Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Photo gallery: Fukushima’s deserted towns

A woman paying a brief visit to her home walks under a sign reading ‘Nuclear power – the energy for a better future’, at the entrance of the empty Futaba town. Decades ago the citizens ofFutaba took such pride in hosting part of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex that they built a sign over a […]

Alaska National Weather Service office begs ‘please pay us’ in secret message

By Jason Samenow4 October 2013 (Washington Post) – In an official public forecast discussion, the Anchorage National Weather Service office  – whose employees are working without knowledge of when they will be paid during the ongoing Federal shutdown –  encoded this secret message: “Please pay us.” The first letter in each of the first 11 […]

Jude Law joins protest over Russia’s prosecution of Greenpeace activists – ‘What is ludicrous is that they have been charged with piracy’

5 October 2013 (BBC News) – Actor Jude Law and musician Damon Albarn have joined hundreds demonstrating in London over piracy charges brought by Russia against 30 Greenpeace activists. Six Britons were among those arrested last month as they protested against oil drilling in the Arctic at a rig owned by Russian firm, Gazprom. Relatives […]

Graph of the Day: Global mean surface temperature increase as a function of cumulative total global CO2 emissions

27 September 2013 (IPCC) – Global mean surface temperature increase as a function of cumulative total global CO2 emissions from various lines of evidence. Multi-model results from a hierarchy of climate-carbon cycle models for each RCP until 2100 are shown with coloured lines and decadal means (dots). Some decadal means are indicated for clarity (e.g., […]

Nobel laureates press EU leaders to classify tar sands as high carbon – ‘The extraction of unconventional fuels is having a particularly devastating impact on climate change’

3 October 2013 (Reuters) – Twenty-one Nobel laureates including South African anti-apartheid campaigner Desmond Tutu have written to European Union leaders urging them to implement a law that would label oil from tar sands as dirtier than other crudes. The EU tar sands proposal has incensed the government of Canada, whose economy is highly dependent […]

Health of oceans declining fast, ‘at high risk of entering a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history’

By Roger Harrabin, Environment analyst3 October 2013 (BBC News) – The health of the world’s oceans is deteriorating even faster than had previously been thought, a report says. A review from the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), warns that the oceans are facing multiple threats. They are being heated by climate […]

Deadly giant hornets kill 42 people in China, injure more than 1,500 – ‘The hornets were horrifying. They hit right at my head and covered my legs.’

By Madison Park, Dayu Zhang, and Elizabeth Landau3 October 2013 HONG KONG (CNN) – A thumb-sized wasp with an orange head has killed dozens of people in China and injured more than 1,500 with its powerful venomous sting. The Asian giant hornet, known scientifically as Vespa mandarinia, carries a venom that destroys red blood cells, […]

More than 100 scientists warn Ecuador Congress against oil development in Yasuní National Park – ‘They are not nibbling around the edges of the park anymore, but going deep into the core’

By Jeremy Hance 3 October 2013 (mongabay.com) – Over 100 scientists have issued a statement to the Ecuadorian Congress warning that proposed oil development and accompanying roads in Yasuní National Park will degrade its “extraordinary biodiversity.” The statement by a group dubbed the Scientists Concerned for Yasuní outlines in detail how the park is not […]

How to end the elephant slaughter

By Cristian Samper, Patrick Bergin, Peter Seligmann, Azzedine Downes, and Carter Roberts27 September 2013 (CNN) – Dzanga Bai is a magical place of natural wonder. It is on the Central African Republic’s southwest border with the Republic of Congo and is widely considered the most important gathering place for forest elephants in the entire Congo […]

Russia charges Greenpeace activists with piracy – ‘Most serious threat to Greenpeace’s peaceful environmental activism’ since its ship Rainbow Warrior was bombed and sunk by France

By Steve Gutterman, with additional reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Writing by Steve Gutterman; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Angus MacSwan2 October 2013 MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian authorities charged Greenpeace activists from several nations with piracy on Wednesday over a protest against Arctic oil drilling at a platform owned by the state-controlled energy company Gazprom, the […]

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