Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

British Columbia wildfires “may be the new normal” – 2018 is third-worst fire season on record in B.C. – “From flood to fire to flood and then again to fire, and we have had two states of emergency — that’s unprecedented”

By Karen Graham 21 August 2018 (Digital Journal) – While British Columbia Premier John Horgan was touring the wildfire-ravaged, smoke-filled area around Prince George Tuesday morning. Al Beaver, an independent risk management expert who worked on fire management for governments in Canada and Australia was speaking with The Current’s guest host Ioanna Roumeliotis.Flanked by the […]

Trump’s Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke acknowledges role of global warming in wildfires after blaming “environmental terrorist groups”

By Grace Segers 16 August 2018 (CBS News) – Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke suggested that climate change may have a role in the recent wildfires that have ravaged California. When asked by CBS News reporter Weijia Jiang whether he accepted that climate change was part of the problem, Zinke said “of course.” He also acknowledged […]

Saying goodbye to Planet Earth

By Chris Hedges 19 August 2018 (Truthdig) – The spectacular rise of human civilization—its agrarian societies, cities, states, empires and industrial and technological advances ranging from irrigation and the use of metals to nuclear fusion—took place during the last 10,000 years, after the last ice age. Much of North America was buried, before the ice […]

How heroin came for middle-class moms

By Hayley Krischer    20 August 2018 (Marie Claire) – Donna* is from the suburbs. She says so proudly. A really nice town not far from Philadelphia. Donna grew up in a nice middle-class family. She wrote poetry. She had shoulder-length blonde hair and a job at the board of social services. Today Donna is in […]

Venezuela is swept by economic chaos as new crypto-currency “scam” takes effect – Bolívar devalued by 95 percent

By Rachelle Krygier and Anthony Faiola 21 August 2018 CARACAS, Venezuela (The Washington Post) – Many Venezuelans rejected an opposition call for a national strike on Tuesday, warily going to work even as sweeping government measures aimed at curbing ­hyperinflation caused mounting confusion.With inflation hurtling toward 1 million percent and hunger spreading nationwide, President Nicolás […]

Worst air quality on record as another surge of wildfire smoke hits Puget Sound – Breathing Seattle’s air right now is like smoking 7 cigarettes

By Umair Irfan 21 August 2018(Vox) – Ash and smoke are choking Seattle’s air for the second week in a row, as wildfires smolder in the Cascades and in British Columbia.As of Tuesday morning, the Air Quality Index in Seattle was at 181, a rating classified as “unhealthy.” In parts of the city, the index […]

Death toll rises to 410 in India floods – More than 1 million people flee to relief camps

CHENGANNUR, 21 August 2018 (AFP) – More than one million people have fled to relief camps in the Indian state of Kerala to escape devastating monsoon floods that have killed more than 410 people, as a huge international aid operation gathered pace.People are flocking to camps as the scale of the desolation is revealed by […]

Image of the Day: Satellite view of smokestorm over Washington state and Western Canada, 20 August 2018

By Kathryn Hansen 17 August 2018(NASA) – In mid-August 2018, deadly blazes across the western United States and Canada continued to destroy structures and disrupt the lives of millions of people. But you did not have to be close to the fires to witness its effects. These images show just how far across North America […]

Video: Australia farmers endure crippling drought – “It attacks you from all angles”

20 August 2018 (Journeyman Pictures) – In the Australian outback, farmers are suffering the profound consequences of severe drought, the worst for a decade. Three families give their own outlook on the nature of hardship in a changing world. “It attacks you from all angles”, says Brendan Cullen of Kars Station, New South Wales. “The […]

Families on edge and on alert in British Columbia wildfires – “It’s ruining people’s homes, it’s ruining wildlife, it’s ruining full communities”

20 August 2018 (The Canadian Press) – Some headway was made over the weekend battling hundreds of blazes across British Columbia, according to crews battling the wildfires, but thick smoke continues to blanket the province and create challenges for communities far from any flames. The B.C. Wildfire Service says there weren’t many lightning strikes last […]

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