Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

The unseen driver behind the Central American migrant caravan: global warming – “We are seeing tremendous climate instability that is radically changing food security in the region”

By Oliver Milman, Emily Holden, and David Agren 30 October 2018 (The Guardian) – Thousands of Central American migrants trudging through Mexico towards the US have regularly been described as either fleeing gang violence or extreme poverty. But another crucial driving factor behind the migrant caravan has been harder to grasp: climate change.Most members of […]

World’s last wilderness areas may vanish – “We have lost so much already, so we must secure the last remaining wilderness before it disappears forever”

1 November 2018 (UQ News) – The world’s last wilderness areas are rapidly disappearing, with explicit international conservation targets critically needed, according to University of Queensland-led research.The international team recently mapped intact ocean ecosystems, complementing a 2016 project charting remaining terrestrial wilderness.Professor James Watson, from UQ’s School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, said the two […]

Earth’s oceans have absorbed 60 percent more heat per year than previously thought

By Morgan Kelly and Robert Monroe 1 November 2018 (Princeton University) – For each year during the past quarter century, the world’s oceans have absorbed an amount of heat energy that is 150 times the energy humans produce as electricity annually, according to a study led by researchers at Princeton and the Scripps Institution of […]

Weather 2050: America is warming fast – See how your city’s weather will be different in just one generation

By Umair Irfan, Eliza Barclay, and Kavya Sukumar 30 October 2018 (Vox) – Our world is getting warmer. This we know.Just look at Los Angeles, which experienced all-time record heat in July 2018, topping out at 118 degrees Fahrenheit. Dozens of other heat records across the United States were smashed this summer alone.But how much […]

Flooding in Venice and deadly storms across Italy – Record October heat on one side of Switzerland followed by record October snow on the other

By Bob Henson 30 October 2018 (Weather Underground) – An exceptionally strong upper-level storm and low-pressure center has played havoc this week with the weather across large parts of Europe, especially Italy, where high winds, intense thunderstorms, and a landslide caused at least 11 deaths. Most of the fatalities were from falling trees as a […]

Human-rights experts: Political incitement to violence against journalists is “toxic” – One journalist is killed every four days, and most killers go unpunished

31 October 2018 (UN News) – A group of independent, UN-appointed human rights experts have called on world leaders to stop inciting hatred and violence against the media, citing the hundreds of journalists killed or forcibly detained because of their work, and ensure that those responsible are held accountable. On Wednesday, the experts, including David […]

Amazon deforestation in Brazil up 84 percent in September 2018

By Stefania Costa 29 October 2018(Imazon) – In September 2018, SAD detected 444 square kilometers of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, an increase of 84% compared to September 2017, when deforestation totaled 241 square kilometers. In September 2018, deforestation occurred in Amazonas (24%), Mato Grosso (23%), Rondônia (20%), Pará (19%), Acre (11%), Roraima ).Degraded forests […]

World on track to lose two-thirds of wild animals by 2020, major report warns

By Damian Carrington 26 October 2016 (The Guardian) – The number of wild animals living on Earth is set to fall by two-thirds by 2020, according to a new report, part of a mass extinction that is destroying the natural world upon which humanity depends.The analysis, the most comprehensive to date, indicates that animal populations […]

Coal union boosts giving to Democrats as hopes dim for industry revival

By Timothy Gardner and Grant Smith; editing by Richard Valdmanis and Steve Orlofsky 29 October 2018 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top U.S. coal miners union has put a larger share of its campaign donations behind Democrats ahead of the 6 November 2018 elections than in 2016, as dimming hopes for a coal industry revival led […]

“Fire-floods” are the new threat in California disasters – “We are just entering this era, and it is only going to get more interesting from here”

By Tony Bizjak 25 October 2018 (The Sacramento Bee) – Brent Larson awoke at 4 a.m. to the shake and rumble of what felt like a freight train rolling down the hill toward his Santa Barbara County home. He leaped from his bed and woke his two sons. In seconds, a wall of water, mud […]

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