Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

How palm oil from illegal deforestation reaches global brands

3 September 2013 (Greenpeace) – The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was formed in 2004 to promote the use of sustainable palm oil through credible global standards and engagement of stakeholders. It is a voluntary association, consisting of palm oil producers, processors and traders, consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, banks and investors as well as […]

Graph of the Day: Deforestation in Ecuador, 2005-2013

By Rhett A. Butler4 September 2013 (mongabay.com) – Data released this week by Terra-i, a collaborative mapping initiative, shows that deforestation in Ecuador for the first three months of 2013 was pacing more than 300 percent ahead of last year’s rate. The report comes shortly after Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa killed off a proposed plan […]

Video: Flyover of illegal gold mining operations destroying Amazon rainforest in Peru – ‘These are giant operations. Arsenic has been found in the Titicaca Lake.’

By Rhett A. Butler 26 September 2013 (mongabay.com) – Video of illegal gold mining operations that have turned a portion of the Amazon rainforest into a moonscape went viral on YouTube after a popular radio and TV journalist in Peru highlighted the story. Last week Peruvian journalist and politician Güido Lombardi directed his audience to […]

Quick summary of new IPCC climate report: By 2100, Earth warms 4°C, sea level rises 28-98 cm, dry areas become drier, wet areas become wetter, summer Arctic sea ice disappears

  By Stefan Rahmstorf27 September 2013 (RealClimate) – The time has come: the new IPCC report is here! After several years of work by over 800 scientists from around the world, and after days of extensive discussion at the IPCC plenary meeting in Stockholm, the Summary for Policymakers was formally adopted at 5 o’clock this […]

Heavy rains spawned by Typhoon Usagi kill 36 in Vietnam, Cambodia

HANOI, 24 September  2013 (AFP) – Heavy monsoon rains exacerbated by Typhoon Usagi have pounded parts of Vietnam and Cambodia killing at least 36 people, authorities said Tuesday, with many swept to their deaths in floods. Despite not being directly hit by Usagi — the world’s most powerful storm this year — parts of Southeast […]

Sonar used by oil company caused mass whale stranding in Madagascar

By Katie Moore, Program Director-Animal Rescue 26 September 2013 (IFAW) – Four years ago I rushed to Madagascar to help stop over 100 melon-headed whales from stranding and dying along the islands’ shores. Like most cetacean species, melon-headed whales are very social animals. They rely on sound for communication and echolocation that are essential to […]

Mammals vanish entirely from forest fragments after 25 years – ‘It was like ecological Armageddon. Nobody imagined we’d see such catastrophic local extinctions.’

By Jeremy Hance26 September 2013 (mongabay.com) – As tropical forests worldwide are increasingly cut into smaller and smaller fragments, mammal extinctions may not be far behind, according to a new study in Science. Tracking native smalls mammals in Chiew Larn Reservoir, Thailand for over 25 years, scientists found a stunning and rapid decline in mammal […]

Graph of the Day: China’s power generation mix projected to 2030

By Sophie Vorrath28 August 2013 (Renew Economy) – China – already the world’s second largest electricity market, largest carbon dioxide emitter, and consumer of half the world’s coal – is on course to more than double its power market in size by 2030. But with increased awareness of environmental pollution, a potential price on carbon […]

Poachers kill 81 Zimbabwe elephants by poisoning water holes with cyanide

HARARE, Zimbabwe, 24 September 2013 (AP) – Zimbabwean authorities say at least 81 elephants have been killed for their ivory tusks by poachers using cyanide poison in water holes in a vast western national park. Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi, in Harare Tuesday after touring Hwange National Park, said more elephant carcasses were discovered after a […]

As climate change report draws near, deniers raise voices, bury heads deeper

By Phil Plait23 September 2013 (Slate) – Here’s a simple quiz: How do you know when you’re about to read a forehead-slappingly silly article about climate change? Check the venue: Is it the Daily Mail, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Post, and/or anything owned by Rupert Murdoch and News Corp? If yes, then, yes. […]

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