PORTO ALEGRE, BRAZIL - MAY 4: An aerial view of flooded streets after the overflow of the Guaiba river on May 4, 2024 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Rains have struck heavily Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul causing da...PORTO ALEGRE, BRAZIL - MAY 4: An aerial view of flooded streets after the overflow of the Guaiba river on May 4, 2024 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Rains have struck heavily Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul causing damages in the infrastructure and displacing more than 20,000 people. Authorities report over 30 fatalities and expect the death toll to increase while dozens of people are still missing. (Photo by Ramiro Sanchez/Getty Images)MORE LESS
Since the end of April, the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil has been hit with heavy rainfall, causing the Guaíba River to overflow and flooding the capital city of Porto Alegre. Dozens of people have died as a result and search and rescue efforts continue to look for the missing.
Aerial view of flooded Porto Alegre
Aerial view of the Center of Porto Alegre, capital of Rio Grande do Sul, after the overflow of the Guaíba River on May 5, 2024. Rains and flooding have caused damage to infrastructure and displaced more than 20,000 people. (Photo by Ramiro Sanchez/Getty Images)
Many people had to be evacuated by boat
People are evacuated in a boat after the Guaíba River overflows on May 5, 2024 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. (Photo by Ramiro Sanchez/Getty Images)
A flooded neighborhood on the shores of the Guaíba River
Aerial view of the Guaíba River shore after the overflow of the river on May 4, 2024 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. (Photo by Max Peixoto/Getty Images)
People carry produce through flooded streets
People carry vegetables and fruits through a flooded street after the overflow of the Guaíba River in downtown Porto Alegre, Brazil. (Photo by Matheus Piccini/Getty Images)
View of the flooded Beira-Rio Stadium
Aerial view of the flooded Beira-Rio Stadium on May 6, 2024 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. (Photo by Max Peixoto/Getty Images)
Members of a rescue team gather
Members of a rescue team gather on May 5, 2024 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. (Photo by Ramiro Sanchez/Getty Images)
Submerged vehicles in a flooded parking lot
Aerial view showing semi-submerged vehicles in a flooded parking lot in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on May 6, 2024, after torrential storms in the southern Rio Grande do Sul State. The rains may have abated, but floodwaters on Monday continued their assault on south Brazil, with hundreds of municipalities in ruins and food and drinking water fast running out. (Photo by CARLOS FABAL/AFP via Getty Images)
Someone carries fruits and vegetables through a flooded street
A person carries vegetables and fruits through a flooded street after the overflow of the Guaíba Rive on May 5, 2024. (Photo by Matheus Piccini/Getty Images)
Flooded streets of Porto Alegre
An aerial view of flooded streets on May 4, 2024. (Photo by Ramiro Sanchez/Getty Images)
A resident walks through flooded streets
A man walks through a flooded street on May 4, 2024 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. (Photo by Matheus Piccini/Getty Images)
Some residents use inflatable boats to move through flooded streets
People move through the flooded streets in an inflatable boat after the overflow of the Guaíba River on May 4, 2024 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. (Photo by Matheus Piccini/Getty Images)
Flooded streets meet an elevated highway in Porto Alegre
An aerial view of flooded streets after the overflow of the Guaíba River on May 4, 2024 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. (Photo by Ramiro Sanchez/Getty Images)
Locals use boats to navigate flooded neighborhoods
Locals move in boats following flooding due to heavy rains in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil on May 6, 2024. (Photo by NELSON ALMEIDA/AFP via Getty Images)
View of the Guaíba River shore after overflow
Aerial view of the Guaíba River shore after the overflow of the river on May 4, 2024 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. (Photo by Max Peixoto/Getty Images)
Police arrest men who were allegedly robbing houses following flooding
Police members arrest two men who were allegedly robbing houses following flooding due to heavy rains in the Sarandi neighborhood of Porto Alegre on May 6, 2024. (Photo by NELSON ALMEIDA/AFP via Getty Images)
Flooded streets next to Rio Grande Do Sul art museum
A high view from a building of flooded streets next to Rio Grande Do Sul art museum after the overflow of the Guaíba River on May 4, 2024 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. (Photo by Matheus Piccini/Getty Images)
A flooded playground at the river shore
A view of a flooded children’s playground at Guaíba River shore after the overflow of the river on May 4, 2024 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. (Photo by Max Peixoto/Getty Images)
Flooded streets next to Brazil’s Marine building at Porto Alegre
General view of the flooded streets next to Brazil’s Marine building at Porto Alegre after the overflow of the Guaíba River on May 4, 2024 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. (Photo by Matheus Piccini/Getty Images)
The streets of Porto Alegre look like rivers from above
Aerial view of flooded streets in Porto Alegre, Brazil, taken on May 6, 2024, after torrential storms in the southern Rio Grande do Sul State. (Photo by CARLOS FABAL/AFP via Getty Images)
It is interesting to read about how disaster is experienced at the local level, but how we destroy the atmosphere is almost imperceptible at the macro-level. Carbon dioxide isn’t even visible. But we are already in a couple-century-long event will little international cooperation. China, for example, still burns 55% of the world’s coal, even with its race to electrification and renewables far exceeding the pace of the US. William Gibson’s Jackpot trilogy, deals among other things, with the confluence of man-made events such as excessive extraction, species loss and depopulation. I lean more to Kim Stanley Robinson’s Ministry of the Future, which posits that we will begin to understand these events for what they are very soon. Indeed, it was a heat event in India in that book that triggers global response, and we just had temperatures above 45C in 8 Indian states yesterday. In any case, at the national level, most countries have yet to include a climate minister at the cabinet level, and those that do either combine with energy or take an on-again off again approach. Which is kind of odd, as we whiz by tipping points on our way to full venusification, a condition mostly comfortable for thermophilic bacteria.
It is interesting to read about how disaster is experienced at the local level, but how we destroy the atmosphere is almost imperceptible at the macro-level. Carbon dioxide isn’t even visible. But we are already in a couple-century-long event will little international cooperation. China, for example, still burns 55% of the world’s coal, even with its race to electrification and renewables far exceeding the pace of the US. William Gibson’s Jackpot trilogy, deals among other things, with the confluence of man-made events such as excessive extraction, species loss and depopulation. I lean more to Kim Stanley Robinson’s Ministry of the Future, which posits that we will begin to understand these events for what they are very soon. Indeed, it was a heat event in India in that book that triggers global response, and we just had temperatures above 45C in 8 Indian states yesterday. In any case, at the national level, most countries have yet to include a climate minister at the cabinet level, and those that do either combine with energy or take an on-again off again approach. Which is kind of odd, as we whiz by tipping points on our way to full venusification, a condition mostly comfortable for thermophilic bacteria.