More than a hundred dolphins have been found dead in the Brazilian Amazon amid an historic drought and record-high water temperatures that in places have exceeded 102 degrees Fahrenheit [38.8 °C].

The dead dolphins were all found in Lake Tefé over the past seven days, according to the Mamirauá Institute, a research facility funded by the Brazilian Ministry of Science.

The institute said such a high number of deaths was unusual and suggested record-high lake temperatures and an historic drought in the Amazon may have been the cause.

The news is likely to add to the concerns of climate scientists over the effects human activity and extreme droughts are having on the region.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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    1 year ago

    It’s too bad there isn’t some huge forest somewhere that would be a big carbon sink and help stop the river from getting so warm. I hear there used to be though…

    • Astroturfed@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I don’t want the rainforest to be deforested, but it’s kinda fucked up to tell all the South American countries covered in trees they aren’t able to do exactly what Europe did. Most of Europe used to be covered in trees 200+ years ago and they deforested it all for industrialization and profit. America cleared untold amounts of fields for farming and building suburbs. Just because this was done before global warming was a real concern we now all feel entitled to tell countries like Brazil they can’t do the same. It’s basically just the same old story of the west wanting to exploit the developing worlds resources for themselves all over again. Just now the resource is air.

      • HurlingDurling@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        True, however letting them make the same mistakes just because America or Europe did isn’t the right answer either. All 3 regions should be reforested and all push towards deforestation should be stopped.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        While I agree that it’s a bit hypocritical, we didn’t know what clearing those forests would do in the Renaissance and Industrial Revolution. It wasn’t widely known until the post war era. Now that we do know we need to act.

        But we shouldn’t just tell them they can’t do stuff. We should be pouring massive amounts of money into helping them skip over coal, farm vertically, and get away from slash and burn farming.

        There’s more we can do than just tell them they’re being bad.

        • Astroturfed@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Ya, the whole issue is there’s almost zero willingness to help them economically to avoid deforestation. It’s much cheaper to just tell them not to and that it’s bad.

        • CALIGVLA@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 year ago

          But we shouldn’t just tell them they can’t do stuff. We should be pouring massive amounts of money into helping them skip over coal, farm vertically, and get away from slash and burn farming.

          Not to be rude, but South America’s energy production is overall greener than many developed countries. If anything, it’s you guys that need to start reforesting, going greener and lowering your carbon emissions.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            The thing is it’s not just energy production and you know it. But again I’m of the opinion that rather than pointing fingers we should be identifying problems and throwing trillions of dollars (collectively) at them.

      • Happenchance@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It’s almost like, we as a global entity, need to provide these countries with the resources to protect their environment and still prosper.

        • Astroturfed@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          But the billionaires are buying carbon offsets when they fly around on their private jets. Surely that’s doing the trick right? There’s no way that entire concept is a scam and doesn’t do anything.

      • naalo@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        I understand what you’re saying, but why is there so little replanting everywhere?

      • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        And from what I’ve read, replanting projects sponsored by the timber industry, planting all pine trees six feet apart, created the ideal setting for massive wildfires. I may have the details wrong but that was the gist.

        • Dojan@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Just plopping trees down won’t cut it anyway. The saying “can’t see the forest for the trees” is so apt because a forest is so much more than just trees.

          Here in Sweden we’ve long since cut down our forests and replanted them with industry wood, then we got shocked when pests started eating the entire buffet we served for them.

        • Astroturfed@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          The timber industry only replants in hopes that they’ll get to come cut it down again. Making that easier and more efficient is likely the only concern.

      • albigu@lemmygrad.ml
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        1 year ago

        Now, hear me out, this might sound crazy, but what if Europe gave historic reparations to Latin American countries for their colonialism and imperialism, therefore reducing the need for further deforestation? Though in all honesty a large portion of the current day deforestation is for soy plantations, which is used to make livestock rations that then go on to feed European and Yankee livestock for the profit of the local latifundiarios and nobody else. Despite what it may seem, most Brazilians (and the other countries) don’t really want more deforestation nor are they benefited by it.

        And that’s not even counting all the indigenous people who are actively fighting the destruction and takeover of their lands, including a recent vote over legislation that could’ve legally barred them from claiming a lot of it.

      • R0cket_M00se@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Bingo on that one. We rose to economic power before the problem became acute and now want to dictate that other countries can’t do what we did to get here.

        Meanwhile we have the resources and technology to mitigate some of the effects of global warming for our citizens and the global south will end up bearing the brunt of it.

        • Astroturfed@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Just went to a great mcmansion neighborhood for a child family members birthday party. They all look like castles, have 2-3 garages and are huge. Almost every house looks unoccupied when I go there. I’m sure there’s a couple and a kid max in every one of those huge fucking things. It’s absurd. Will never understand people wanting a tacky 6,000 square foot fake castle.

          • Lyricism6055@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Wasteful shitty practice. It’s somewhat the fault of the home builders too. I tried building and they wouldn’t do much OTHER than mcmansions unless I pushed real HARD. They love all those upsells

            • Astroturfed@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              We really need to pass some laws requiring some small, affordable homes get built. It’s so obvious that in a capitalist system given the option builders are going to prefer to build bigger more expensive home builds as they have a larger profit. So builders only build the biggest houses they think they can sell. Every. time.

              • Lyricism6055@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Yup, homebuilders are getting record profits. They have 0 incentive to build smaller homes.

                Starter homes are like minimum 300k now anyways as well so yeah… Idk what to do but wait for this house of cards to come crashing down

        • SterlingVapor@slrpnk.net
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          1 year ago

          Because you’re on the “told how to live” side

          The world bank and the imf are the ones who told most of the world that they’re poor, and the only solution is to take loans… Pulling them into our craptastic system that cuts down a forest full of food for the taking in order to harvest something that can be sold overseas

        • Astroturfed@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Congratulations you found the line where sarcasm makes you sound stupid and then did a nice long jump.