Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

U.S. presidential candidate Rick Santorum takes climate change denial to a Biblical level

By Sahil Kapur21 February 2012 Climate change denial has become a litmus test for modern Republicans, but Rick Santorum, in his fondness for melding faith and government, has become one of the precious few to cite the Bible as evidence that the science-accepting crowd has it all wrong — and apparently the first to bring […]

Chevron begins drilling relief well to extinguish Nigeria rig fire

By Chika Amanze-Nwachuku21 February 2012 Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) has begun the process of drilling a relief well to seal the Funiwa 1A natural gas well. According to a statement by the company, the relief well is being drilled to extinguish a fire that began January 16 at the original well, located approximately six miles […]

NASA maps height of Earth’s forests

Contact: Alan Buis, Alan.buis@jpl.nasa.gov, 818-354-0474      Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.17 February 2012 PASADENA, California – A NASA-led science team has created an accurate, high-resolution map of the height of Earth’s forests. The map will help scientists better understand the role forests play in climate change and how their heights influence wildlife habitats within them, while […]

Rising tide of sea-level warnings drowned out by wave of shoreline development

By Tom Horton January 2012 Sea-level around the Chesapeake Bay is rising. Larger-than-ever storm surges are a certainty. Land is sinking further. The time has come to plan an orderly human retreat from more development along the watershed’s low-lying edges. The science that backs this advice gets drowned out when developers wave big money at […]

Last penguins covered by Rena oil released

17 February 2012 (bigpondnews.com) – The Rena oil spill clean-up has reached another milestone with the last group of birds being released into the wild. Seven little blue penguins oiled after the container ship Rena crashed into Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga, have been released near Motiti Island, Maritime New Zealand says. Hundreds of birds have […]

Mobile marine reserves may reduce slaughter of endangered sea life

By Steve Connor, Vancouver 18 February 2012 The indiscriminate slaughter of vast numbers of turtles, sharks, albatrosses, and other endangered marine animals that get unintentionally caught by fishermen as “by-catch” could be prevented by a radical proposal of mobile marine reserves, scientists said yesterday. Protected areas of the ocean where commercial fishing is banned would […]

Video: Japan priest fights invisible demon: radiation – ‘I feel a deep sense of remorse’

By Ruairidh Villar and Yuriko Nakao; Writing by Elaine Lies; Editing by Michael Perry10 February 2012 FUKUSHIMA (Reuters) – On the snowy fringes of Japan’s Fukushima city, now notorious as a byword for nuclear crisis, Zen monk Koyu Abe offers prayers for the souls of thousands left dead or missing after the earthquake and tsunami […]

Bangladesh declares sanctuaries for endangered freshwater dolphins

NEW YORK, New York, 15 February 2012 (ENS) –  Bangladesh has established three new wildlife sanctuaries for endangered freshwater dolphins in the world’s largest mangrove ecosystem, the Sundarbans. Officially declared on January 29, the sanctuaries are intended to protect the last two remaining species of freshwater dolphins in Asia – the Ganges River dolphin, Platanista […]

Australia to assess development pressure on Great Barrier Reef

Editing by Robert Birsel18 February 2012 SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia will carry out a comprehensive assessment of development pressure on the Great Barrier Reef to help preserve the world’s largest coral reef system, ministers said Saturday. The assessment will take into account how development along Australia’s northeast coast is affecting the reef, Environment Minister Tony […]

Scientists reveal plants that could slow decline of bees

By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent19 February 2012 Biologists at the University of Sussex have been analysing how effectively different species of flowers attract foraging insects. Preliminary results have revealed there is a 100-fold difference in the lure that some popular garden plants have for honey bees and bumblebees. The best plants are the Mexican giant […]

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