Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Yukon River salmon run critically low again this year

Yukoners and Alaskans who fish along the Yukon River should expect another critically low salmon run this year, federal fisheries officials warn. Last year’s salmon run on the river fell nearly 10,000 fish short of the target of 45,000 fish that should have reached their spawning grounds in the Yukon, despite unprecedented conservation measures set […]

Acidic seas fuel extinction fears

Increasing levels of acidity in oceans could trigger a mass extinction of sea life, a leading scientist warns. By Roger Harrabin, Environment analyst, BBC News Carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are acidifying the oceans and threaten a mass extinction of sea life, a top ocean scientist warns. Dr Carol Turley from Plymouth Marine Laboratory […]

Tidal wave of trash threatens world oceans

MIAMI (Reuters) – A tidal wave of man-made trash is threatening world oceans, damaging wildlife, tourism and seafood industries and piling additional stress on seas already hit by climate change, conservationists said on Tuesday. A report by U.S.-based Ocean Conservancy detailed what it called a "global snapshot of marine debris" based on itemized records of […]

‘What we know now is that we are facing the worst case scenario’

Jonathan Leake and Tricia Holly Davis Surging global greenhouse gas emissions mean the world now faces likely temperature rises of up to 5-6C this century, according to the scientist leading the international Climate Congress in Copenhagen this week. Professor Katharine Richardson, who chaired the scientific steering committee for the conference, said it was now almost […]

Postcards from the Recession: California's Inland Empire

Hard times hit, and we slowly disappear. By Susan Straight At night, I can hear the soft thumps as the rats land on my roof. They launch themselves from the branches of the apricot tree because they want to get inside my attic, into a house with heat. The house next door, and the one […]

In Fiji, dead palm trees on what used to be beach

By Fred Wesley Tomasi Daunivucu harbours a dream. In fact it has been nagging him for a couple of years. He wants to see the waterfront that makes up his village at Saioko in the district of Nakorotubu in Ra, saved from the forces of mother nature. Like every member of the 29 households in […]

Carbon emissions creating acidic oceans not seen since dinosaurs

Chemical change placing ‘unprecedented’ pressure on marine life and could cause widespread extinctions, warn scientists by David Adam, environment correspondent Human pollution is turning the seas into acid so quickly that the coming decades will recreate conditions not seen on Earth since the time of the dinosaurs, scientists will warn today. The rapid acidification is […]

One million migratory birds slaughtered in Cyprus

NICOSIA (Reuters) – More than 1.1 million songbirds  prized as culinary delicacies were illegally slaughtered by trappers in Cyprus in the past year, a conservation group said Tuesday. Cyprus lies on a key migratory route and bird trapping has been commonplace for years. Trappers use either fine mist nets or sticks dipped in sticky lime. […]

Heat weakens turtle hatchlings in Australia

  It seems we’re not the only ones struggling to adapt to the summer weather — Australian researchers have found the increased temperatures may be affecting turtles too. Scientists found that green turtle hatchlings from Heron Island weren’t swimming as well as expected. Zoologist Dr David Booth, from UQ’s School of Biological Sciences, said green […]

Rising ocean acidity reducing shell weights

The shells of tiny ocean animals known as foraminifera—specifically Globigerina bulloides—are shrinking as a result of the slowly acidifying waters of the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. The reason behind the rising acidity: Higher carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere, making these shells more proof that climate change is making life tougher for the seas’ […]

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