Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Australia drought shuts Wallerawang power station

By BRIAN ROBINSNovember 28, 2009 LOW water levels will force the shutdown of the large Wallerawang power station near Lithgow over Christmas, as efforts are made to to take pressure off local water supplies. The move is the clearest impact yet of the dry weather conditions on the state’s electricity industry. A continuing lack of […]

New South Wales: Everything's dried up and communities begin to crack

  By Josephine Tovey, November 28, 2009 FISH lie belly-up on the cracked bed of Lake Cargelligo. Like the lake it is built around, the town is drying out. Lake Cargelligo, a settlement of 1300 in the geographical heart of NSW, was once a holiday haven for swimmers and waterskiers. Now empty shops line the […]

Graph of the Day: Economic and Market Losses Caused by Weather Events, 1980–2008

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing mankind. It claims many lives. And it also costs a great deal, given the rising trend in weather-related natural catastrophes and resulting losses. Whilst a number of factors are involved, there is clear evidence indicating that one cause is climate change. Climate protection is necessary and […]

Image of the Day: A Five-Star Ghost Town at the End of 'The World'

By Tim McGirk Monday, Oct. 19, 2009 …Depending on your point of view, the World is either the apex of mankind’s ingenuity or a cautionary tale about the feverish excesses of Dubai’s 21st century boom. Each island was selling for $15 million to $50 million, by invitation only: its developers were pitching the spits of […]

Restaurant sushi contains endangered species

By Jake RichardsonPublished on November 26th, 2009 A recent study has produced some astonishing and disturbing results. Tuna was ordered from 31 sushi restaurants. Genetic tests were then used to identify the species of fish ordered. Nineteen of the restaurants surveyed incorrectly described or could could not indicate which species of fish they had served. […]

Outback town to shoot thousands of invading camels seeking water

ALICE SPRINGS, Australia – Australian authorities plan to corral about 6,000 wild camels with helicopters and gun them down after they overran a small Outback town in search of water, trampling fences, smashing tanks and contaminating supplies. The Northern Territory government announced its plan Wednesday for Docker River, a town of 350 residents where thirsty […]

Climate change to cost trillions, say economists

By Richard Ingham PARIS (AFP) — Estimates vary widely on the costs of damage from climate change, easing these impacts and taming the carbon gas stoking the problem, but economists agree the bill is likely to be in the trillions of dollars. Figures depend on different forecasts for greenhouse-gas emissions and the timeline for reaching […]

Climate change already a reality in Africa

By Boris Bachorz – Thu Nov 26, 6:15 am ET NAIROBI (AFP) – From prolonged droughts to melting ice caps to heavy flooding and unpredictable weather patterns, climate change effects are already wrecking lives in Africa, the continent that pollutes the least. Around 23 million people currently face starvation across east Africa as successive failed […]

200,000 seabirds killed annually by European longlines

  By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor, Friday, 27 November 2009 Concern is growing about the huge number of seabirds being killed by fisheries in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said yesterday. Although conservationists’ fears have so far focused on seabirds in the Southern Ocean, especially […]

As sewers fill, waste poisons waterways

By CHARLES DUHIGGPublished: November 22, 2009 It was drizzling lightly in late October when the midnight shift started at the Owls Head Water Pollution Control Plant, where much of Brooklyn’s sewage is treated. A few miles away, people were walking home without umbrellas from late dinners. But at Owls Head, a swimming pool’s worth of […]

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