Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Heat forecast for Europe on 25 June 2019. The most widespread anomalous heat, with temperatures more than 12°C (22°F) above average (pink colors), are predicted on Wednesday and Thursday. Graphic: The Weather Company

Dangerous June heat wave envelops Western Europe – Germany sizzles in record June heat

By Dr. Jeff Masters 25 June 2019 (Weather Underground) – A ferociously hot airmass from the Sahara Desert has moved northward into Western Europe and will bring a dangerous heat wave unprecedented for June for the remainder of the week. All-time national heat records for June are likely to fall in multiple countries, and some […]

Free air CO2 enrichment experiments using native Australian forests. Elevated CO2 levels are used to examine the effects on native forests, animals, soils and grasses. Photo: Western Sydney University

Leaving microbes out of climate change conversation has major consequences, experts warn – “Climate change is literally starving ocean life”

By Ivy Shih 19 June 2019 (UNSW) – An international group of leading microbiologists have issued a warning, saying that not including microbes – the support system of the biosphere – in the climate change equation will have major negative flow-on effects. More than 30 microbiologists from 9 countries have issued a warning to humanity […]

Indians stand in queues to fill vessels with drinking water from a water tanker in Chennai, capital of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Wednesday, 19 June 2019. Millions of people are turning to water tank trucks in the state as house and hotel taps run dry in an acute water shortage caused by drying lakes and depleted groundwater. Some private companies have asked employees to work from home and several restaurants are closing early and even considering stopping lunch meals if the water scarcity aggravates. Photo: R. Parthibhan / AP Photo

Life in India’s first city that’s almost out of water – “I’m scared for my daughter”

By Divya Karthikeyan and Swati Gupta 22 June 2019 Chennai, India (CNN) – As Manjula Sridhar went into the operation theater of a maternity ward in Chennai, the capital of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, her mother began arguing with the doctor over a water shortage that threatened to delay the delivery. Cradling her little girl, […]

Surface temperature anomaly forecast for Europe, 22 June 2019. Graphic: weathermodels.com

Europe braces for scorching heatwave with temperatures “unprecedented for the month of June”

22 June 2019 (AFP) – Forecasters say Europeans will feel sizzling heat next week with temperatures soaring as high as 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in an “unprecedented” June heatwave hitting much of Western Europe. From Great Britain to Belgium to Greece, a wave of hot air coming from the Maghreb in North Africa […]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/22/us/extinction-rebellion-new-york-times-arrests/index.html

70 people arrested at climate protest outside The New York Times offices

By Madeleine Thompson and Dakin Andone 22 June 2019 (CNN) – Seventy people were arrested outside of The New York Times building in Manhattan on Saturday, according to a New York Police Department spokesman, during a protest to call attention to the way news outlets cover the climate crisis. Charges against the protesters are pending, […]

Immigration Customs and Enforcement dropped off more than 100 migrants mostly from Guatemala at the Phoenix Greyhound bus station at 2115 E. Buckeye Road. Roberto Ramirez, 6, was in ICE custody with his father, Gaspa Ramirez. He claims that treatment by officers was bad and children were getting sick because of cold weather. Photo: Nick Oza / The Arizona Republic

Flu, lice, and open toilets: What attorneys saw at migrant child processing centers in Texas – “In my 22 years of doing visits with children in detention, I have never heard of this level of inhumanity”

By Gaby del Valle 22 June 2019 (Vice News) – Attorneys who work with migrant children recently visited two Border Patrol processing centers along the U.S.-Mexico border — and what they saw paints a bleak picture of the Trump administration’s treatment of child migrants. [It seems Desdemona’s worst fears are being realized: Children of Men, […]

Permafrost forms a grid-like pattern in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska in Alpine, Alaska, a 22.8 million acre region managed by the Bureau of Land Management on Alaska's North Slope. USGS has periodically assessed oil and gas resource potential there. Photo: David Houseknecht / USGS

Warming Arctic permafrost releasing 12 times more nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, than previously thought – “This needs to be taken more seriously than it is right now”

By Caitlin McDermott-Murphy 6 June 2019 (The Harvard Gazette) – About a quarter of the Northern Hemisphere is covered in permafrost. Now, it turns out these permanently frozen beds of soil, rock, and sediment are actually not so permanent: They’re thawing at an increasing rate. Human-induced climate change is warming these lands, melting the ice […]

Total U.S. consumer debt, 2003-2019. Data are through the first quarter of 2019. Data: New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel / Equifax. Graphic: MarketWatch

U.S. consumer debt is now above levels hit during the 2008 financial crisis

By Mark DeCambre 21 June 2019 (MarketWatch) – Consumer debt is growing to worrisome levels. Ben Mohr, senior research analyst of fixed income at investment consultant Marquette Associates, calculated that total U.S. consumer debt hit $14 trillion in the first quarter of 2019, surpassing the roughly $13 trillion of leverage accumulated in credit cards, auto […]

The “Black Strat” guitar, from the personal guitar collection of rock and roll legend David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, on display for auction, 21 June 2019. Photo: Sky News

David Gilmour auctions personal guitar collection, nets $21M for climate action – “We need a civilized world that goes on for all our grandchildren and beyond in which these guitars can be played and songs can be sung”

By Danielle Haynes 21 June 2019 (UPI) – The auction of David Gilmour’s guitar collection netted more than $21 million, which the legendary Pink Floyd guitarist is donating to efforts to battle climate change, Christie’s announced. The auction house said the 8-hour auction Thursday drew bidders from more than 66 countries. The collection of more […]

A truck moves around the Oregon state Capitol during a protest against climate bills that truckers say will put them out of business, in Salem, Oregon on 12 June 2019. Photo: Sarah Zimmerman / AP Photo

Threats from militia groups shut down Oregon capitol a day after GOP lawmakers fled over climate bill: “safety of legislators, staff, and citizen visitors could be compromised”

By Nicole Einbinder 22 June 2019 (Insider) – Oregon lawmakers have shut down the state capitol after receiving threats from militia groups who are vowing to protect Republican senators who bolted earlier this week to prevent the passage of climate change legislation. Conflict first arose on Thursday when 11 GOP senators went into hiding to block the […]

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