Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

More settlers leave Mau forest

Eviction of settlers from the Mau forest entered the second day Thursday with over 200 families voluntarily leaving the forest and camping at Kapkembu area at the outskirts of the forest. The families, which did not have title deeds, moved to make shift houses for fear of forceful evictions. At the same time a section […]

Catastrophe likely if rapid extinctions continue: UN

  By TOM ARUP ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENTNovember 13, 2009 AUSTRALIA and the world must make prevention of the rapid rate of species extinction a political priority or face an environmental catastrophe, the head of an international biodiversity convention has warned. In an interview with the Herald, the executive secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological […]

Graph of the Day: Response of Nitrogen Emissions and Soil Respiration to Increasing Temperature

Laboratory measurements of the response of reactive N gas emissions and soil respiration to changes in soil temperature in (A) dry soil from beneath L. tridentata, (B) dry soil from plant interspaces, and (C) wetted soil from beneath L. tridentata. In arid environments such as deserts, nitrogen is often the most limiting nutrient for biological […]

Kenya: Mau forest settlers troop out as security forces arrive

By Mark Agutu and George Sayagie 11 November 2009 Nairobi — The flow of illegal settlers out of Mau Forest started on Wednesday, a day after the government deployed security officers ready to evict them. The settlers, frightened by the show of force and a history of brutal evictions, appealed to the government to give […]

Total fire ban declared in New South Wales as mercury soars

A total fire ban has been declared for regions of NSW expected to swelter with 40 degree celsius heat on Thursday. The southeast of the state is prohibited from lighting, maintaining or using open fires on Thursday, following the ban from the NSW Rural Fire Service. Temperatures are expected to soar between the mid-30s to […]

Shangba, China’s village of death

By Suzanne Kanehl Just south of Liangqiao, in southern China’s Guangdong province is the small village of Shangba. On the surface, this community of roughly 3,300 appears to be a tranquil, rural village comprised of sugar cane fields and plentiful rice paddies. When a closer look is taken, the people of Shangba have been living […]

EPA: Toxic chemicals in freshwater fish widespread

By DINA CAPPIELLO, Associated Press Writer – Tue Nov 10, 7:31 pm ET WASHINGTON – Nearly half of lakes and reservoirs nationwide contain fish with potentially harmful levels of the toxic metal mercury, according to a federal study released Tuesday. The Environmental Protection Agency found mercury — a pollutant primarily released from coal-fired power plants […]

Graph of the Day: IEA Forecast of Global Oil Production, 1990-2030

By Terry Macalisterwww.guardian.co.uk, Monday 9 November 2009 21.30 GMT The world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit, according to a whistleblower at the International Energy Agency who claims it has been deliberately underplaying a looming shortage for fear of triggering panic buying. The senior official claims the US has […]

Kenya: Security forces move to evict millions of settlers in Mau Forest

  Nairobi — The government will start evicting millions of squatters in Mau Forest any time from Wednesday. Hundreds of security officers have been sent to South Western Mau, the first part of the 400,000 hectare forest to be cleared of settlers. The government had given the settlers a deadline of Tuesday to leave peacefully. […]

Timor Sea oil leak 'threatens Indonesian coast'

By FRAN RIMRODNovember 11, 2009 – 10:40AM There are fears the oil that spewed from a leaking well off the West Australian coast has polluted a stretch of the Indonesian coastline, jeopardising the local fishing industry. The Greens are calling on operator PTTEP Australasia to compensate West Timorese fishing communities in West Timor if reports […]

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