Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Video: Time-lapse view of the MV Rena breakup

This three-minute clip presents a lovely summary of the MV Rena salvage operation. The hull breaks in half at 2:30 due to wave action. Contiainer Ship Rena – Timelapse Technorati Tags: Oceania,pollution,coral,oil spill,bird decline,penguin

‘Most severe drought Mexico has ever faced’ leaves two million people without access to water, devastates cropland in nearly half of the country

By KARLA ZABLUDOVSKY30 January 2012 MEXICO CITY – A drought that a government official called the most severe Mexico had ever faced has left two million people without access to water and, coupled with a cold snap, has devastated cropland in nearly half of the country. The government in the past week has authorized $2.63 […]

U.S. CO2 emissions to stay below 2005 levels as coal use shrinks

By Valerie Volcovici24 January 2012 NEW YORK – U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions will be 7 percent lower than their 2005 level of nearly 6 billion metric tons in 2020 as coal’s share of electricity production continues a steady descent over the next two decades, according to new government data. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) released […]

Bangkok flood compensation almost done, airport reopening in March, canal dredging to be done by May

BANGKOK, 30 January 2012 (Xinhua) – Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said Monday that the government had completed 80 percent of the compensation payments to flood victims in 30 districts in the capital city. But he said government approval is still pending for payments for some areas where the residents had yet to get compensation. In […]

Graph of the Day: Water Levels of Anvil Lake in North Central Wisconsin, 1936-2010

Between 2000 and 2010, the worst drought ever recorded since Euro-American settlement hit the Colorado River Basin. Water levels in Lake Mead dropped to record lows. The drought not only threatened the supply of water to cities like Las Vegas, it also harmed the ecosystems and riparian areas that support countless fish, plants, and animals […]

Australia real estate developer complains about sea level predictions

30 January 2012 (ABC) – Lake Macquarie Council’s effort to manage the impact of rising sea levels has again raised the ire of developer Jeff McCloy, this time over his plans to develop the former Pasminco smelter site. A council flood study found thousands of lakeside properties would be in danger of flooding by 2100 […]

Three years on, displaced Mau farmers remain in camps – Three billion shillings needed to resettle families

[Desdemona’s been following this story since the beginning: Mau forest evictees. It’s a true climate refugee tragedy and emblematic of the kinds of terrible decisions nations will be forced to make as large swaths of the planet become uninhabitable.] By Peter Kahare24 January 2012 RIFT VALLEY, Kenya (IPS) – Six-year-old Victor Muruga points to a […]

Climate-driven heat peaks shrink wheat crops

By Marlowe Hood 29 January 2012 More intense heat waves due to global warming could diminish wheat crop yields around the world through premature ageing, according to a study published Sunday in Nature Climate Change. Current projections based on computer models underestimate the extent to which hotter weather in the future will accelerate this process, […]

Sea Shepherd declares Canada harp seal slaughter is commercially dead

By Captain Paul Watson29 January 2012 I have been fighting the Canadian seal hunt since 1974. It’s been a long hard road after nearly four decades. During that time I have taken ships into the ice six times, in 1979, 1981, 1983, 1998, 2005, and 2008. I’ve led three helicopter campaigns in 1976, 1977, and […]

Iraq water crisis could stir ethnic clash

Baghdad, 27 January 2012 (UPI) – Iraq is facing worsening water shortages caused by the failure of successive postwar governments to ensure supplies and extensive dam-building in neighboring states that could trigger sectarian conflict. “One prediction, which has yet to come true, has been made repeatedly by former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali since 1988: That […]

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