Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Last day in Paradise: the untold story of how a fire swallowed a town – “The vegetation is responding very, very obviously to climate change extremes. Paradise will not be the last town we lose.”

  By Alastair Gee and Dani Anguiano 20 December 2018 PARADISE, California (The Guardian) – William Goggia awoke to a poisonous orange atmosphere so thick with smoke he couldn’t see the sun.It was 8am on Thursday 8 November. He heard the piercing metallic clang of propane tanks exploding in the distance. His sister, who lived […]

Why was climate change content removed from the U.S. Department of Transportation website?

By Michael Halpern 19 December 2018 (UCS) – CNN had a scoop this past weekend: the U.S. Department of Transportation recently removed several climate change pages from its website. The changes are indicative of a greater trend within the federal government when it comes to climate information: when in doubt, take it out.The DOT is […]

Worldwide round-up of deadly attacks and abuses against journalists in 2018 – “Violence against journalists has reached unprecedented levels this year, and the situation is now critical”

14 December 2018 (RSF) – A total of 80 journalists were killed this year, 348 are currently in prison, and 60 are being held hostage, according to the annual worldwide round-up of deadly violence and abusive treatment of journalists released today by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which shows an unprecedented level of hostility towards media […]

Seven convicted of killing Honduran indigenous activist Berta Cáceres – “The assassination was planned by the leadership of the DESA corporation and carried out by hitmen linked to the Honduran Armed Forces”

By Shreya Dasgupta 5 December 2018 (Mongabay) – A Honduran court has convicted seven men in the murder of indigenous rights activist Berta Cáceres in 2016.Until her death on March 2, 2016, Cáceres had been leading a fierce campaign against the Agua Zarca dam in western Honduras, a joint project between the Honduran company Desarrollos […]

Japan to resume commercial whale slaughter after leaving International Whaling Commission – “This is the path of a pirate whaling nation, with a troubling disregard for international rule”

By Justin McCurry and Graham Readfearn 19 December 2018 TOKYO (The Guardian) – Japan is to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and resume commercial whaling next year, a report claimed on Thursday, in a move that drew condemnation from Australia, with other anti-whaling nations expected to follow suit.Japan will inform the IWC of […]

An Indian perspective on the Poland climate meeting: Not much help for the world’s poor and vulnerable

By Arun Agrawal 19 December 2018 (The Conversation) – The international climate change conference that concluded in Katowice, Poland on 15 December 2018 had limited ambitions and expectations – especially compared to the 2015 meeting that produced the Paris climate agreement. It will be remembered mainly for its delegates agreeing on a common “rulebook” to […]

An economist’s take on the Poland climate conference: The glass is more than half full

By Robert Stavins 18 December 2018 (The Conversation) – The global climate change conference in Katowice, Poland, that wrapped up on Dec. 15 had a challenging mission. Three years ago in Paris, 196 countries and regions agreed to curb global greenhouse gas emissions Now they had to agree on rules and guidelines for how to […]

We finally have the rulebook for the Paris Agreement, but global climate action is still inadequate

By Kate Dooley 17 December 2018 (The Conversation) – Three years after the Paris Agreement was struck, we now finally know the rules – or most of them, at least – for its implementation.The Paris Rulebook, agreed at the UN climate summit in Katowice, Poland, gives countries a common framework for reporting and reviewing progress […]

Why the rise of populist nationalist leaders rewrites global climate talks

By Arjuna Dibley 5 December 2018 (The Conversation) – The election of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil not only marks the rise of another populist nationalist leader on the world stage. It’s also a turning point for the global politics of climate change. When the new president takes office in January 2019, by my estimate at […]

Katowice celebrations damped by reality of global warming – World is probably going to keep getting warmer, despite the deal struck in Poland

By Leslie Hook 18 December 2018 (Financial Times) – At about 10pm on Saturday evening, 15 December 2018, a cheer went up among the delegates at the UN climate talks in Katowice, Poland. A deal had been struck on the rules for implementing the Paris climate accord, breathing new life into a pact that aims […]

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