Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

UN rights experts urge Kenya to protect activists testifying in lead pollution case – “These environmental defenders should not face threats, harassment, and intimidation”

30 May 2018 (UN News) – Cases of lead poisoning have been reported in the area near the factory, located in a poor area in the coastal city of Mombasa. The environmental defenders have been harassed and intimidated since an initial court hearing against the company which took place on 17 May 2018, and fear […]

Poachers kill 122 pregnant minke whales during summer months – “A shocking statistic and sad indictment on the cruelty of Japan’s whale hunt”

By Daniel Hurst 30 May 2018 (The Guardian) – More than 120 pregnant whales were killed during Japan’s annual “research” hunt in the Southern Ocean last summer, a new report has revealed.Of the 333 minke whales caught during the controversial 12-week expedition, 181 were female — including 53 immature ones. Figures show that of the […]

Officials relieved as flooding outlook improves along Yellowstone, Clarks Fork rivers

By Mike Kordenbrock 29 May 2018 (Billings Gazette) – River levels on the Yellowstone and Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone are trending away from flood stage, Tuesday forecasts showed.That news has left top disaster and emergency officials in Carbon and Yellowstone County optimistic.”It seems like we got away with not too much damage,” said Brad […]

Hurricane Maria killed 4,600 people in Puerto Rico, more than 70 times the official toll

29 May 2018 (BBC News) – Hurricane Maria killed more than 4,600 people in Puerto Rico, 70 times the official toll, according to estimates in a Harvard University study. A third of deaths after September’s hurricane were due to interruptions in medical care caused by power cuts and broken road links, researchers say.Interviews conducted in […]

Puerto Rico braces for hurricane season, eight months after Maria

By Joshua Hoyos 26 May 2018 (ABC News) – Eight months after being struck by Hurricane Maria, the island of Puerto Rico is bracing for another hurricane season while still cleaning up and restoring power.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday that this year’s Atlantic hurricane season will see five to nine hurricanes with […]

After 2nd 1000-year flood in two years, Maryland city ponders whether to rebuild again

By Kevin Rector and Pamela Wood 28 May 2018 ELLICOTT CITY, Maryland (The Baltimore Sun) – Residents, merchants and officials in Ellicott City on Monday began to examine the devastation wrought by floods that coursed through the historic mill town the night before — the second time in less than two years. Old Ellicott City’s […]

Prime growing areas for Canada oysters contain alarmingly high concentrations of plastic microbeads

23 May 2018 (SFU) – British Columbia’s premier shellfish farming region is heavily contaminated with microplastics, according to a new SFU study.New research from SFU’s Ecotoxicology Research Group shows Lambert Channel and Baynes Sound off Denman Island are awash with microbeads and other microplastics including fragments and fibres.The area is also home to approximately 130 […]

Death toll from Cyclone Mekunu in Oman and Yemen rises to at least 13 – Mekunu is strongest-ever cyclone recorded to hit southern Oman

By Jon Gambrell 28 May 2018 DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – The death toll from Cyclone Mekunu that hit Oman and Yemen over the weekend rose to at least 13 on Monday, authorities said, as relief workers and aid arrived to hard-hit areas in the two Arabian Peninsula countries. Flooding and damage remains considerable […]

UN rights chief: Human rights under attack globally – World is headed “backwards, to an era when racists and xenophobes deliberately enflamed hatred and discrimination among the public”

22 May 2018 (UN News) – In a hard-hitting speech marking the 25th anniversary of the World Conference on Human Rights that underscored the “universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated” nature of human rights, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, said that a quarter century on, the world seemed instead to be […]

Paving the way for Trump: Past presidential assaults on environmental health protection

By Jamie Lyons 1 May 2018 (EDGI) – The Trump administration, including Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Scott Pruitt, has undertaken an assault on environmental health protections. This assault includes deregulation, defunding, staff cuts, and the corrosion of science-based policy.This assault is severe, but is it unprecedented?Based on EDGI’s research, recently published in the American […]

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