#environmental geography

[homo-house]

hey uh so I haven't seen anyone talking about this here yet, but

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

also as an afterthought, I wanted to expand on why I think this hasn't made big news yet: because unlike the case of the 2020 forest fires, other countries have to hold themselves accountable when looking at this situation. while in 2020 it was easier to pretend the fires were all our fault and people were talking about taking the amazon away from us like they wouldn't do much worse. global superpowers have no more forests to speak of so I guess they've been eyeing what latin america still has. so like this bit of the post is just to say if you're thinking of saying anything of the sort, maybe think of what your own country has done to contribute to this instead of blaming brazil exclusively and saying the amazon should be protected by force or whatever

[rubyredraspberry]

How can look at this glacier and read this article and not understand what’s going on here. You don’t like the phrase Global Warming? Look at this glacier and tell me it doesn’t exist.

[floral-frenziez]

I LOVE CLEAVAGE! #SHOWMEYOURCLEAVAGE

[kiskutnya]

I figured I'd post this here, too! People on Twitter were discussing where each clan would be if the USA was divided into the clans, so I decided to do my take on it. More info below the cut!! ( ´∀｀ )b

Please keep in mind that I wasn't going for 1:1 accuracy. I study ecology and environmental science, so I'm not pulling this out of my ass! I was mainly going for the borders of level 1 (and a bit of 2) ecoregions as my primary inspiration. I also tried to make the land distribution somewhat even, so some states that might've fared a bit better in another clan might be in a different one for this reason.

[sometipsygnostalgic]

The myth of the "Third World"

There is this false notion of "lesser economically developed countries", or "third world countries", wherein people from the "more economically developed countries" believe if the other places Did It Right, then they would become as prosperous and have as high living standards as the "first world".

This is false, because the "first world"'s entire way of living depends entirely on the "third world" taking a different trajectory.

There is literally no possible way for China to live like the UK without, for example, dominating other countries and using them as their main means of production instead, which is what the UK and the USA and France and Germany have done. We have exported our industries and imported all the benefits they bring.

This is why environmentalism is a fucking joke. The UK is so proud of being a greener country but we are simply exporting all our enviromental damage to China and India by having all our factories made there, and having all our vegetation made elsewhere in Europe. We make charts and say we are doing better! Our emissions are down! Look, we've banned petrol cars from London! Then we point to China and go, look how bad their environmental standards are! Look how bad that air pollution is!

Who is responsible for the air pollution in China? It isn't the Chinese. What if one day, China went "fuck this, your factories are ruining our lives and we aren't going to run them anymore"? Would China just get sanctioned into oblivion? Would they lose all the completely necessary economic development that the UK claims China is so behind on?

That's it though, if you're not top of the food chain like the UK was a century or so ago, you need to take a different route to get there because you haven't got the same means of enslavement and resources. And that either involves the domination of nearby countries, and exporting resources there to improve local quality of life, or it involves sacrificing your own environment in order to become an economically powerful country.

I think a lot of people in the UK still don't understand the great power that China and India have developed taking this path, they don't understand that if those countries stopped cooperating, the UK would die within a couple of months. We are not a strong, independent country with a good quality of life. We are like an old abusive relative who is taking advantage of our background of colonialism to exploit countries that are working way harder and better to grow.

[etherealspacejelly]

Project?

are you asking about my dissertation?

im investigating whether ant secretions increase the rate of rock weathering! it is an area previously pretty unexplored and has interesting implications!

the weathering of silicate rocks is a process that sequesters carbon (removes co2 from the atmosphere) so if we can speed up that process we can slow down climate change!!! ants may hold the key to saving the world, and im gonna be the one to figure it out 😎

(basically, im gonna pour formic acid on a bunch of rocks and see what happens. thats science baby!)

[lvvnystudies]

26.08

Had another lab session for Physical Geography where we learnt about and studied sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.

[morisky]

chat AP exams are happening and I'm cooked. I thought I was cooking, but I was mistaken. Iam trhuly and thoroughly cooked. I have lost my title as chef.

I am no longer the rat.

I have become the ratatouille 😔

[grasshoppergeography]

You can find our custom-made Colorado river basin map in conservation photographer Dave Showalter's new book, LIVING RIVER: The Promise of the Mighty Colorado. The book is a remarkable piece of art and an essential read for all the 40 million people who live within the river basin. It explores the endangered Colorado River from source to sea, and illustrates how changing our relationship to water helps make it possible to create a resilient watershed. Additionally, and maybe most importantly, it's a beautiful story about hope and love. We are proud to be a part of this amazing project. Braidedriver sent us this complimentary copy, and it really is a beautiful book.

LIVING RIVER is not only a book but a multi-year collaborative conservation campaign. We hope to hear more from them in the future and we wish all the best to everyone involved.

You can buy the map as fine art print here.

[yuckytastic]

how life feels after i allow myself to think that i dont have to do art as my job and i can just keep it as a hobby

[ginger-education]

Intro!

Back to navigation!

Hello! I'm Kayde, I also go by Ginger and Maple! My pronouns are She/her!

I'm 18 years old, my birthday is October 3rd.

I'm a trans woman as well as pansexual!

My discord is dandelion713

Here are some of the things I'm passionate about learning! (In no particular order)

Social Sciences (Archeology, geography, anthropology, psychology, sociology, political science)

Natural Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Earth Science (Geology, Mineralogy), and Space Science)

Formal Sciences (Statistics, Mathematics)

Professional Sciences (Education, Medicine, Public Policy, Law, Journalism, Architecture, Transportation)

Humanities (History, Religious Studies, Literature, Art, Philosophy, Linguistics)

And I'll add more to this as I think of more!

[i-rate-ecoregions]

Today's Ecoregion:

Caatinga (NT1304)

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 10/10, A+, 100%

This semi-arid, xeric ecoregion is located in North-Eastern Brazil. It's very dry and scratchy, and there are a lot of thorny plants like cacti, so make sure to wear something tough like a good pair of jeans.

[floral-frenziez]

EPIC CAVE VID

This was at Penns Cave! I had never done a water cave tour before so this was super fun :) There were trout swimming through the cave too

[starsailores]

being an autistic academic is so enriching actually. a few drinks in and you and the gang will be having a detailed discussion of your degrees, dissertations, and the overlaps between your interests. and it is the most interesting part of your day

[un-pearable]

well at least someone's having fun with it