Desdemona Despair – Page 71 – Blogging the End of the World™

A woman uses a candle inside her house during a power cut in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 30 March 2022. Many parts of the crisis-hit country faced up to 13 hours without electricity due to a shortage of foreign currency to import fuel. Photo: AFP

April 3, 2022

Power cuts in Sri Lanka could continue into May 2022 – Nation experiencing worst economic spiral since independence in 1948

COLOMBO, 31 March 2022 (The Straits Times) – Sri Lanka’s power minister said on Thursday (31 March 2022) that power cuts could continue into May, as many parts of the crisis-hit country currently face up to 13 hours without electricity due to a shortage of foreign currency to import fuel. Pavithra Wanniarachchi said that a […]

Number of March tornadoes across the United States, 2013-2022. March 2022 saw more tornadoes in the U.S. than any March on record. Data: NCDC / Storm Prediction Center Graphic: CNN

April 3, 2022

March 2022 set new U.S. tornado record for second year in a row – Scientists are seeing a dangerous shift in early-spring tornadoes

By Caitlin Kaiser and Brandon Miller 31 March 2022 (CNN) – This month has seen more tornadoes in the US than any March on record following this week’s severe weather outbreak. It’s the second year in a row the country has endured a record number of tornadoes in March, solidifying a trend toward more severe weather […]

An octopus is pictured “stilt-walking” with a variety of collected trash. A new study crowdsourced hundreds of images, including this one, that observed octopuses using human garbage for a variety of tasks. Photo: Serge Abourjeily

April 3, 2022

Octopuses are using human garbage as shelter, camouflage and more, study finds – “It’s becoming so common that they’re using these items to protect themselves with instead of their natural shelters, such as seashells, which are becoming scarce in the ocean”

9 March 2022 (CBC Radio) – A new study suggests it’s becoming increasingly common for octopuses to use bottles, cans and other human trash to shelter themselves, camouflage their dens and even house their young. “We believe this is because of the high abundance of these artificial items — you know, the litter item — […]

A body of a woman, who according to residents was executed by Russian army soldiers, lies on the street, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Bucha, in the region of Kyiv, Ukraine, 2 April 2022. Photo: Zohra Bensemra / REUTERS

April 3, 2022

Human Rights Watch report on atrocities in Russia-controlled areas of Ukraine: Summary executions, rape, and other grave abuses – “The cases we documented amount to unspeakable, deliberate cruelty and violence against Ukrainian civilians”

3 April 2022 (Warsaw) – Human Rights Watch has documented several cases of Russian military forces committing laws-of-war violations against civilians in occupied areas of the Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Kyiv regions of Ukraine. These include a case of repeated rape; two cases of summary execution, one of six men, the other of one man; and other cases of […]

Futures prices of West Texas intermediate crude oil and lithium, May 2021-March 2022. Graphic: Bloomberg

March 29, 2022

A world that’s more expensive is starting to destroy demand – “A renewed spike in gas prices would see demand destruction become more widespread”

By David R Baker, Allison Smith, and Sheela Tobben 27 March 2022 (Bloomberg) – Prices for some of the world’s most pivotal products – foods, fuels, plastics, metals – are spiking beyond what many buyers can afford. That’s forcing consumers to cut back and, if the trend grows, may tip economies already buffeted by pandemic […]

John Lawrence and Payton Campbell (unseen at rear) with their children Harlow and Aria inspect a flooded road near their home on 2 March 2022 in Dungay, Australia. Several northern New South Wales towns were forced to evacuate as Australia faced unprecedented storms and the worst flooding in a decade. Photo: Dan Peled / Getty Images

March 29, 2022

Coastal home buyers are ignoring rising flood risks, despite clear warnings and rising insurance premiums

By Risa Palm and Toby W. Bolsen 25 March 2022 (The Conversation) – Apollo Beach, Florida, is a maze of canals lined with hundreds of houses perched right near the water’s edge. The whole community, just south of Tampa, is only about 3 feet above sea level, meaning it’s at risk from storm surge as […]

Tokyo Tower is illuminated only in the lower-half part in response to the government’s request to save electricity in Tokyo, Japan on 22 March 2022. Photo: Issei Kato / REUTERS

March 27, 2022

The future of energy will require bigger sacrifices from citizens – “If you don’t want to act on going 1 degree lower for climate change, do it against Putin”

By Stephen Stapczynski and Shoko Oda 25 March 2022 (Bloomberg News) – Not since the late 1970s have governments around the world been under so much pressure to ask their citizens to cut energy consumption for the greater good. The need for more energy conservation has snowballed: The war in Ukraine is forcing Europe to curb […]

Concentrations of plastic particles by polymer type in whole blood samples of 22 donors (duplicates a and b, except for No. 6, 9, 15 and 18). All values are greater than the limit of quantification (LOQ). Graphic: Leslie, et al., 2022 / Environment International

March 27, 2022

Microplastics found in human blood for first time – “Our study is the first indication that we have polymer particles in our blood”

By Damian Carrington 24 March 2022 (The Guardian) – Microplastic pollution has been detected in human blood for the first time, with scientists finding the tiny particles in almost 80% of the people tested. The discovery shows the particles can travel around the body and may lodge in organs. The impact on health is as […]

Lismore, Australia residents Tim Fry and Zara Coronakes and son Ezekiel stand outside the remains of their flooded home on 11 March 2022. Photo: Jason O'Brien / AAP

March 27, 2022

After the Australia floods, the distressing but necessary case for managed retreat – “Is it fair for taxpayers to carry the huge burden of paying for future rescue and relief costs?”

By Antonia Settle 13 March 2022 (The Conversation) – From Brisbane to Sydney, many thousands of Australians have been reliving a devastating experience they hoped – in 2021, 2020, 2017, 2015, 2013, 2012 or 2010/11 – would never happen to them again. For some suburbs built on the flood plains of the Nepean River in […]

This photo from 7 March 2022 shows coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of the Australian state of Queensland. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef experienced its sixth massive bleaching event in 2022 as climate change has warmed the ocean, raising concerns over whether one of the world’s natural wonders is nearing a tipping point. Photo: Glenn Nicholls / AFP / Getty Images

March 27, 2022

Global warming deals another blow to the Great Barrier Reef – “This is a first mass bleaching event during a La Niña”

By Darryl Fears 26 March 2022 (The Washington Post) – Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is experiencing its sixth massive bleaching event as climate change has warmed the ocean, raising concerns over whether one of the world’s natural wonders is nearing a tipping point. Reef managers confirmed Friday that aerial surveys detected catastrophic bleaching on 60 […]