Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Large-scale industrial activities threaten Canada’s boreal forest

Contact: Elyssa Rosen03/16/2011 Ottawa, Canada – A first of its kind report by the Pew Environment Group reveals that Canada’s boreal, the world’s largest intact forest and on-land carbon storehouse, contains more unfrozen freshwater than any other ecosystem. As United Nations’ International Year of Forests and World Water Day coincide, world leaders are grappling with […]

Image of the Day: Satellite View of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Site, 16 March 2011

DigitalGlobe has released a new satellite image of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear site in Japan taken at 9:35AM local time on March 16, 2011.  Damage to the Unit 1 reactor building from a previous explosion can still be seen.  Damage to the Unit 3 reactor building from an explosion can be seen as well.  Steam […]

Study says Navy must adapt to climate change

By JOHN M. BRODERMarch 10, 2011 A report commissioned by the United States Navy concludes that climate change will pose profound challenges for the sea service in coming decades, including a need to secure Arctic shipping lanes, prepare for more frequent humanitarian missions and protect coastal installations from rising seas. The 15-month study, conducted by […]

Photo gallery: Satellite Photos of Japan, Before and After the Quake and Tsunami

By ALAN McLEAN, MATTHEW ERICSON and ARCHIE TSE [Visit the site and move the slider to compare satellite images from before and after the disaster.] Satellite Photos of Japan, Before and After the Quake and Tsunami Japan tsunami – before and after pictures Technorati Tags: Asia,flood,pollution,infrastructure failure

Environmental activists tortured, mutilated, and murdered on Philippine island of Palawan

Puerto Princesa, Philippines (AFP) March 7, 2011 – For tourists the Philippine island of Palawan seems like paradise, but for environment activists it feels more akin to a battlefield. Murders and threats on what is promoted as the Southeast Asian nation’s last ecological frontier are emblematic of a struggle across the country, where dozens of […]

Fewer Americans worry about climate change: poll

Washington (AFP) March 14, 2011 – The number of Americans who are worried about global warming has fallen to nearly the historic low reached in 1998, a poll released Monday showed. Just 51 percent of Americans — or one percentage point more than in 1998 — said they worry a great deal or fair amount […]

Permafrost thaw in Arctic Canada shifts land, lives – ‘I feel the whole town should move’

By MONIQUE POLAK, Postmedia News11 March 2011 In his seven terms as mayor of Salluit, Qalingo Angutigirk has tried to look after his people, and their land. But it’s not an easy job when the ground is literally shifting under his feet. Since 1998 Salluit, the province’s second northernmost community, has been hit by a […]

Fred Palmer interview: ‘We’re 100 percent coal. More coal. Everywhere’

By Leo Hickman, www.guardian.co.uk8 March 201 All eyes are on the oil industry as prices continue to rise. But some argue that the biggest energy story in coming years will not be our travails with oil, but the increasing importance of coal, particularly if the much-discussed ‘carbon capture and storage‘ (CCS) hurdles can be cleared. […]

Graph of the Day: Food Price Index, 2008 – February 2011

The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) rose for the eighth consecutive month, averaging 236 points in February 2011, up 2.2 percent from January and the highest (in both real and nominal terms) since January 1990, the inception date of the index. Except for sugar, prices of all other commodity groups monitored registered gains in February […]

Sydney could be flooded by sea water annually as climate changes

11 March 2011 (AAP) — Sydney could be swamped by sea waters once a year, instead of once every one hundred years, if nothing is done to address climate change. The claim is part of the findings of a new report from the Australian Government’s climate change advisor, Professor Ross Garnaut. He says Australia may […]

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