Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Record 1 in 3 U.S. counties in severe decline as deaths exceed births – ‘These counties are in a pretty steep downward spiral’

By Hope Yen13 March 2013 WASHINGTON (AP) — A record number of U.S. counties — more than 1 in 3 — are now dying off, hit by an aging population and weakened local economies that are spurring young adults to seek jobs and build families elsewhere. New 2012 census estimates released Thursday highlight the population […]

Human-induced climate change played big role in Somalia’s 2011 famine, new study finds

NAIROBI, Kenya, 15 March 2013 (Associated Press) – Human-induced climate change contributed to low rain levels in East Africa in 2011, making global warming one of the causes of Somalia’s famine and the tens of thousands of deaths that followed, a new study has found. It is the first time climate change was proven to […]

Hoping to save bees, Europe to vote on neonicotinoid pesticide ban

By DAVID JOLLY 14 March 2013 PARIS (The New York Times) – Will Brussels try to give bees a break? In a case closely watched on both sides of the Atlantic, European officials plan to vote Friday on a proposal to sharply restrict the use of pesticides that had been implicated in the decline of […]

California has driest January and February on record, Sierra snowpack below normal – ‘It’s going to have some dire effects for those folks in the Central Valley that were thinking they will be able to plant’

By Amy Quinton28 February 2013 (California Capital Network) – California has officially shattered an all-time record for the driest January and February in the northern Sierra since record-keeping began in 1921. This year, the area has received only 2.3 inches of precipitation. The northern Sierra is crucial in providing statewide water supplies because snow melt […]

Heat wave breaks records across Southeast Australia – Melbourne endures record seven nights above 20C, after nine days in a row above 30C

By Jane Holroyd18 March 2008 (The Age) – Melburnians tossed and turned through the warmest March night on record with the mercury dipping to a balmy minimum of 26.9 degrees just before 7.30am today. Weather bureau senior forecaster Peter Blake said it was the city’s warmest March night, beating the previous record on March 3 […]

Monarch butterfly population in Mexico drops to record low – Now only one-fifteenth as many butterflies as there were in 1997

By Mark Stevenson13 March 2013 MEXICO CITY (AP) – The amount of Monarch butterflies wintering in Mexico dropped 59 percent this year, falling to the lowest level since comparable record-keeping began 20 years ago, scientists reported Wednesday. It was the third straight year of declines for the orange-and-black butterflies that migrate from the United States […]

Wellington has ‘20 days of water left’ in record drought – ‘It’s just unheard of. Guys who have lived in the area all their lives are saying it’s the driest they’ve ever seen.’

13 March 2013 (Fairfax) – The Wellington region’s water supply is at ‘crisis’ level, while even the typically wet West Coast is experiencing a big dry as New Zealand’s summer drought extends. Rural communities throughout the North Island are already reeling from extremely dry conditions. The Government has declared Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty […]

China plans first commercial trip through Arctic shortcut in 2013

By Alister Doyle, Reuters Environment Correspondent, with additional reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Louise Ireland 12 March 2013 OSLO (Reuters) – A Chinese shipping firm is planning the country’s first commercial voyage through a shortcut across the Arctic Ocean to the United States and Europe in 2013, a leading Chinese scientist said on Tuesday. […]

Rains or not, India is falling short on drinkable water

By GARDINER HARRIS12 March 2013 CHERRAPUNJI, India (The New York Times) – Almost no place on Earth gets more rain than this small hill town. Nearly 40 feet falls every year — more than 12 times what Seattle gets. Storms often drop more than a foot a day. The monsoon is epic. But during the […]

Hurricane Sandy victims agonize over fate of Jersey Shore homes – ‘Who’s going to want to buy a house where the flood insurance is going to be so much more?’

HACKENSACK, New Jersey, 10 March 2013 (Associated Press) – Thousands of Jersey Shore owners whose homes were flooded by Superstorm Sandy are now facing the most crucial decision yet: raise, sell, or raze. Is it cheaper to elevate or demolish? How long a wait will there be for insurance and grant money? Can the emotional […]

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