Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Climate change could lead to changes in ecosystems, lifestyles – ‘That’s a fairly ominous change, especially when you think about fire’

By Melissa Jameson14 March 2016 (BC Local News) – Simply put, says Kootenay scientist Greg Utzig, climate change is about air. “What we’re talking about in terms of climate change is air,” said Utzig at a talk on climate change in Revelstoke last week. “That is what this issue is all about. You wouldn’t think […]

Graph of the Day: U.S. states with lead levels that exceed EPA limits

16 March 2016 (USA TODAY) – Since 2012, nearly 2,000 water systems across the U.S. have found elevated lead levels in tap water samples, a public health concern that requires them to notify customers and take action. Search or click the map to find systems in your area. The map table shows the state / […]

WHO: An estimated 12.6 million deaths each year are attributable to unhealthy environments

GENEVA, 15 March 2016 (WHO) – An estimated 12.6 million people died as a result of living or working in an unhealthy environment in 2012 – nearly 1 in 4 of total global deaths, according to new estimates from WHO. Environmental risk factors, such as air, water and soil pollution, chemical exposures, climate change, and […]

In the Iditarod, global warming makes it a year for the record books – ‘I’m not sure winter ever came to south-central Alaska’

By William Yardley and Kyle Hopkins15 March 2016 NOME, Alaska (Los Angeles Times) – The winters keep getting warmer. The racers keep getting faster. When Dallas Seavey and his team of sled dogs arrived in this remote old gold rush town on the Bering Sea shortly after 2 a.m. on Tuesday, Seavey celebrated his fourth […]

Puget Sound coho salmon return forecasts ‘critical’ – Tribes propose canceling fishing season – ‘The loss of coho fishing on the heels of losing chinook fishing last year would be absolutely devastating’

By Alison Morrow11 March 2016 (KING 5 News) – The Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission is asking wildlife officials to consider canceling the coho fishery across Puget Sound this year. Warmer water in the oceans has made it tough for all salmon returning to Puget Sound. Wild coho return forecasts are at historic lows. In some […]

In ‘unprecedented decision’, UN boosts food and cash assistance as El Niño’s grip on Zimbabwe tightens

HARARE, 16 March 2016 (WFP) – Vulnerable people in Zimbabwe will continue to receive relief assistance from the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) through what is usually a period of bounty but which this year has turned into a time of want. WFP is extending its relief programme due to the punishing impact of […]

The corrosive dangers lurking in America’s private wells

By M.B. Pell and Joshua Schneyer14 March 2016 (Reuters) – In this town of 2,800 just south of the Canadian border, residents have long worried about the water flowing from their taps. The water in one household is so corrosive it gutted three dishwashers and two washing machines. Another couple’s water is so salty the […]

In Greece, UN envoy Angelina Jolie Pitt shines light on emergency response for thousands of refugees – On eve of migration summit, UN rights expert urges EU countries to revisit border controls

16 March 2016 (UN) – Making Turkey the “gatekeeper’ does not absolve Europe from its responsibility of welcoming migrants, a United Nations human rights expert today, warning that the only way for Europe to secure its borders is to offer safe and regular channels for mobility. “European member states once responsible for drafting key legislation […]

Storms replenish key reservoirs amid California drought, but others still below capacity – ‘We still don’t have water in all the right places to meet demand going into peak season’

By Janie Har14 March 2016 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Four straight days of rain have replenished several key reservoirs in drought-stricken California, but the El Nino-related storms also led to the death of a highway patrol officer who was struck while directing traffic on a snowy Sierra Nevada freeway. The series of storms that started […]

February smashes Earth’s all-time global heat record by a jaw-dropping margin

By Jeff Masters and Bob Henson13 March 2016 (wunderground.com) – On Saturday, NASA dropped a bombshell of a climate report. February 2016 has soared past all rivals as the warmest seasonally adjusted month in more than a century of global recordkeeping. NASA’s analysis showed that February ran 1.35°C (2.43°F) above the 1951-1980 global average for […]

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