AS EASTERN AUSTRALIA RECOVERS from last month’s heavy flooding and last week’s category-5 cyclone, Perth in the west is tackling serious wildfires which have destroyed dozens of homes. The Lord Mayor of Perth has opened an appeal to assist the victims of the fires as officials have been reading lists of homes which have been […]
By Julio GodoyJan 24, 2011 PARIS (IPS) – Despite repeated warnings by environmental and climate experts that reduction of fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions is fundamental to forestalling global warming, disaster appears imminent. According to the latest statistics, unprecedented climate change has Earth hurtling down a path of catastrophic proportions. The Paris-based International […]
By Mark RalstonSunday 23 January 2011 HORSHAM (AFP) — Marshall Rodda weathered Australia’s decade-long drought, but as he recovers from record-breaking floods the seasoned farmer can’t help thinking that when it rains, it pours. Before the rains began in April, Rodda was among the thousands of Australian farmers struggling to make ends meet in the […]
By Nick Sundt11/23/2010 The Amazon region is experiencing the third extreme drought in a dozen years — and it may turn out to be the worst on record. The droughts coupled with recent research findings, suggest that rising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases will rapidly increase the frequency and severity of droughts in the region. […]
Caption by Mike CarlowiczDecember 25, 2010 Tiny solid and liquid particles—some you can see, some you cannot—can be found in the air everywhere on the planet, at any time of year. The amount of particles, known to scientists as aerosols, fluctuates naturally with the seasons and natural events, as well as with human activities. Dust […]
Munich RE27 September 2010 Floods in central Europe, wildfires in Russia, widespread flooding in Pakistan. The number and scale of weather-related natural catastrophe losses in the first nine months of 2010 was exceptionally high. Two months ahead of the World Climate Summit scheduled for 29 November to 10 December in Cancún, Mexico, Munich Re emphasises […]
Here are 2010’s most-viewed stories on Desdemona. A few have had further developments since they were posted, and I’ve noted this where appropriate. Not surprisingly, the most popular event was the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, with seven entries (that’s why this post is about the top twenty stories, instead of the top ten). Six of […]
By JULIE REED BELL and SETH BORENSTEIN, The Associated Press Dec 19, 2010 8:26 AM PT This was the year the Earth struck back. Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 — the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people […]
By Heidi Cullen and Claudia TebaldiOctober 27th, 2010 The summer of 2010 brought intensely hot weather to large portions of the northeastern U.S., central Europe, and Russia. Russia was especially hard hit as a heat wave — with daily high temperatures hitting 100°F — contributing to the deaths of as many as 15,000 people in […]
ScienceDaily (Dec. 8, 2010) — The fire disaster in the Carmel Mountains near Haifa is a typical example of climate change effect and a taste of the future, says Dr. Guy Pe’er, one of the authors of Israel’s first report to the UN on climate change. Ten years ago, Dr. Pe’er and other Israeli scientists […]
