Disappearance of species points to catastrophic environmental damage, says Sir David. By Michael McCarthyFriday, 26 March 2010 Butterfly numbers are declining rapidly all around the world, Britain’s leading conservationist, Sir David Attenborough, warns today. The celebrated television presenter is sounding the alarm that butterfly loss, a concern in Britain for decades, has become a global […]
Longtime doomspotters ‘Doc Jim and ‘Doc Michael have published their compendium of unhappy tidings in Converging Emergencies, 2010-2020. It’s 60 pages of face-slapping wake-up call, which begins with a quick summary of Elizabeth Kübler-Ross’s five stages of grief[*], and then dives into an overview of their big themes: Species Collapse, Resource Depletion, Biology Breach, Climate […]
25 December 2016 (Desdemona Despair) – Don’t tell Desdemona that you haven’t seen Children of Men. This film is pure doomer porn, executed with the deft and utterly convincing cinematic touch of the great Alfonso Cuarón. Hie thee to the nearest video store / Red Box / Netflix queue and consume immediately. It’s 2027, and […]
The world’s animals and plants are being killed off by humans faster than new ones can evolve, for the first time since dinosaurs became extinct, experts have warned. Speaking ahead of two next week on the state of British and European wildlife, Simon Stuart, from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, admitted that […]
Even megafauna can be quickly forgotten: the baiji and shifting baselines By Jeremy Hancewww.mongabay.comFebruary 23, 2010 In 2006 a survey in China to locate the endangered Yangtze River dolphin, known as the baiji, found no evidence of its survival. Despondent, researchers declared that the baiji was likely extinct. Four years later and the large charismatic […]
By Robin McKie, science editorThe Observer, Sunday 21 February 2010 Huge vents covering the sea-floor – among the strangest and most spectacular sights in nature – pour carbon dioxide and other gases into the deep waters of the oceans. Last week, as researchers reported that they had now discovered more than 50,000 underwater volcanic springs, […]
Mankind’s closest living relatives – the world’s apes, monkeys, lemurs and other primates – are on the brink of extinction and in need of urgent conservation measures according to Primates in Peril: The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates, 2008–2010. The report, compiled by 85 experts from across the world, reveals that nearly half of all […]
Press release issued 14 February 2010 A new model, capable of assessing the rate at which the oceans are acidifying, suggests that changes in the carbonate chemistry of the deep ocean may exceed anything seen in the past 65 million years. The model also predicts much higher rates of environmental change at the ocean’s surface […]
By Alister Doyle, Environment CorrespondentOSLOFri Feb 5, 2010 1:31pm EST OSLO (Reuters) – Losses of animal and plant species are an increasing economic threat and the world needs new goals for protecting nature after failing to achieve a 2010 U.N. target of slowing extinctions, experts said Friday. Losses of biodiversity “have increasingly dangerous consequences for […]
13 November 2009 (Desdemona Despair) – When Zeus filled Pandora’s jar with the evils of the world, he saved Delusional Hope for last – to prevent humans from committing mass suicide as they were overcome by the other evils. A year of blogging Desdemona has helped me to overcome the curse of delusional hope. Hope […]
