Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Greek stocks, economy collapse, suffer worst declines in history – ‘July saw factory production in Greece contract sharply amid an unprecedented drop in new orders’

By Tyler Durden 3 August 2015 (ZeroHedge) – The Athens Stock Exchange reopened on Monday and unsurprisingly, some folks were selling. Trading was suspended five weeks ago after PM Alexis Tsipras’ dramatic midnight referendum call precipitated capital controls and a lengthy bank “holiday.” Shares opened lower by nearly 23% and the country’s banks traded limit-down, […]

Scientists fear toxic algae bloom spreading on Pacific coast – Stretching from southern California to Alaska, this year’s blooms thought to be the largest ever recorded

By Ryan Schuessler1 August 2015 ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Al Jazeera) – The toxic algae blooms in the Pacific Ocean stretching from southern California to Alaska — already the largest ever recorded — appear to have reached as far as the Aleutian Islands, scientists say. “The anecdotal evidence suggests we’re having a major event,” said Bruce Wright, […]

Republican presidential hopefuls reap rewards of climate denial in primary, but face risks in general election – ‘The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing noncompetitive’

By Matt Viser1 August 2015 WASHINGTON (Boston Globe) – Rick Santorum calls climate change “a beautifully concocted scheme.” Senator Ted Cruz contends that no climate change has been recorded in the last 15 years, bluntly declaring, “It hasn’t happened.” Ben Carson, a renowned neurosurgeon, has said, “We may be warming. We may be cooling.” Former […]

Massive California fire jumped 20,000 acres overnight

By Jessica Marmor Shaw2 August 2015 (MarketWatch) – A wildfire that has been raging in northern California since last Wednesday jumped 20,000 acres overnight, and has now charred 47,000 acres and is threatening 6,300 homes. Fire officials say the massive blaze, called the Rocky Fire, in the Lower Lake area north of San Francisco is […]

Cecil the lion lights up New York’s Empire State building

2 August 2015 (AFP) – A giant photo of the beloved Zimbabwean lion killed by an American trophy hunter was among images projected Saturday onto the Empire State Building in New York in a dazzling display. The “Projecting Change on the Empire State Building” initiative was designed to raise awareness about the plight of endangered […]

Dry days in U.S. West bring a ferocious start to the fire season – ‘By heavens, if this isn’t a sign of climate change, then what is climate change going to bring?’

By Fernanda Santos1 August 2015 WALLA WALLA, Washington (The New York Times) – Another summer of record-breaking drought and heat has seized the West, setting off costly and destructive wildfires from Southern California, where a single blaze burned more than 30,000 acres of national forest east of Los Angeles, to Montana, where a fast-moving fire […]

Confirmed: Jericho the lion is alive

By Michael Martinez and Deborah Bloom2 August 2015 (CNN) – Jericho the lion is alive and roaming his park habitat in Zimbabwe, the Oxford University researcher tracking the lion confirmed on Sunday. Brent Stapelkamp dismissed reports that the lion had been killed, saying a GPS device on Jericho didn’t suggest anything out of the ordinary. […]

Heat, drought cook fish alive in Pacific Northwest – ‘We’ve lost about 1.5 million juvenile fish this year due to drought conditions at our hatcheries’

By Doyle Rice1 August 2015 (USA Today) – Freakishly hot, dry weather in the Pacific Northwest is killing millions of fish in the overheated waters of the region’s rivers and streams. “We’ve lost about 1.5 million juvenile fish this year due to drought conditions at our hatcheries,” Ron Warren of Washington State’s Department of Fish […]

UPDATE: Jericho appears to be alive and well – was: Cecil the lion’s brother, Jericho, shot and killed, says Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force

UPDATE: Brother of Zimbabwe’s lion Cecil appears alive and well: researcher By Emily Shapiro1 August 2015 (ABC News) – Cecil the Lion‘s brother, Jericho, was shot and killed today, the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said, in the wake of Zimbabwe calling for the extradition of the American dentist who admitted killing Cecil in early July. […]

Image of the Day: Satellite view of burn scars around Tanana, Alaska

By Adam Voiland1 August 2015 (NASA) – In mid-July, Alaska seemed to be headed toward its worst wildfire year on record. But then a period of cool, wet weather arrived later in the month and calmed several large fires. Government officials also trimmed tens of thousands of acres from earlier estimates of burned area after […]

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