Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Climate change gathers steam, say scientists

AFP – Earth’s climate appears to be changing more quickly and deeply than a benchmark UN report for policymakers predicted, top scientists said ahead of international climate talks starting Monday in Poland. Evidence published since the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change’s (IPCC) February 2007 report suggests that future global warming may be driven not just […]

1st commercial ship sails through Northwest Passage

The Canadian Coast Guard has confirmed that in a major first, a commercial ship traveled through the Northwest Passage this fall to deliver supplies to communities in western Nunavut. The MV Camilla Desgagnés, owned by Desgagnés  Transarctik Inc., transported cargo from Montreal to the hamlets of Cambridge Bay, Kugluktuk, Gjoa Haven and Taloyoak in September. […]

Accelerated melting of continental icepacks is major reason for rise in sea level between 2003 and 2008

ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2008) — Researchers at the  Laboratoire d’Etudes en Géophysique et Océanographie Spatiales and at a subsidiary of CNES have discovered that the accelerated melting of continental icepacks is the major reason for the rise in sea level over the 2003 to 2008 period, something which has minimized the effect of thermal expansion […]

Amazon deforestation up almost 4.0 percent in 12 months

AFP – Brazil’s Amazon jungles, known as the lungs of the world, lost almost 12,000 square kilometres (4,800 sq. miles) in just 12 months, a rise of almost 4.0 percent, new figures showed Friday. Amazon deforestation up almost 4.0 percent (AFP) Fri, 28 Nov 2008 20:21:29 GMT Technorati Tags: Amazon,deforestation

Antarctica: new rifts on Wilkins Ice Shelf

New rifts have developed on the Wilkins Ice Shelf that could lead to the opening of the ice bridge that has been preventing the ice shelf from disintegrating and breaking away from the Antarctic Peninsula. Antarctica: Wilkins Ice Shelf Under Threat Fri, 28 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT Technorati Tags: Antarctic,ice shelf,global warming

Global warming is changing organic matter in soil

New research shows that we should be looking to the ground, not the sky, to see where climate change could have its most perilous impact on life on Earth. Scientists have shown that global warming actually changes the molecular structure of organic matter in soil. "Soil contains more than twice the amount of carbon than […]

What's killing Florida's coral reefs?

The disaster in south Florida is invisible from above water but the damage is horrific. Hundreds of yards of sensitive coral reefs, part of the largest such ecosystem in the United States, have been sliced through by boats in two incidents over the last month. Indeed, because of choppy conditions, the assessment of the damage […]

Climate change is a battle for existence in the Maldives

AFP – Among the many grim predictions of climate change experts, the future fate of The Maldives stands out as a genuine doomsday scenario with the island chain nation facing nothing short of extinction. Climate change is a battle for existence in the Maldives (AFP) Wed, 26 Nov 2008 01:35:16 GMT Technorati Tags: Maldives,global warming

Greenhouse gases hit record levels last year

GENEVA (Reuters) – Gases blamed for global warming reached record levels in the atmosphere last year, the United Nations weather agency said on Tuesday. Concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) touched new highs after more steady rises in 2007, and methane had its largest annual increase in a decade, the World Meteorological […]

Tibetan glaciers rapidly melting

Glaciers high in the Himalayas are dwindling faster than anyone thought, putting nearly a billion people living in South Asia in peril of losing their water supply. Throughout India, China, and Nepal, some 15,000 glaciers speckle the Tibetan Plateau. There, perched in thin, frigid air up to 7200 metres above sea level, the ice might […]

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