Blogging the End of the World™
By Paula Kahumbu7 April 2015 (CNN) – Elephants could be extinct in the wild within a few decades, leading experts warned late last month in Botswana at the Kasane Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade, which gathered 150 delegates from countries that are sourcing, transiting and demanding ivory. The participants signed onto 15 new commitments […]
By Stan Lehman 2 April 2015 SÃO PAULO (Associated Press) – Brazil’s biggest city has recorded its rainiest March since 2008, but the worst drought in more than 80 years has left reservoir levels critically low and water experts fear that strict water rationing may still loom for São Paulo as it enters the April-September […]
February 2015 (McKinsey Global Institute) – Seven years after the bursting of a global credit bubble resulted in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, debt continues to grow. In fact, rather than reducing indebtedness, or deleveraging, all major economies today have higher levels of borrowing relative to GDP than they did in 2007. […]
6 April 2015 (SSCS) – At 1152 GMT today, the notorious poaching vessel, Thunder, sank at 0˚ 20′ North 05˚ 23′ East inside the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Sao Tome. The Sea Shepherd ships Bob Barker and Sam Simon are in the process of rescuing the entire crew of 40, including the captain, officers, […]
5 April 2015 (Desdemona Despair) – Recently, there’s been discussion about a possible decoupling between global financial growth and carbon dioxide emissions, so Desdemona decided to check in on recent CO2 emission data. The Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) maintains a database of fossil-fuel CO2 emissions, which has been updated with preliminary data to […]
Environmental groups say countries are not fishing sustainably and quotas are too high 25 March 2015 (Associated Press) – Two studies from environmental groups show European Union nations continue to overfish their Atlantic waters despite commitments to fish sustainably and stay within safe scientific limits. The studies obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press ahead of […]
By Nigel Sizer, Rachael Petersen, James Anderson, Matt Hansen, Peter Potapov, and David Thau2 April 2015 (WRI) – New, high-resolution satellite-based maps released today by the University of Maryland and Google on Global Forest Watch, a partnership of over 60 organizations convened by the World Resources Institute, reveal a significant recent surge in tree cover […]
By Tim Maughan2 April 2015 (BBC) – From where I’m standing, the city-sized Baogang Steel and Rare Earth complex dominates the horizon, its endless cooling towers and chimneys reaching up into grey, washed-out sky. Between it and me, stretching into the distance, lies an artificial lake filled with a black, barely-liquid, toxic sludge. Dozens of […]
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, 31 March 2015 (Los Angeles Times) – Yosemite National Park is bracing for its driest year on record, with visitor bureaus downplaying the allure of the park’s most famous waterfall and instead touting the park as a destination for hiking, bicycling and photography. Yosemite Falls will probably go dry in June — […]
1 April 2015 (Polar Bears International) – Scientists have known for years that polar bears forced ashore in summer by melting sea ice may feed on foods like bird eggs, berries, and small mammals. But would polar bears be able to survive in a warming Arctic by eating land-based foods? The short answer: no. A […]
