Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Satellite view of Cyclone Tauktae several hours before making landfall in India on 17 May 2021. The image was captured by NASA / NOAA / Suomi NPP satellite. Photo: Suomi NPP-VIIRS / NASA / NOAA

India lashed by strongest cyclone ever to hit west coast as it reels from Covid disaster – “This cyclone is a terrible double blow for millions of people in India whose families have been struck down by record Covid infections and deaths”

By Jessie Yeung and Esha Mitra 18 May 2021 NEW DELHI (CNN) – India was slammed on Monday by the strongest storm on record to reach its west coast, hampering authorities’ response to the Covid-19 crisis in some of the country’s hardest-hit regions. Tropical Cyclone Tauktae, a storm with wind speeds equivalent to a high-end Category 3 hurricane that […]

Fishermen try to move a fishing boat to a safer ground on the Arabian Sea coast in Mumbai, India, Monday, 17 May 2021. Cyclone Tauktae, roaring in the Arabian Sea was moving toward India's western coast on Monday as authorities tried to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people and suspended COVID-19 vaccinations in one state. Photo: Rafiq Maqbool / AP Photo

India braces for powerful cyclone amid deadly virus surge

NEW DELHI, 17 May 2021 (AP) – A powerful cyclone roaring in the Arabian Sea was moving toward India’s western coast on Monday as authorities tried to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people and suspended COVID-19 vaccinations in one state. Cyclone Tauktae, which had already killed 12 people, was expected to make landfall on Monday […]

Policemen stand next to the bodies buried in shallow graves on the banks of Ganges river in Prayagraj, India, Saturday, 15 May 2021. Police are reaching out to villagers in northern India to investigate the recovery of bodies buried in shallow sand graves or washing up on the Ganges River banks, prompting speculation on social media that they were the remains of COVID-19 victims. Photo: Rajesh Kumar Singh / AP Photo

Hundreds of bodies found buried along Indian riverbanks – Scores of dead found floating in Ganges River – “Due to the shortage of wood, the dead are being buried in the water”

By Rajesh Kumar Singh and Biswajeet Banerjee 16 May 2021 PRAYAGRAJ, India (AP) – Police are reaching out to villagers in northern India to investigate the recovery of bodies buried in shallow sand graves or washed up on the Ganges River banks, prompting speculation on social media that they’re the remains of COVID-19 victims. In […]

Cumulative COVID-19 cases by country on 30 January 2020 and 11 March 2020. Graphic: The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response

Covid: Serious failures in WHO and global response, report finds – “It is due to a myriad of failures, gaps, and delays in preparedness and response”

12 May (BBC News) – The Covid-19 pandemic was preventable, an independent review panel has said. The panel, set up by the World Health Organization, said the combined response of the WHO and global governments was a “toxic cocktail”. The WHO should have declared a global emergency earlier than it did, its report said, adding […]

U.S. annual temperatures compared with 20th-century averages, 1901-2020. Each map shows the 30-year average temperatures compared with the 1901-2000 average. Data: NCEI. Graphic: CBS News

NOAA’s “new normal” climate report is anything but normal – “We’re really seeing the fingerprints of climate change in the new normals”

By Jeff Berardelli 8 May 2021 (CBS News) – Just a quick glance at the new U.S. Climate Normals maps published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on Tuesday is enough for most climate scientists to say, “I told you so.” And it’s not just because the maps show a warmer and wetter […]

Uyghur men imprisoned at the Lop County #4 Re-Education Camp, Xinjiang, China. They are forced to listen to “de-radicalization” lectures. Photo: Weixin

Forced labor from China’s Uighur Muslims “behind global supply of solar panels”

By Sam Courtney-Guy 15 May 2021 (MetroUK) – A huge chunk of the world’s solar panels production depends on forced labour from China’ Uighur Muslims, according to new research. An investigation by Sheffield Hallam University estimates almost half of global supplies of polysilicon are produced by Uighurs under conditions ‘tantamount to enslavement’ in their home […]

Satellite view of Tropical Storm Andres on 9 May 2021. Photo: CNN Weather

Earliest tropical storm on record develops in the eastern Pacific

By Haley Brink 9 May 2021 (CNN) – The first tropical storm of the 2021 eastern Pacific hurricane season formed off the southwest coast of Mexico on Sunday. Tropical Storm Andres is the earliest tropical storm to ever form during the satellite era in the eastern Pacific, surpassing Adrian in 2017. Andres also holds the […]

Aerial view of funeral pyres for coronavirus victims at a makeshift cremation ground in New Delhi on 1 May 2021. Video: The Washington Post

India sets pandemic record with more than 400,000 new cases in one day – Covid mortality underreporting widespread – “We believe the true number of deaths is two to five times what is being reported”

By Joanna Slater 1 May 2021 NEW DELHI (The Washington Post) – In sheer numbers, it is the worst surge since the pandemic began — and it is still gathering speed. After a devastating week of soaring infections, India reported more than 400,000 new cases Saturday, a global record. Experts believe that number will climb […]

Emergency room admissions for carbon monoxide poisoning and hypothermia in Texas during Winter Storm Uri, 1 Jan 2021 to 2 February 2021. More than 1,400 people sought emergency care for carbon monoxide poisoning and at least 1,175 for hypothermia and cold exposure from 13 February 2021 to 20 February 2021. Data: Texas Department of State Health Services. Data compiled by NBC News, ProPublica, and The Texas Tribune. Graphic: Jiachuan Wu / NBC News

Texas enabled the worst carbon monoxide poisoning catastrophe in recent U.S. history

By Mike Hixenbaugh, Suzy Khimm, Perla Trevizo, , Ren Larson, and Lexi Churchill 29 April 2021 HOUSTON (The Texas Tribune) – When Shalemu Bekele awoke on the morning of 15 February 2021, the townhouse he shared with his wife and two children was so cold, his fingers felt numb. After bundling up in extra layers, […]

Map showing Federal government estimates of Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in the U.S., estimated percentage of adults who may be hesitant to get the vaccine by county. Data: Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. Graphic: The New York Times

Least vaccinated U.S. counties have something in common: Trump voters – “It’s terrifying to think that this may never end. So much hinges on these vaccinations”

By Danielle Ivory, Lauren Leatherby, and Robert Gebeloff 17 April 2021 (The New York Times) – About 31 percent of adults in the United States have now been fully vaccinated. Scientists have estimated that 70 to 90 percent of the total population must acquire resistance to the virus to reach herd immunity. But in hundreds […]

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