#global boiling

the amazon river, like the biggest river in the fucking world, in the middle of the amazon fucking rainforest, is currently going through its worst drought since the records began 121 years ago

picture from Folha PE

there's a lot going on but I haven't seen much international buzz around this like there was when the forest was on fire (maybe because it's harder to shift the narrative to blame brazil exclusively as if the rest of the world didn't have fault in this) so I wanted to bring this to tumblr's attention

I don't know too many details as I live in the other side of the country and we are suffering from the exact opposite (at least three cyclones this year, honestly have stopped counting - it's unusual for us to get hit by even one - floods, landslides, we have a death toll, people are losing everything to the water), but like, I as a brazilian have literally never seen pictures of the river like this before. every single city in the amazonas state is in a state of emergency as of november 1st.

pictures by Adriano Liziero (ig: geopanoramas)

we are used to seeing images of rio negro and solimões, the two main amazon river affluents, in all their grandiose and beauty and seeing these pictures is really fucking chilling. some of our news outlets are saying the solimões has turned to a sand desert... can you imagine this watery sight turning into a desert in the span of a year?

while down south we are seeing amounts of rain and hailstorms the likes of which our infrastructure is simply not built to deal with, up north people who have built everything around the river are at a loss of what to do.

the houses there that are built to float are just on the ground, people who depend on fishing for a living have to walk kilometers to find any fish that are still alive at all, the biodiversity there is at risk, and on an economic level it's hard to grasp how people from the northern states are getting by at all - the main means of transport for ANYTHING in that region is via the river water. this will impact the region for months to come. it doesnt make a lot of sense to build a lot of roads bc it's just better to use the waterway system, everything is built around or floats on the river after all. and like, the water level is so incomprehensibly low the boats are just STUCK. people are having a hard time getting from one place to another - keep in mind the widest parts of the river are over 10 km apart!!

this shit is really serious and i am trying not to think about it because we have a different kind of problem to worry about down south but it's really terrifying when I stop to think about it. you already know the climate crisis is real and the effects are beyond preventable now (we're past global warming, get used to calling it "global boiling"). we'll be switching strategies to damage control from now on and like, this is what it's come to.

I don't like to be alarmist but it's hard not to be alarmed. I'm sorry that I can't end this post with very clear intructions on how people overseas can help, there really isn't much to do except hope the water level rises soon, maybe pray if you believe in something. in that regard we just have to keep pressing for change at a global level; local conditions only would not, COULD NOT be causing this - the amazon river is a CONTINENTAL body of water, it spans across multiple countries. so my advice is spread the word, let your representatives know that you're worried and you want change towards sustainability, degrowth and reduced carbon emissions, support your local NGOs, maybe join a cause, I don't know? I recommend reading on ecological and feminist economics though

however, I know you can help the affected riverine families by donating to organizations dedicated to helping the region. keep in mind a single US dollar, pound or euro is worth over 5x more in our currency so anything you donate at all will certainly help those affected.

FAS - Sustainable Amazon Fundation

Idesam - Sustainable Developent and Preservation Institute of Amazonas

Greenpeace Brasil - I know Greenpeace isn't the best but they're one of the few options I can think of that have a bridge to the international world and they are helping directly

There are a lot of other smaller/local NGOs but I'm not sure how you could donate to them from overseas, I'll leave some of them here anyway:

Projeto Gari

Caritás Brasileira

If you know any other organizations please link them, I'll be sure to reblog though my reach isn't a lot

thank you so much for reading this to the end, don't feel obligated to share but please do if you can! even if you just read up to here it means a lot to me that someone out there knows

In February, ProPublica and the Guardian asked the EPA for its scientists’ risk assessment, which underpinned the consent order. The agency declined to provide it, so ProPublica requested it under the Freedom of Information Act. The 203-page risk assessment revealed that, for the boat fuel ingredient, there was a far higher risk that was not in the consent order. EPA scientists included figures that made it possible for ProPublica to calculate the lifetime cancer risk from breathing air pollution that comes from a boat engine burning the fuel. That calculation, which was confirmed by the EPA, came out to 1.3 in 1, meaning every person exposed to it over the course of a full lifetime would be expected to get cancer.

So everyone is focusing on this 1.3 in 1 statistic. Which I agree is very important. The issue is changing from climate change to giving literally everyone cancer. That's important.

But I don't think people fully understand what this means. Shit I don't even think the person writing this article understands what that means. If it was just "Everyone the breathes this in will get cancer" the statistics would be 1 in 1. One cancer patient per every one person that breaths this in.

Whose the .3?

That's my question.

Because there's one recorded surgery with a 300% mortality rate. 3 people died when 1 person was operated on. The other two were the doctor and a nurse (It's a long story not pertinent to this post. The only thing that matters is the statistic)

WHO IS THE .3?

1.3 in 1 isn't just "Everyone that breathes this in will get cancer." 1.3 in 1 means "MORE PEOPLE ARE GETTING CANCER FROM THIS THAN JUST THE PEOPLE BREATHING IT IN"

Do you understand that. If 10 people breath it in, 13 people get cancer. WHO ARE THE OTHER 3 PEOPLE? Are the family members of the person that breathed it in like some kind of second-hand-smoke deal? Or is it the family that owns the home after like third-hand-smoke? Or is it the baby of the pregnant woman he breathed it in?

WHO ARE THE OTHER 3 PEOPLE THAT ARE GETTING CANCER THAT DIDN'T DIRECTLY BREATH IT IN.

I could research the article but I'm setting up an extensive to-do list for this weekend which is a lot of mental labor so that's what my brain is focusing on.

Maybe I'll read it later. Because the way people are talking about this isn't adding up. We're not getting the full story.

The era of global warming has ended and “the era of global boiling has arrived”, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, has said after scientists confirmed July was on track to be the world’s hottest month on record.

I believe it's more about societies than the mere individual. The fact is, we are in this together, and we not only need to change our way of life to prevent and reverse climate change, but also to survive all the challenges that are unstoppable now.

From efficient low or 0 energy cooling architecture, varied locally sourced foods and low carbon transportation (such as public transport) to switching to renewables and buying just what you need, there are a lot of changes that we can implement that not only tackle climate change and make it easier to live with the challenges brought on by global warming, but are also healthier and economically smart.