Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

A billion frogs on world's plates, accelerating amphibian extinctions

Up to one billion frogs are taken from the wild for human consumption each year, according to a new study. Researchers arrived at this conclusion by analysing UN trade data, although they acknowledge there is a lot of uncertainty in the figure. France and the US are the two biggest importers, with significant consumption in […]

Some grim economic numbers

Posted by Khebab at The Oil Drum: Caclulated Risk has a good series of charts showing how depressed the US economy is; no wonder oil demand is collapsing:   Vehicle miles driven are off a record 3.7% Year-over-year (YoY); the decline in miles driven is worse than during the early ’70s and 1979-1980 oil crisis: […]

Mass die-off of western U.S. forests due to climate change

Death Rates Have Doubled, Researchers Find By Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post Staff Writer The death rates of trees in western U.S. forests have doubled over the past two to three decades, driven in large part by warmer temperatures and water scarcity linked to climate change, a new study spearheaded by the U.S. Geological Survey has […]

Glaciers in Bhutan retreating at 30-35 meters per year

By Passang Norbu, passa@kuensel.com.bt More than 50 experts from India, Pakistan, Nepal, UK, Switzerland, Thailand and Bhutan have gathered in Paro to discuss glacial lake outburst, its threats and prevention measures. For Bhutan whose very survival depends on the stability of the lakes, officials say it is a much-needed workshop. Bhutan has nearly 3,000 lakes […]

Demand for reef fish causes drastic population declines

…The fierce appetite for live reef fish across Southeast Asia — and increasingly in mainland China — is devastating populations in the Coral Triangle, a protected marine region home to the world’s richest ocean diversity, according to a recent report in the scientific journal Conservation Biology. Spawning of reef fish in this area, which supports […]

Antarctic ice shelf set to collapse due to warming

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent WILKINS ICE SHELF, Antarctica (Reuters) – A huge Antarctic ice shelf is on the brink of collapse with just a sliver of ice holding it in place, the latest victim of global warming that is altering maps of the frozen continent. "We’ve come to the Wilkins Ice Shelf to see […]

Declining male fertility linked to water pollution

New research strengthens the link between water pollution and rising male fertility problems. The study shows for the first time how a group of testosterone-blocking chemicals is finding its way into UK rivers, affecting wildlife and potentially humans. The study identified a new group of chemicals that act as ‘anti-androgens’. This means that they inhibit […]

Orangutans near extinction from palm oil plantations

Leakey’s ‘angel’ says world’s frenzy to ‘go green’ pushing orangutans to brink of extinction By ROBIN MCDOWELL Associated Press Writer TANJUNG PUTING NATIONAL PARK, Indonesia January 18, 2009 (AP) Hoping to unravel the mysteries of human origin, anthropologist Louis Leakey sent three young women to Africa and Asia to study our closest relatives: It was […]

Rising sea levels threaten East Coast

By Jasmin Melvin WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sea levels on the United States’ mid-Atlantic coast are rising faster than the global average because of global warming, threatening the future of coastal communities, the Environmental Protection Agency said on Friday. Coastal waters from New York to North Carolina have crept up by an average of 2.4 to […]

Arctic warming pattern 'highly unusual'; Greenland ice sheet likely to melt

By Randy Boswell, Canwest News Service   A major U.S. government report on Arctic climate, prepared with input from eight Canadian scientists, has concluded that the recent rapid warming of polar temperatures and shrinking of multi-year Arctic sea ice are "highly unusual compared to events from previous thousands of years." The findings, released on Friday, […]

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