Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Renowned coral scientist: Great Barrier Reef headed for massive death – “It’s the beginning of a planetary catastrophe”

By Rebecca Wright and Ivan Watson 24 August 2018 TOWNSVILLE, Australia (CNN) – In a dusty, secluded corner of the Australian state of Queensland, a septuagenarian scientist is on an urgent mission to raise the alarm about the future of the planet. John “Charlie” Veron – widely known as “The Godfather of Coral” – is […]

Florida’s red tide crisis shows how global warming will make the world an ugly place

By Ephrat Livni 22 August 2018 SARASOTA, Florida (Quartz) – All the water birds—pelicans, egrets, cormorants—are gone.Flies swarm the coast of the seaside city of Sarasota, Florida. Crows caw. The air stinks of death. Carpets of fish, belly-up, mouths gaping, line the shore. This is the putrid new world created by a toxic red algae […]

Migrants aboard Italian coast guard ship begin hunger strike

ROME, 24 August 2018 (AP) – Many of the 150 migrants stranded aboard a coast guard ship for a ninth day began a hunger strike Friday out of frustration that Italy won’t let them disembark in Sicily unless fellow European Union nations first pledge to take them, authorities said, in the latest standoff provoked by […]

Image of the Day: Satellite view of black carbon from North America wildfires and other aerosols, 23 August 2018

By Adam Voiland 24 August 2018 (NASA) – Take a deep breath. Even if the air looks clear, it is nearly certain that you will inhale millions of solid particles and liquid droplets. These ubiquitous specks of matter are known as aerosols, and they can be found in the air over oceans, deserts, mountains, forests, […]

UN experts cite “possible exploitation” of workers hired to clean up Fukushima nuclear plant

16 August 2018 (UN News) – A group of United Nations rights experts are urging the Japanese government to urgently protect tens of thousands or workers hired to help decontaminate the Fukushima nuclear plant, who are reportedly being exploited and exposed to toxic nuclear radiation.“Workers hired to decontaminate Fukushima reportedly include migrant workers, asylum seekers, […]

Did environmental degradation worsen Kerala’s flood tragedy?

By Anjana Pasricha 24 August 2018 NEW DELHI (VOA News) – As India’s southern Kerala state looks at the task of rebuilding in the aftermath of devastating floods that swept away homes, inundated farmland and destroyed infrastructure, environmentalists have raised the question: Could the damage have been reduced if more attention had been paid to […]

Hurricane Lane churns toward Hawaii – Big Island has already seen more than 31 inches of rain

By Daniel Manzo and Emily Shapiro 24 August 2018(ABC News) – As Hurricane Lane lurches north, the Category 3 storm has already dumped more than 31 inches of rain on Hawaii’s Big Island, bringing catastrophic flooding.The life-threatening flooding could even lead to landslides or mudslides.Rainfall rates in the outer bands of the hurricane may reach […]

Smoke risk from B.C. wildfires rises to hazardous levels in southern Alberta – 2018 now smokiest year on record in Calgary – “The smoke plumes coming out of B.C. are really large, really dense smoke”

By Ryan Rumbolt    23 August 2018 (Calgary Herald) – Just days after smashing the previous record for the number of smoky days in Calgary, Environment Canada issued another severe air quality warning for the city and many communities in southern Alberta.Skies briefly cleared in the city before another advisory was issued on Wednesday. As of […]

Free John Gotti! Memories of mob sycophancy from another era

23 August 2018 (Desdemona Despair) – Amid all of the cries of “disgrace” and “witch hunt” from the capo of the Trump crime family, I’m reminded of another famous gang of New York mobsters taken down by Robert Mueller: the Gambino crime family.After the “Dapper Don”, John Gotti, was sent to prison, Gotti supporter Melissa […]

Hawaii faces rare threat from major hurricane – Pacific waters around the islands are about 1°C warmer than usual

By Brian Resnick 22 August 2018 (Vox) – The state of Hawaii is facing a rare threat: A Category 4 hurricane is moving toward it, with hurricane watches and warnings in effect for most of the islands.The state of Hawaii is facing a rare threat: A Category 4 hurricane is moving toward it, with hurricane […]

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