Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Arctic melt releasing ancient methane – ‘The warming will feed the warming’

By Richard Black, Environment correspondent, BBC News20 May 2012 Scientists have identified thousands of sites in the Arctic where methane that has been stored for many millennia is bubbling into the atmosphere. The methane has been trapped by ice, but is able to escape as the ice melts. Writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, the […]

Heartland Institute facing uncertain future as staff depart and cash dries up

[The Forecast the Facts petition against Heartland is here: Heartland’s 2012 Funding: Fading Quickly.] By Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent, www.guardian.co.uk 20 May 2012 The first Heartland Institute conference on climate change in 2008 had all the trappings of a major scientific conclave – minus large numbers of real scientists. Hundreds of climate change contrarians, […]

Average grade level of U.S. congressional speeches dropping since 2005

[More evidence that the U.S. has passed Peak Education.] By Tamara Keith21 May 2012 Members of Congress are often criticized for what they do — or rather, what they don’t do. But what about what they say and, more specifically, how they say it? It turns out that the sophistication of congressional speech-making is on […]

Dam threatens a way of life in Peru – ‘It’s a return to violence, another war’

By AARON NELSEN15 May 2012 BOCA SANIBENI, Peru – Along the murky waters of the Ene River, in a remote jungle valley on the verdant eastern slopes of the Andes, the rhythmic humming of an outboard motor draws the stares of curious Ashaninka children. With encroachment from settlers and speculators, and after a devastating war […]

Worse than Keystone: Coal companies plan six coal export terminals in the Pacific Northwest

By Alyssa Battistoni18 May 2012 Coal is without question our dirtiest fuel source: When burned, it dumps toxins like mercury and nitrogen oxides into the air and packs an outsize punch when it comes to carbon emissions. Since America has a lot of it, though, we’ve tended to use a lot: Historically, around half our […]

Image of the Day: Radiation monitor for children in Japan

By arevamirpal::laprimavera 18 May 2012 Getting surreal by the day. The stick-like product is called “Air Counter“, and it is a simplified radiation survey meter made by S.T. Corporation. You can buy it at drug stores and convenience stores nationwide for 7,900 yen (suggested retail price). In this ad, the “Air Counter” is being sold […]

Graph of the Day: Mean-sea-level Trends in Hawaii, 20th Century – 2010

Mean-sea-level trends at A, Hilo, 1927–2010; B, Kahului 1947–2010; C, Honolulu 1905–2010; and D, Nawiliwili, 1955–2010, Hawaii. Data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2011 Sea level has risen around Hawaii approximately 1.5 mm/yr over the past century. Although this rate may seem small, long-term sea-level rise can lead to chronic coastal erosion, coastal flooding, […]

The age of extreme oil: ‘This used to be a forest?'

By Arno Kopecky 19 May 2012 One grey Thursday at the end of April, a plane touched down in Fort McMurray, Alta., carrying four Achuar Indians from the Peruvian Amazon. They had flown 8,000 kilometres from the rain forest to beseech Talisman Energy Inc., the Calgary-based oil and gas conglomerate, to stop drilling in their […]

Q. and A.: How to save Bangladesh?

By JOANNA M. FOSTER17 May 2012 In just over a month, policy makers from around the world will meet in Rio de Janeiro for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. The meeting has been called Rio+20, reflecting the two decades that have passed since a landmark conference on the environment and development was held […]

Poachers cut down, steal giant 800-year-old red cedar in B.C. park

By Judith Lavoie, Times Colonist 17 May 2012 Tree poachers have stolen one of the largest red cedars in Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park in what is believed to have been a two-part operation over the past year. “If poachers can run around roughshod in the parks, it’s a terrible thing for B.C.,” said Torrance Coste, […]

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