subspecies that used to live in China, but now only […]

South Korea issues warning against 'yellow dust'

By Staff WritersSeoul (AFP) Dec 25, 2009 South Korea’s weather service Friday issued a warning against airborne pollution known as “yellow dust”, advising residents in western areas to avoid outdoor activities. “Yellow dust which originated in Mongolia reached South Korea, blanketing most of the western parts of the country,” the National Meteorological Administration said in […]

Year of the Tiger dawns with only 3,200 wild tigers left

KATHMANDU, Nepal, December 28, 2009 (ENS) – To mark 2010 as Year of the Tiger, the government of Nepal has announced the expansion of Bardia National Park in the Terai Arc landscape by 900 square kilometers (347 square miles), which will increase critical habitat for wild tigers. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal says the government […]

Ecosystems strain to keep pace with rapidly changing climate

  By Steve Gorman, Wed Dec 23, 2009 8:14pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Earth’s various ecosystems, with all their plants and animals, will need to shift about a quarter-mile per year on average to keep pace with global climate change, scientists said in a study released on Wednesday. How well particular species can survive […]

Kenya food stocks to run out in April

By WALTER MENYA, Posted Thursday, December 17 2009 at 21:20 Kenya’s food stocks will run out in April, resulting in more people going hungry, a new study warns. The Kenya Food Security report blames the failed or poor rains, high food prices and environmental degradation for the crisis. The report also warns of increased inter-ethnic […]

Pakistan reservoirs almost empty

LAHORE: Water level at Tarbela and Mangla dams has been declining while water level at the Mangla dam was recorded only 40 feet higher than the dead level. According to IRSA, water inflow at Tarbela dam was recorded at 17,400 cusecs while outflow remained at 28,000 cusecs. On the other hand, water inflow at Mangla […]

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone radioactive longer than expected

Radioactive Material Isn’t Disappearing From the Environment as Quickly as Predicted By ALEXIS MADRIGALDec. 20, 2009 Chernobyl, the worst nuclear accident in history, created an inadvertent laboratory to study the impacts of radiation — and more than twenty years later, the site still holds surprises. Reinhabiting the large dead zone around the accident site may […]

Stimulus funds drill wells as California water vanishes

  By GARANCE BURKE, DOS PALOS, Calif. (AP) — The government is spending $40 million in federal stimulus funds to pull water from underground aquifers in drought-stricken California, even as evidence is growing that the well-drilling boom could degrade the quality of water delivered to millions of residents. Farmers, conservationists and engineers are criticizing the […]

Poor rains worsen east Africa famine

By Anisa Kadri A lack of rainfall has contributed to the ongoing food crisis in East Africa, Oxfam said on Thursday. It was hoped that rains expected in November would provide relief for those struck by famine in this region. However, areas including Ogaden in Ethiopia and Turkana in Kenya received below five per cent […]

Graph of the Day: Water-Level Decline in the High Plains Aquifer, 1950s to 2007

Water-level changes in the High Plains aquifer, predevelopment to 2007 (modified from Gutentag and others, 1984; Lowry and others, 1967; Luckey and others, 1981; and Burbach, 2007). The High Plains aquifer underlies 111.6 million acres (174,000 square miles) in parts of eight States—Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. Water-level declines […]

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