Desdemona Despair – Page 142 – Blogging the End of the World™

The Organ Pipe Cactus national monument, in southern Arizona, is a federally protected wilderness area and Unesco-recognized international biosphere reserve. Trump’s border wall will traverse the entirety of the southern edge of Organ Pipe Cactus national monument. Photo: Marek Zuk / Alamy

September 16, 2019

Trump administration begins border wall construction in Organ Pipe Cactus national monument – “Walling off these precious places would be a colossal mistake and a national tragedy”

By Samuel Gilbert 13 September 2019 TUCSON, Arizona (The Guardian) – Construction of a 30ft-high section of Donald Trump’s border barrier has begun in the Organ Pipe Cactus national monument in southern Arizona, a federally protected wilderness area and Unesco-recognized international biosphere reserve. In the face of protests by environmental groups, the wall will traverse the entirety of […]

Adult obesity in the U.S. by state in 2018, with top ten states highlighted. Graphic: Trust for Americas Health

September 15, 2019

U.S. obesity rates hit historic highs in 2018 – Nine states reach adult obesity rates of 35 percent or more – “These latest data shout that our national obesity crisis is getting worse”

WASHINGTON, DC, 12 September 2019 (Trust for America’s Health) – Nine U.S. states had adult obesity rates above 35 percent in 2018, up from seven states at that level in 2017, an historic level of obesity in the U.S., according to the 16th annual State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America report [pdf] released today by the […]

Angela Johnson (center) celebrates with people in Fox Town on Little Abaco Island, the Bahamas, who were stranded by Hurricane Dorian, 15 September 2019. Photo: Angela Johnson

September 15, 2019

Helicopter pilot discovers villagers stranded in debris in the Bahamas

By Suzanne Ciechalski 15 September 2019 (NBC News) – A helicopter pilot volunteering in the Bahamas in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian was shocked to discover this week that an area full of debris from the storm was inhabited by up to 40 people. Justin Johnson, who owns Timberview Helicopters in Destin, Florida, with his […]

U.S. federal budget deficits and discretionary spending, 2009-2019. Data: Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget / U.S. OMB / CBO. Graphic: CNN

September 13, 2019

U.S. deficit tops $1 trillion in 11 months, highest in 7 years – “Absent more responsible budgets, the deficit and interest costs will continue to grow rapidly, diminishing America’s future”

By Niv Elis 12 September 2019 (The Hill) – The U.S. government deficit surpassed $1 trillion in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year, over $100 billion more than the same period last year, according to official Treasury figures released Thursday. Last week, data from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that the […]

Neil Jacobs, the acting administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), speaks at a meteorological convention, Tuesday, 10 September 2019, in Huntsville, Alabama. Jacobs both defended the administration and thanked a local weather office that contradicted Trump’s claims about Hurricane Dorian threatening Alabama. Photo: Jay Reeves / AP Photo

September 13, 2019

In agency-wide email, NOAA chief moves to regain scientists’ trust after defending incorrect Trump tweet

By Jason Samenow 13 September 2019 (The Washington Post) – Neil Jacobs, the acting head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, sent an all-staff email Friday afternoon in an apparent effort to repair damage from an unusual 6 September 2019 statement that sided with President Trump rather than agency weather forecasters. The controversial NOAA […]

A herd of musk ox graze in an area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Photo: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge / AP

September 13, 2019

Trump administration opens huge wildlife refuge in Alaska to drilling – “This destructive, unlawful plan would sell off one of America’s last great wildlands to the highest bidder”

By Steven Mufson and Juliet Eilperin 13 September 2019 (The Washington Post) – The Trump administration on Thursday said it would seek to open up the entire coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration, picking the most aggressive development option for an area long closed to drilling. In filing […]

Satellite view of smoke from forest fires in Indonesia, from 3 September 2019 to 12 September 2019. Photo: NASA Worldview

September 13, 2019

Thousands pray for rain in Indonesia as forests go up in smoke – “We’re doing everything we can, now we pray to Allah for the rain”

By Gayatri Suroyo and Jessica Damiana 11 September 2019 JAKARTA (Reuters) – Thousands of Indonesians prayed for rain in haze-hit towns on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo on Wednesday, as forest fires raged at the height of the dry season, the state Antara news agency reported. Fires have burnt through parts of Sumatra and […]

Hawaii was surrounded by waters with warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures on 9 September 2019. Departures from the seasonal norm are shown in degrees Celsius. On this date, Lihue, Kauai observed its 17th consecutive day of a daily record high temperature being set or tied. This is likely the longest such stretch for any official weather station with a long period of record (more than 50 years) at any site in the U.S. climate database. Graphic: Tropical Tidbits

September 12, 2019

Hawaii’s warmest summer on record and Alaska’s second warmest in 2019

By Christopher C. Burt 10 September 2019 (Weather Underground) – Although 2800 miles of open ocean separate them, both Anchorage, Alaska and Honolulu, Hawaii experienced their warmest climatological summers (June-August) on record this year. It appears that this was Alaska’s second warmest summer (following that of 2004) but it is likely that it was Hawaii’s […]

The Sentinel-2 satellite captured a headfire in heath fuels burning as a part of the Shark Creek bush fire near Yamba, 8 September 2019. Photo: Nicholas McCarthy

September 11, 2019

Australia rainforest burns as bushfires arrive early – Queensland faces worst fire threat in recorded history – “This isn’t the new normal. We’re going to see much worse. The pace of the change is going to accelerate.”

By Damien Cave 9 September 2019 SYDNEY, Australia (The New York Times) – The conservationists who built the secluded Binna Burra Lodge in Australia’s lush mountains more than 80 years ago hoped to protect and share the natural beauty of the surrounding rainforest. But over the weekend, a bushfire destroyed the beloved getaway, one of […]

Abaco residents are evacuated from the island at the airport in the wake of Hurricane Dorian in Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco, Bahamas on 8 September 2019. Photo: Loren Elliott / Reuters

September 11, 2019

Trump administration will not grant protected status to Bahamians affected by Dorian

By Priscilla Alvarez 10 September 2019 WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Trump administration will not grant temporary protected status, a form of humanitarian relief, to Bahamians affected by Hurricane Dorian, according to an administration official. The source did not say when the decision was made, but President Donald Trump appeared to be at odds with one […]