Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

4 on Japan nuclear safety team took utility money

TOKYO, 3 November 2012 (AP) – Four members of a Japanese government team that sets atomic reactor safety standards received funding from utility companies or nuclear manufacturers, raising questions about their neutrality in the wake of last year’s tsunami-triggered disaster. The Nuclear Regulation Authority said Friday that Nagoya University Professor Akio Yamamoto received 27.14 million […]

Graph of the Day: Streamflow into Perth Area Dams, 2000-2012

The Perth water supply area is 3,266 km2 and lies within the Perth Basin, occupying part of the Swan Coastal Plain and Dandaragan Plateau. Bounded in the north by the northern boundary of the Gnangara GMA, and in the south by the southern boundary of the Serpentine and Rockingham GMUs, the water supply area encompasses […]

Storm-battered New Jersey agonizes over whether to rebuild shore

By GEOFF MULVIHILL and MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press1 November 2012 LONG BEACH TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) – In its tear of destruction, the megastorm Sandy left parts of New Jersey’s beloved shore in tatters, sweeping away beaches, homes, boardwalks and amusement parks. The devastation left the state a blank canvas to redevelop its prized vacation towns. […]

Christiane Amanpour on extreme global weather: ‘The unprecedented is the new normal’

By Christiane Amanpour, Mary-Rose Abraham, David Miller, and Mark Monroy 31 October 2012 A rising death toll, the catastrophic flooding and destruction of entire neighborhoods, and billions of dollars in property damage. The impact of Hurricane Sandy, which hit the East Coast earlier this week, will be felt for years, both in the United States […]

Rising sea forces Panama islanders to move to mainland

By Lomi Kriel; Editing by Dave Graham and Eric Walsh1 November 2012 CARTI SUGDUB, Panama (Reuters) – Every rainy season, the Guna people living on the Panamanian white sand archipelago of San Blas brace themselves for waves gushing into their tiny mud-floor huts. Rising ocean levels caused by global warming and decades of coral reef […]

Nations fail to agree plan to protect seas around Antarctica

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent in Oslo; editing by Mark Heinrich1 November 2012 SYDNEY (Reuters) – Major nations failed to reach agreement on Thursday to set up huge marine protected areas off Antarctica under a plan to step up conservation of creatures such as whales and penguins around the frozen continent. The 25-member Commission for […]

Nation suddenly realizes this is just going to be a thing that happens from now on

NEW YORK, 31 October 2012 (The Onion) – Following Hurricane Sandy’s destructive tear through the Northeast this week, the nation’s 300 million citizens looked upon the trail of devastation and fully realized, for the first time, that this is just going to be something that happens from now on. Gradually comprehending that this sort of […]

Australia pumps $1.83 billion into food bowl river

Sydney, 26 October 2012 (AFP) – The government Friday pledged Aus$1.77 billion (US$1.83 billion) to pump more than 450 billion litres of water into the ailing Murray-Darling River and help rejuvenate a crucial system supplying Australia’s food bowl. The river and its basin stretches thousands of kilometres from Queensland state to South Australia and crosses […]

For years, scientists warned New York City of climate disaster

By DAVID W. CHEN and MIREYA NAVARRO30 October 2012 The warnings came, again and again. For nearly a decade, scientists have told city and state officials that New York faces certain peril: rising sea levels, more frequent flooding, and extreme weather patterns. The alarm bells grew louder after Tropical Storm Irene last year, when the […]

Tanzania police seize more than 200 elephant tusks – 30 elephants being slaughtered every day

By Fumbuka Ng’wanakilala; Editing by James Macharia and Alistair Lyon31 October 2012 DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) – Tanzanian police have seized more than 200 elephant tusks hidden in a coffin and in fertilizer bags, pointing to rising poaching in the east African country, officials said on Wednesday. “This is the biggest seizure of elephant tusks […]

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