Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Despite ban, UAE remains market hub for shark fins

Green Prophet delves into the bloody and murky business of shark fishing and finning in the United Arab Emirates By Arwa Aburawa 23 March 2011 Following the recent shocking incident where a pregnant hammerhead female shark and its forty-five pups were found dead at a fish market in Dubai, we decided to delve a little […]

90,000 Cape fur seal pups to be clubbed to death this year if ransom not paid

By Amy Lou Jenkins, Green Living Examiner23 March 2011 Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA (South Africa) says that one man, Hatem Yavuz, demands ransom for 90,000 Cape Fur Seals in Namibia. Yavuz has purchased the rights from the Namibian government to club these seals to death and has offered to sell away these rights for […]

90 percent of Sinaloa winter corn crop damaged in cold snap

Caption by Holli Riebeek23 March 2011 With an average temperature of 24 degrees Celsius (76 degrees Fahrenheit) in the month of February, the Mexican state of Sinaloa is a popular winter vacation spot. It is also ideal for winter crops. A sizable portion of Mexico’s corn is grown in Sinaloa, and much of that is […]

Decline of fruit-loving tambaqui fish could damage Amazon forests

By Lewis SmithMarch 23 2011 The dramatic decline of a fruit-eating fish reputed to be among the most delicious freshwater species in the world could have severe consequences for the health of the Amazonian forests, researchers have found. Tambaqui, which have slumped by 90 per cent since the 1970s because of overfishing, have been found […]

Little Penguins being abducted and turned into pets

By Stephen Messenger, Porto Alegre, Brazil20 March 2011 Little Penguins are the smallest species of their kind, but that undeniable cuteness has been a detriment to their very existence lately. On Granite Island in Southern Australia, thieves have been abducting the Little Penguins from their protected reserves under cover of night, presumably to make them […]

Peak Oil Clock

Graph of the Day: Planned Deforestation in Riau Province, Indonesia, 2011

By Rhett A. Butler, www.mongabay.comMarch 17, 2011 Eyes on the Forest, a coalition of Indonesian NGOs, released maps showing that Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) and Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) control blocks of land representing 31 percent of the remaining forest in the province of Riau, one of Sumatra’s most forested provinces. Much […]

Wheat prices climb after Russia cuts crop forecast

18 March 2011 (AP) – Wheat prices rose Friday after Russia cut its forecast for this year’s harvest, renewing concerns that global supplies will tighten. Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said the forecast called for 84 million to 85 million tons of wheat to be harvested this year, compared to an earlier estimate of 85 […]

Recent food-price increases caused by climate disasters: Tamino

By TaminoMarch 21, 2011 … The 2010-2011 rise in food prices was triggered by a rise in cereals prices. It started in July of 2010, and still hasn’t relented. Sure, there are other factors too — and as usually happens, an increase in cereals prices can cause a “ripple effect,” leading to increased prices in […]

Slaughtered for the market place: Huge rise in ray hunting threatens ‘gentle giants’ of the oceans

(Daily Mail) 8 March 2011 – They are known as the ocean’s gentle giants, but an alarming rise in manta and mobula ray hunting could threaten the very existence of the species. From India to Ecuador, manta and mobula fishing has become big business for fisheries who are selling their gills to be used in […]

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