Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Canada government under fire for spying on environmental groups –‘What Harper has done is to take the spy agencies of the federal government of Canada and put them at the service of private companies like Enbridge’

By Krystle Alarcon and Matthew Millar 21 November 2013 (Vancouver Observer) – Politicians, environmentalists and First Nations alike are infuriated that the federal government worked hand-in-hand with the oil industry to spy on groups that opposed pipeline projects. Documents obtained by the Vancouver Observer under the Access to Information Privacy Act revealed that the National […]

Ancestors’ exposure to DDT may contribute to obesity, study says

By Tony Barboza23 October 2013 (Los Angeles Times) – Exposure to the pesticide DDT could be playing a role in high rates of obesity three generations later, a new study says. Scientists injected pregnant rats with DDT and found no change in their levels of obesity or their offspring. But by the third generation, more […]

Mining dwarfs farming as threat to health of Great Barrier Reef, marine scientist warns –‘One more stress that could have been avoided’

By Bridie Smith 12 December 2013 (Sydney Morning Herald) – Mining poses a greater threat to the health of the Great Barrier Reef than agriculture, according to one marine scientist who has cast doubt on the federal government’s prediction that water quality will improve along the reef coast. On Tuesday federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt […]

Inside China’s desperate effort to control pollution, before it’s too late

By Ari Phillips    26 November 2013 (Climate Progress) – If James Carville was giving the Chinese government public relations advice, he might say something like, “It’s the pollution, stupid.” But this wouldn’t be anything the Chinese government doesn’t already know. When eight-year-olds start getting lung cancer that can be attributed to air pollution, you’ve got […]

Canada dead last in ranking for environmental protection –‘Canada has been the only country that’s fallen’

By PAUL WALDIE 18 November 2013 LONDON (The Globe and Mail) – Canada has fallen behind in a global ranking on international development initiatives and ranks last when it comes to environmental protection. The Washington-based Center for Global Development assesses 27 wealthy nations annually on their commitment to seven areas that impact the world’s poor. […]

U.S. Navy researchers predict summer Arctic ice might disappear by 2016, 84 years ahead of schedule

By David Schmalz27 November 2013 (Monterey County Weekly) – Tucked away on the third floor of the Naval Postgraduate School’s building of Engineering and Applied Sciences, a small team of researchers is leading an effort that will change the way the world thinks about the world. Their project is the Regional Arctic System Model (RASM), […]

See how Republican food assistance cuts are hitting the most vulnerable people in the U.S.

By Maria Godoy17 November 2013 When you think of Oregon and food, you probably think organic chicken, kale chips and other signs of a strong local food movement. What probably doesn’t come to mind? Food stamps. And yet, 21 percent of Oregon’s population – that’s one out of every five residents – relies on food […]

Displaced by Hurricane Sandy, and living in limbo

By PATRICK McGEEHAN and GRIFF PALMER6 December 2013 LONG BEACH, N.Y. (The New York Times) – For Kathryn Fitzgerald and her young daughter, Megan, home was a modest three-bedroom house here, on a tightly packed segment of Delaware Avenue two blocks from the Atlantic Ocean. That was the only home that Megan had ever known, […]

Threat of dead zone developing off Sonoma Coast

By GUY KOVNER5 December 2013 (THE PRESS DEMOCRAT) – Climate change is the likely cause of unprecedented mass of oxygen-poor water off the Sonoma Coast, a phenomenon that could harm the region’s prized Dungeness crab and other marine life. Scientists at the Bodega Marine Laboratory, who were the first to detect the hypoxic (low-oxygen) waters, […]

Australia to honor promise on monitoring Japan whale poachers

10 December 2013 (ABC) – The Australian Government says it intends to honour its promise to send a Customs ship to monitor Japanese whalers. But the Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt says he’s still working through some of the “operational issues”. “We will have clear monitoring in the Southern Ocean, and I just ask for […]

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