Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Did Kerala’s dams exacerbate India’s once-in-century floods?

By Euan Rocha, Rajendra Jadhav, and Promit Mukherjee; Editing by Alex Richardson 10 October 2018 KOCHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) – Joby Pathrose, a farmer living a kilometre away from the usually languid Periyar river in southern India, was woken in the night by the sound of rushing waters. Hours later his plantations and everything he owned were […]

Don’t despair: the climate fight is only over if you think it is

By Rebecca Solnit 14 October 2018 (The Guardian) – In response to Monday’s release of the IPCC report on the climate crisis – which warned that “unprecedented” changes were needed if global warming increases 1.5C beyond the pre-industrial period – a standup comic I know posted this plaintive request on her Facebook: “Damn this latest […]

“Hyperalarming” study shows massive loss of insect populations and corresponding declines in lizards, frogs, and birds – “Everything is dropping”

By Ben Guarino 15 October 2018 (The Washington Post) – Insects around the world are in a crisis, according to a small but growing number of long-term studies showing dramatic declines in invertebrate populations. A new report suggests that the problem is more widespread than scientists realized. Huge numbers of bugs have been lost in […]

Video: Bridge collapse in historic Texas flood

By Jason Samenow 16 October 2018 (The Washington Post) – As a powerful cold front charged through Texas from Monday into Tuesday, a deluge unfolded in the middle of the state. More than a foot of rain has fallen in some areas, resulting in severe flooding.In Kingsland, about 60 miles northwest of Austin, a bridge […]

Beetle damage skyrockets to nearly a million acres in Southcentral Alaska – “This may just be the beginning”

By Zaz Hollander 1 October 2018 PALMER (Anchorage Daily News) – A beetle infestation already decimating Susitna Valley spruce trees worsened sharply this summer. Spruce beetles killed trees across nearly 558,000 acres of forest this year and mostly in Mat-Su, according to an update released Monday by the U.S. Forest Service and Alaska Department of […]

Scientists project sharp declines in beer supply due to global warming – “Even modest warming will lead to increases in drought and excessive heat events in barley-growing areas”

IRVINE, California, 15 October 2018 (UCI) – On top of rising sea levels, stronger hurricanes, and worsening wildfires, scientists project that human-caused climate change will result in one of the most dire consequences imaginable: a disruption in the global beer supply.In a study published today in Nature Plants, researchers from the University of California, Irvine […]

Trump administration shelves plan to rescue aging coal and nuclear plants

By Eric Wolff and Darius Dixon 15 October 2018 (Politico) – One of the Trump administration’s major efforts to prop up ailing coal companies has run aground in the White House, a setback to an industry that had hoped for a major resurgence after Donald Trump won the presidency. Energy Secretary Rick Perry has spent […]

News deserts: 1,300 U.S. communities have totally lost local news coverage – “Our sense of community and our trust in democracy at all levels suffer when journalism is lost or diminished”

By Tom Stites 15 October 2018 (Poynter) – It’s hardly a secret that news deserts are spreading, but just how bad is it?A comprehensive new study released today by the University of North Carolina’s School of Media and Journalism shows that far more U.S. communities have totally lost news coverage — more than 1,300 — […]

Image of the Day: Satellite view of power failures in Panama City, Florida after Hurricane Michael

By Mike Carlowicz 16 October 2018 (NASA) – After making landfall as a category 4 storm on 10 October 2018, Hurricane Michael knocked out power for at least 2.5 million customers in the southeastern United States, according to the Edison Electric Institute. These images of nighttime lights in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama come from the […]

Huge reduction in meat-eating essential to avoid climate breakdown – “Feeding a world population of 10 billion is possible, but only if we change the way we eat and the way we produce food”

By Damian Carrington 10 October 2018 (The Guardian) – Huge reductions in meat-eating are essential to avoid dangerous climate change, according to the most comprehensive analysis yet of the food system’s impact on the environment [pdf]. In western countries, beef consumption needs to fall by 90 percent and be replaced by five times more beans […]

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