Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Tanzania: Drought devastates Maasai communities

Arusha — The drought spell that has hit most parts of Arusha and Manyara regions for about two consecutive years is tearing apart the Maasai social fabric and driving youths in large numbers to seek employment or beg for food in urban areas. Maasai youths from Simanjiro, Ngorongoro and Monduli Districts are flocking into town […]

Permafrost thaw threatens Russia oil and gas complex: study

MOSCOW (AFP) — Thawing permafrost caused by global warming is costing Russian energy firms billions of dollars annually in damage control and shrinking Russia’s territory, Greenpeace warned in a new study Friday. According to the report by the environmental watchdog, up to 55 billion roubles (1.9 billion dollars) a year is spent on repairs to […]

U.K. floods: 'Rain like this happens once every 1,000 years'

By Steve Bird and Lindsay McIntosh The full and devastating impact of England’s worst recorded day of rain was still emerging last night as tributes were paid to a policeman swept away by floodwaters while trying to save others. PC Bill Barker was helping motorists stranded on a bridge over the Derwent in the Cumbrian […]

Fish ‘exhibit a fatal attraction to predators’ in acidified ocean

Fish reared in water acidified by CO2 may become “fatally attracted” to the smell of their predators, say scientists. A team studying the effects of acidification – caused by dissolved CO2 – on ocean reefs found that it leaves fish unable to “smell danger”. Young clownfish that were reared in the acidified water became attracted […]

Graph of the Day: Evolution of Anthropogenic CO2 Sources and Sinks, 1765-2005

This graph shows the evolution of the various sources and sinks of anthropogenic CO2 between ad 1765 and ad 2005. Our results indicate that the terrestrial biosphere was a source of Cant until the 1940s, roughly in line with previous model-based estimates3, 18, after which it turned into a sink of anthropogenic CO2. Taken over […]

Kenya: Rangers demolish houses in Mau Forest

Nairobi — Houses left behind by Mau settlers were demolished on Thursday in a clear indication that the government would not allow the evicted squatters to return to the forest. The Kenya Forest Service has also sent more rangers to the South Western Mau to ensure that the families that leave the country’s largest source […]

Worst fire conditions ever seen in New South Wales – 140 wildfires rage across the state

By JOSEPHINE TOVEYNovember 22, 2009 THE worst fire conditions ever seen in November are expected today as the mercury rises to about 40 degrees and beyond across NSW. The Rural Fire Service, already stretched with 1000 firefighters battling more than 140 blazes across the state yesterday, is bracing for what Assistant Commissioner Rob Rogers described […]

Kiribati: Land of the rising sea

On the front line of climate change, the people of the Pacific Islands are desperately looking for higher ground. Adam Morton reports from Kiribati. When a coconut tree dies the decay starts at the top. The leaves fall, then the fruit. All that is left is a desiccated trunk, cut off at half-mast. In areas […]

Trout may be killed to save California yellow-legged frogs

SAN FRANCISCO, California, November 19, 2009 (ENS) – National Park Service officials in California are about to decide how to kill non-native trout to save critically endangered native yellow-legged frogs. How to eradicate the trout has generated a controversy among environmental groups. The nonprofit organization Save The Frogs, based in Virginia, is urging the National […]

Feared Asian carp may be near U.S. Great Lakes

By Andrew Stern CHICAGO (Reuters) – There are signs Asian carp may have breached barriers designed to keep the prolific fish out of the Great Lakes, which could spell ecological disaster for the vital source of fresh water, authorities said on Friday. Concentrations of DNA discovered by Notre Dame University researchers may indicate the presence […]

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