Desdemona Despair

Blogging the End of the World™

Fish missed by bottom trawlers go hungry, researchers find

By Lewis SmithMarch 09 2011 Fish left behind after fishing boats have dragged their trawl nets over the sea bottom are left hungry, skinnier and less virile, scientists have found. Cod, lemon sole and megrim suffer after surviving the bottom-trawling nets because they cannot find as much to eat. Researchers behind the study warned that […]

Sea walls fail as rising sea level threatens Kiribati villages

By Stephanie March8 Mar 2011 The President of Kiribati says an increasing number of coastal villagers are asking to be relocated because of rising sea waters. Anote Tong says Kiribati is in urgent need of funding to build sea walls to prevent sea water destroying villages and crops. President Tong has recently come back from […]

Great Barrier Reef damage ‘unbelievable, we've never seen anything like this’

By REBECCA THURLOWMARCH 9, 2011 SYDNEY—The damage done by Cyclone Yasi to the Great Barrier Reef, Australia’s top attraction, will take decades to fully mend, according to a growing number of scientists—which could reduce both visitor numbers and the local fishing industry’s catches. In the worst-hit areas “there was hardly a coral to be found […]

U.S. tax breaks compared with proposed budget cuts

By Donna CooperFebruary 22, 2011 House leaders are unfortunately restricting their proposed budget cuts for the remainder of fiscal year 2011 to nonsecurity discretionary spending in an attempt to tame a $1.3 trillion deficit. This approach is especially shortsighted since the Federal Treasury loses twice as much revenue due to tax breaks than Congress appropriates […]

Melting ice sheets are largest contributor to sea level rise – Melt rates in Greenland and Antarctica are accelerating

ScienceDaily (Mar. 8, 2011) — The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are losing mass at an accelerating pace, according to a new NASA-funded satellite study. The findings of the study — the longest to date of changes in polar ice sheet mass — suggest these ice sheets are overtaking ice loss from Earth’s mountain glaciers […]

Video: Torrential rain menaces cyclone-ravaged north Queensland – Flooding ‘unbelievable, it’s from horizon to horizon’

VIDEO: Floods hit cyclone-battered Cardwell By Peter Michael, Brian Williams, and Koren HelbigMarch 09, 2011 SHATTERED Cyclone Yasi victims are battling a second cruel blow as torrential rain floods already-battered towns, leaving residents stranded and sodden. Cardwell is isolated, with roads cut to the north and the south. Forecasters predict 200mm of rain between Cooktown […]

Millions of dead fish at King Harbor in Redondo Beach

By Andrew BlanksteinMarch 8, 2011 Authorities in Redondo Beach are investigating what killed millions of fish over the last day at King Harbor Marina. Fish, including anchovies, sardines and mackerel were floating lifeless in Basins 1 and 2 of the north side of King Harbor Marina. “There’s basically fish everywhere you go in the harbor,” […]

Photo gallery: Enter the Anthropocene

It’s a new name for a new geologic epoch—one defined by our own massive impact on the planet. That mark will endure in the geologic record long after our cities have crumbled. By Elizabeth KolbertPhotograph by Jens Neumann/Edgar RodtmannMarch 2011 The path leads up a hill, across a fast-moving stream, back across the stream, and […]

Climate change, biofuels threaten food security: FAO

By Svetlana Kovalyova and Deepa Babington; Editing by Anthony BarkerMon Mar 7, 2011 MILAN/ROME (Reuters) – Climate change bringing floods and drought, growing biofuel demand and national policies to protect domestic markets could drive up global food prices and threaten long-term food security, the United Nations said. High and volatile food prices are a growing […]

Experts say dam added to Queensland flood damage

By Steven Wardill, The Courier-MailMarch 07, 2011 EXPERTS hired by insurance companies have blamed Wivenhoe Dam for contributing to the devastating floods in Brisbane and Ipswich. A report written for the Insurance Australia Group, which owns NRMA and CGU, details how releases from Wivenhoe, combined with intense rainfall, flooded hundreds of homes and businesses. The […]

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