Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Don’t believe in climate change? Talk to a clam digger. ‘Pray that the winds change soon.’

By Maria Dolan18 February 2013 (Slate) – Behind the counter at Seattle’s Taylor Shellfish Market, a brawny guy with a goatee pries open kumamoto, virginica, and shigoku oysters as easily as other men pop beer cans. David Leck is a national oyster shucking champion who opened and plated a dozen of them in just over […]

Japan vows to continue whale poaching after failed illegal refueling attempts

TOKYO, 21 February 2013 (AFP) – Japan vowed to continue its whale hunt in the Southern Ocean after clashes with the militant conservationist Sea Shepherd group, which claimed Tokyo had been forced to end the mission. “We are keeping our whaling programme,” an official at Japan’s Fisheries Agency told AFP on Thursday, denying a report […]

Biofuel rush wiping out America’s grasslands at fastest pace since the 1930s Dust Bowl – Rates of grassland loss are ‘comparable to deforestation rates in Brazil, Malaysia, and Indonesia’

By Brad Plumer 20 February 2013 (Washington Post) – America’s prairies are shrinking. Spurred on by the rush for biofuels, farmers are digging up grasslands in the northern Plains to plant crops at the quickest pace since the 1930s. While that’s been a boon for farmers, the upheaval could create unexpected problems. A new study […]

Video: Japan whale poachers’ factory ship rams Sea Shepherd vessels and fuel tanker – Annual whale slaughter suspended, whaling fleet scattered and in disarray

By Captain Paul Watson20 February 2013 (Sea Shepherd Conservation Society) – The captain of the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru lost his temper, and unfortunately road rage with an 8,000 ton ship in remote waters amongst icebergs and ice packs can be somewhat intimidating, as we all learned very dramatically today. Where to begin? I […]

Japan whaler factory ship rams four ships in one hour, flees north – Former Senator Bob Brown calls for Australia Navy to intervene

MELBOURNE, Australia, 20 February 2013 (Sea Shepherd Australia) – The SSS Bob Barker and SSS Steve Irwin have been rammed by the Japanese whaling fleet’s massive factory vessel, the Nisshin Maru. The floating slaughter-house is eight times the mass of the Steve Irwin. The Bob Barker and the Steve Irwin were behind Sun Laurel, Steve […]

Kansas state bill would force teachers to question climate change in class – HB2306 calls climate change ‘scientific controversy’

[“Teach the controversy”: Taking a page from the Creationists’ playbook. –Des] 18 February 2013 By Celia Llopis-Jepsen (The Topeka Capital-Journal) – With the Kansas State Board of Education preparing to vote on new science standards this year, the House Education Committee has introduced a bill asking schools to include evidence against climate change in science […]

Japan whale poachers spill oil during illegal refueling operation – ‘The time has come for the Australian government to intervene and put a stop to this insanity’

17 February 2013 (Sea Shepherd Australia) – In the early hours of the 17th of February, while the SSS Sam Simon was tailing the South Korean owned Sun Laurel, fuel bunker ship to the Japanese whaling fleet, the Sam Simon crew noticed the smell of diesel fumes coming from the wake of the Sun Laurel, […]

XKCD: More ships in the oceans than fish, by weight

How much would the sea level fall if every ship were removed all at once from the Earth’s waters? – Michael Toje About six microns—slightly more than the diameter of a strand of spider silk. […] Sea levels will likely rise a few feet by the year 2100. Current fish wet biomass is about 2 […]

Transocean pleads guilty, is sentenced to pay $400 million in criminal penalties for criminal conduct leading to Deepwater Horizon disaster

Contact: Stacy Kika, kika.stacy@epa.gov, 202-564-0906, 202-564-435514 February 2013 WASHINGTON (EPA) – Transocean Deepwater Inc. pleaded guilty today to a violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) for its illegal conduct leading to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, and was sentenced to pay $400 million in criminal fines and penalties, Attorney General Holder announced today. In […]

Australia re-rated on international reinsurance markets after another summer of flooding and extreme weather – Costs soar for reinsurers: ‘Insurers must rate to risk. If they don’t, they have a real difficulty in terms of solvency.’

By Peter Hannam, Carbon economy editor18 February 2013 (Sydney Morning Herald) – Australia has been re-rated on international reinsurance markets after another summer of flooding and extreme weather raised the country’s peril profile, said Insurance Council of Australia chief executive Rob Whelan. As a result of the re-rating, Australian insurers have to pay more for […]

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