Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Arctic sea ice is vanishing far faster than anyone thought possible

By Robert Ferris19 Aug 2016 (CNBC) – Arctic sea ice is melting at a rate far faster than anyone thought, and it is already wildly, and perhaps permanently, changing the region, and the planet. Historically, sea ice forms every winter across the top of the planet, and covers much of the Arctic Ocean. Every summer, […]

Amazon rainforest degradation up 185 percent over last year

[Translation by Bing Translator.] By Antônio Fonseca, Marcelo Justino, Carlos Souza Jr., and Adalberto Veríssimo22 August 2016 (Imazon) – In July 2016, SAD detected 539 square kilometers of deforestation in the Amazon, with a cloud cover of 7% of the territory. This represented a decrease of 1% compared to July 2015 when deforestation totaled 542 […]

Dazzling blue lakes are forming in Antarctica, and scientists are worried

[Jim Hansen’s supralinear sea level rise scenario looks increasingly likely. –Des] By Chris Mooney 17 August 2016 (Washington Post) – In a new study, scientists who study the largest ice mass on Earth — East Antarctica — have found that it is showing a surprising feature reminiscent of the fastest melting one: Greenland. More specifically, […]

As the world burns, the rich cruise in luxury through a melting Arctic

By Chris D’Angelo 20 August 2016 (Huffington Post) – As global temperatures soar, wildfires rage and sea ice levels dwindle to record lows, a luxury cruise company has found a way to make a pretty penny off our rapidly changing climate. The Crystal Serenity set off from Seward, Alaska, Tuesday, on a 32-day voyage through the […]

Ocean slime spreading quickly across the Earth – ‘Here the change is just massive – this one species is just taking over.’

By Craig Welch19 August 2016 (National Geographic) – When sea lions suffered seizures and birds and porpoises started dying on the California coast last year, scientists weren’t entirely surprised. Toxic algae is known to harm marine mammals. But when researchers found enormous amounts of toxin in a pelican that had been slurping anchovies, they decided […]

How Nestlé gets away with pumping California’s water for next to nothing – ‘They’re converting a public resource into private profit’

By David Dayen12 August 2016 (Los Angeles Magazine) – To reach Well Complex 7, you must wind along Highway 18 as it rises 5,642 feet above sea level through the San Bernardino National Forest, the green mountains framing the sprawl of the Inland Empire. Near the burg of Rimforest, you park on the shoulder and […]

British physicist Brian Cox takes Australia Senator Malcolm Roberts to task for global warming denial

15 August 2016 (ABC) – There was a climate change showdown on Q&A last night when Professor Brian Cox and One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts were guests on the panel. Here’s the best bits from their exchanges for you. The night began with an audience question to the British physicist, asking him to address Senator […]

Should we be having kids in the age of climate change?

By Jennifer Ludden18 August 2016 (NPR) – Standing before several dozen students in a college classroom, Travis Rieder tries to convince them not to have children. Or at least not too many. He’s at James Madison University in southwest Virginia to talk about a “small-family ethic” — to question the assumptions of a society that […]

NASA study analyzes Four Corners methane leaks – Some sources emit up to 5,000 kilograms per hour

15 August 2016 (NASA) – In an extensive airborne survey, a NASA-led team has analyzed a previously identified “hot spot” of methane emissions in the Four Corners region of the United States, quantifying both its overall magnitude and the magnitudes of its sources. The study finds that just 10 percent of the individual methane sources […]

Scientific American: Donald Trump’s lack of respect for science is alarming

17 August 2016 (Scientific American) – Four years ago in these pages, writer Shawn Otto warned our readers of the danger of a growing antiscience current in American politics. “By turning public opinion away from the antiauthoritarian principles of the nation’s founders,” Otto wrote, “the new science denialism is creating an existential crisis like few […]

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