Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Climate change feeds superstorm triple whammy – ‘The terrifying truth is that America faces a future full of Frankenstorms’

Contact: Shaye Wolf,  (415) 385-5746, swolf@biologicaldiversity.org 30 October 2012 SAN FRANCISCO (Center for Biological Diversity) – As America copes with the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy, scientists with the Center for Biological Diversity are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to use the Clean Air Act to take emergency action against climate change. Global warming creates […]

Graph of the Day: Water Storage at O. H. Ivie Reservoir in Texas, 1991-2012

Reservoir stage data are collected every day from USGS, IBWC, and USACE websites. These data are preliminary and subject to revision. Reservoir storage (in acre-feet) is derived from these stage data (elevation in feet above mean sea level), by using the latest rating curve datasets available to TWDB. TWDB Reservoir Stage Summary Technorati Tags: North […]

Hours before Hurricane Sandy hit, activists protested climate inaction in Times Square

By Jeremy Hance30 October 2012 (mongabay.com) – On Sunday, as Hurricane Sandy roared towards the coast of the Eastern U.S., activists took to the streets in New York City to highlight the issue of climate change. Activists organized by 350.org unfurled a huge parachute in Times Square with the words, “End Climate Silence,” a message […]

In aftermath of drought, U.S. corn movement turns upside down

By Julie Ingwersen, with additional reporting by Karl Plume and K.T. Arasu in Chicago; Editing by Dale Hudson29 October 2012 CHICAGO (Reuters) – The devastating U.S. drought and ensuing crop disease are upending traditional grain movement patterns, with dozens of trains and barges shipping North Dakota or Mississippi corn into the Corn Belt rather than […]

Image of the Day: Shell drilling rig within view of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

By Jeremy Hance29 October 2012 (mongabay.com) – Twelve miles off shore from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge floats a seemingly tiny man-made device—at least from an airplane—but it’s actually a 160-foot high Shell Dutch Royal oil drilling rig. While the hugely controversial plan to drill for oil in the Arctic ocean was postponed this year […]

U.N. urges foreign fishing fleets to halt ‘ocean grabbing’

By Alister Doyle; Editing by Andrew Osborn30 October 2012 OSLO (Reuters) – “Ocean grabbing” or aggressive industrial fishing by foreign fleets is a threat to food security in developing nations where governments should do more to promote local, small-scale fisheries, a study by a U.N. expert said on Tuesday. The report said emerging nations should […]

Smuggling of illegally logged rosewood in Madagascar continues, report alleges

25 October 2012 (mongabay.com) – Timber traders in Madagascar are smuggling illegally logged rosewood despite an official export ban, alleges a new report published by a Malagasy researcher. The report, authored by Hery Randriamalala and based on press clippings, cargo manifests, and eye-witness accounts, indicates that traders are covertly reducing rosewood stockpiles accumulated during a […]

American Lung Association: 41 percent of Americans live in counties with unhealthful levels of ozone or particle pollution

Thanks to the Clean Air Act, we’ve made great progress in cleaning up air pollution from across the U.S. The State of the Air 2012 shows that the air quality in many places has improved, but that over 127 million people—41 percent of the nation—still suffer pollution levels that are too often dangerous to breathe. […]

Illegal hunting threatens iconic animals across Africa’s great savannas, especially predators

By Jeremy Hance25 October 2012 (mongabay.com) – Bushmeat hunting has become a grave concern for species in West and Central Africa, but a new report notes that lesser-known illegal hunting in Africa’s iconic savannas is also decimating some animals. Surprisingly, illegal hunting across eastern and southern Africa is hitting big predators particularly hard, such as […]

Ten Wall Street Journal op-ed writers who weren’t disclosed as Romney campaign advisers

By ERIC HANANOKI19 September 2012 (Media Matters) – The Wall Street Journal has published op-eds from 10 writers without disclosing their roles as advisers to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. The op-eds attack President Obama and his administration or discuss Romney on a range of topics like the economy, health care, education and foreign policy. According […]

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