Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Greta Thunberg nominated for Nobel peace prize for inspiring student strikes against climate inaction in more than 105 countries

By Damian Carrington Environment editor 14 March 2019 (The Guardian) — Greta Thunberg, the founder of the Youth Strike for Climate movement, has been nominated for the Nobel peace prize, just before the biggest day yet of global action. Thunberg began a solo protest in Sweden in August but has since inspired students around the […]

Highest sea level rises in U.S. are in Texas and Louisiana, annual report finds

By Dr. Jeff Masters 11 March 2019 (Weather Underground) – Texas and Louisiana have the highest rates of sea level rise in the U.S., with Grand Isle, Louisiana (7.75 mm or 0.305 inches per year) topping the list, according to the annual sea level “report card” from researchers at William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of […]

“Social disaster”: South Korea invokes emergency laws to tackle air pollution after record pollution levels hit the country

By Justin McCurry 13 March 2019 (The Guardian) – South Korea has passed emergency measures to tackle the “social disaster” being unleashed by air pollution, after record levels of fine dust blanketed most of the country in recent weeks. The national assembly passed a series of bills on Wednesday giving authorities access to emergency funds […]

Trump regulation rollbacks will result in more than 200 million tons of additional greenhouse emissions each year – “The Trump administration has taken historically unprecedented actions to roll back years of environmental progress”

WASHINGTON, D.C., 5 March 2019 (NYU School of Law) – Today, the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center at the NYU School of Law announced the release of a Special Report detailing the extensive climate change and public health damage caused by the Trump administration’s environmental deregulatory agenda. In its Special Report, titled “Climate & […]

Destruction from sea level rise in California could exceed worst wildfires and earthquakes – “These are significant events that are going to recur and be ten times the scale of the worst wildfires and earthquakes that we’ve experienced in modern California history”

By Rosanna Xia 13 March 2019 (Los Angeles Times) – In the most extensive study to date on sea level rise in California, researchers say damage by the end of the century could be far more devastating than the worst earthquakes and wildfires in state history. A team of U.S. Geological Survey scientists concluded that […]

3-5°C temperature rise is now “locked-in” for the Arctic

Nairobi, 13 March 2019 (UN News) – Even if the world were to cut emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, winter temperatures in the Arctic would rise 3-5°C by 2050 and 5-9°C by 2080, devastating the region and unleashing sea level rises worldwide, finds a new report by UN Environment. Meanwhile, rapidly thawing permafrost […]

The terror of climate change is transforming young people’s identity

By Blanche Verlie 14 March 2019 (The Conversation) – Today, at least 50 rallies planned across Australia are expected to draw thousands of students who are walking out of school to protest climate change inaction. These Australian students join children from over 82 countries who are striking to highlight systemic failure to address climate change. […]

Study links Fukushima disaster to spike in infant heart surgeries

By Lucy Craft 14 March 2019 TOKYO (CBS News) – As Japan marks the eight-year anniversary of the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that claimed some 22,000 lives, a new study suggests it could still be having a serious impact on the nation’s health. The disaster caused by the killer wave at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear […]

Bill preventing use of the Next Generation Science Standards introduced in Iowa, because of climate science and evolutionary biology

19 February 2019 (Silencing Science Tracker) – On 19 February 2019, a bill (House File 428) was introduced in the Iowa legislature that would, if enacted, reinstate “the science standards utilized by school districts in this state during the 2014-2015 school year.” This would effectively prevent use of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which were […]

Senate confirms former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler as EPA administrator

By Anna M. Phillips28 February 2019 (Los Angeles Times) – The Senate on Thursday confirmed Andrew Wheeler to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, handing the reins of the agency responsible for ensuring clean air and safe drinking water to a former coal industry lobbyist. The 52-to-47 vote removed the word “acting” from Wheeler’s title, installing […]

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