Amazon rainforest fire burning at 'record rate' as smoke blocks out sun in Brazil

[C4Cat]

Interesting - I had no idea, but you're right

Yeah 100 and 35, definitely the same thing. I doubt there are more trees, globally, today than 100 years ago

 

[ShaunSA]

The world is always ending for some people

 

[ProfA]

Not really.
1) Technological progress has allowed us to use more concentrated energy sources like coal, and eventually nuclear. These sources use less land and such than anything else.
2) Technological progress also allows for more concentrated food production. Thus less land is needed for more food.
3) When you pull people out of dire poverty, they start to care about their environment. Thus public opinion for policies that make the world a nicer place to live in goes up.

The data for this is here:

https://humanprogress.org/article.php?p=1295

Poor people will out-fck your data and technology. In fact, they have already.

 

[konfab]

Yeah 100 and 35, definitely the same thing. I doubt there are more trees, globally, today than 100 years ago

Globally no, because there are third world sh!tholes with socialist economies keep people poor. Poor people have more important things to worry about than whether Bambi has a nice play area.

Economically Bolsonaro is doing exactly what he should be doing, which is undoing the decades of socialism of the government before him. With that will come economic growth and with that comes more efficient land use etc.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-20-billion-in-assets-this-year-idUSKCN1PN1O4

 

[konfab]

Poor people will out-fck your data and technology. In fact, they have already.

Just stop it Malthus.

In 1968, Ehrlich published The Population Bomb, which argued that mankind was facing a demographic catastrophe with the rate of population growth quickly outstripping growth in the supply of food and resources. Simon was highly skeptical of such claims, so proposed a wager, telling Ehrlich to select any raw material he wanted and select "any date more than a year away," and Simon would bet that the commodity's price on that date would be lower than what it was at the time of the wager.

Ehrlich and his colleagues picked five metals that they thought would undergo big price increases: chromium, copper, nickel, tin, and tungsten. Then, on paper, they bought $200 worth of each, for a total bet of $1,000, using the prices on September 29, 1980, as an index. They designated September 29, 1990, 10 years hence, as the payoff date. If the inflation-adjusted prices of the various metals rose in the interim, Simon would pay Ehrlich the combined difference. If the prices fell, Ehrlich et al. would pay Simon.

Between 1980 and 1990, the world's population grew by more than 800 million, the largest increase in one decade in all of history. But by September 1990, the price of each of Ehrlich's selected metals had fallen. Chromium, which had sold for $3.90 a pound in 1980, was down to $3.70 in 1990. Tin, which was $8.72 a pound in 1980, was down to $3.88 a decade later.[2]

As a result, in October 1990, Paul Ehrlich mailed Julian Simon a check for $576.07 to settle the wager in Simon's favor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon–Ehrlich_wager

 

[ProfA]

Just stop it Malthus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon–Ehrlich_wager

Just because a predicition is a little SLOW in its realisation doesnt make it wrong. Its coming. If you cannot see that in your daily living and in the news, then, well shem.

 

[konfab]

Just because a predicition is a little SLOW in its realisation doesnt make it wrong. Its coming. If you cannot see that in your daily living and in the news, then, well shem.

Making the same prediction and being wrong about it since 1789 doesn't inspire confidence.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Robert_Malthus

The biggest killer in the world is due to lifestyle and overeating, not malnutrition.

 

[krieg]

yes and no, while its disposed of properly and sealed underground for safety and security.
what worries me is humanities curiosity.

I mean what stops one from drilling for oil through a nuclear waste dump?
what if many decades from now, when the fences and signs are long gone

somebody drills for oil through an old nuclear waste dump, and unleashes radioactive poison into future generations.

also those high level waste, that require shielding and monitoring.
they constantly need power? otherwise they can boil the cooling ponds water, correct?

yes its unlikely and cant happen as the generators can last months to keep the water cool.
but when they fail, as can happen without maintenance or human hands controlling it.

what then?

so while I do agree nuclear is safe, and the best way to generate power without releasing more poison than it consumes.
is the cost worth it?

more burning of rainforests and polluting the last natural resources of the planet?

First off not an expert but all this nuclear waste will most probably be used in the future as fuel. The waste is kept in a pool on site but after a while it gets taken out and stored in casts so not permanently in water. For me nuclear is totally worth the cost simply because the other option is coal which is the real poison.

 

[Slootvreter]

Stuff like this makes me wish an asteroid would just hit us already so that humans can **** off

You can kill yourself so long

 

[Gordon_R]

Back on topic: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49450495

France and Ireland say they will not ratify a huge trade deal with South American nations unless Brazil does more to fight fires in the Amazon.

French leader Emmanuel Macron said President Jair Bolsonaro had lied to him about his stance on climate change.

Mr Bolsonaro is often called the "Trump of the Tropics" because of his unpredictable and brash manners. So it is anyone's guess whether he will back down or carry on with this stance.

Back in June, he hailed the Mercosur-EU trade deal as "historic" and "one of the most important trade deals of all time".

Now his own words and actions are threatening the deal - which still needs to be approved by parliaments of all Mercosur and EU countries.

The deal explicitly says countries have to commit to tackling climate change.

 

[OrbitalDawn]

Sorry to douse your apocalyptical fantasies, but these fires are pretty normal according to Nasa.


https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/145464/fires-in-brazil

That's because it doesn't include the huge uptick in August, which is fire season, and has already been way above average.

Is Amazon Rainforest Burning At Record Rates? What Is The Way Forward?

Short summary: we have had wild fires for many years now in the Amazon, even in the tropical rainforest - mainly started by humans for forest clearing and ranching. It is not enough to impact significantly on the Paris agreement pledges yet, though it is important in the long term if this...

www.science20.com

 

[Gordon_R]

More strange reactions from Brazil: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49479470

The Brazilian government has said it will reject an offer of aid from G7 countries to help tackle fires in the Amazon rainforest.

French President Emmanuel Macron - who hosted a G7 summit that ended on Monday - said $22m (£18m) would be released.

Brazilian officials gave no reason for turning down the money. But President Jair Bolsonaro has accused France of treating Brazil like a colony.

His defence minister said the fires in the Amazon were not out of control.

Commenting on the G7 offer of aid, Mr Bolsonaro's chief of staff, Onyx Lorenzoni, told the Globo news website: "Thanks, but maybe those resources are more relevant to reforest Europe."

"Macron cannot even avoid a predictable fire in a church that is part of the world's heritage, and he wants to give us lessons for our country?" Mr Lorenzoni added, in a reference to the fire that hit Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris in April.

 

[konfab]

More strange reactions from Brazil: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49479470

Looks like the Amazon isn't the only thing that got burned.

 

[rietrot]

Stuff like this makes me wish an asteroid would just hit us already so that humans can **** off

Lol and obviously the asteroid would consciously spare the Amazon.

 

[R13...]

Isn't this how humans ended up living in Zion and most hooked up as batteries in the matrix?

 

[rietrot]

More strange reactions from Brazil: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49479470

Lol

President Jair Bolsonaro's chief of staff, Onyx Lorenzoni, told the Globo news website: "Thanks, but maybe those resources are more relevant to reforest Europe.

So true.

 

[neoprema]

Everyone comparing the Notre Dame to the Amazon about the $20m contribution Brazil rejected. But I think it has more to do with the fact they probably had a lot more faith in the $1bn being used solely for the Notre to be rebuilt, vs giving money to Brazil which may land up with 20% going to the Amazon and 80% funding new druglords?

 

[The Voice]

Everyone comparing the Notre Dame to the Amazon about the $20m contribution Brazil rejected. But I think it has more to do with the fact they probably had a lot more faith in the $1bn being used solely for the Notre to be rebuilt, vs giving money to Brazil which may land up with 20% going to the Amazon and 80% funding new druglords?

Possibly true. It's still a highly corrupt, socialist regime, after all. But I guess it's the same for any sort of charity: for every £1.00, usually only £0.06 or so actually makes it to it's intended beneficiary.

 

[R13...]

Everyone comparing the Notre Dame to the Amazon about the $20m contribution Brazil rejected. But I think it has more to do with the fact they probably had a lot more faith in the $1bn being used solely for the Notre to be rebuilt, vs giving money to Brazil which may land up with 20% going to the Amazon and 80% funding new druglords?

I'm sure the Notre Dame pledges were more sentiment and location than any belief the money would be put to better use than, say saving the Amazon. No one cares about some **** hole at the arse end of the world over the monuments in their backyard. There are many examples of this in other events and coverage.

 

[sand_man]

If only human gestation period wasn't longer, like 120 weeks... Our propensity to reproduce is fcking up the environment...