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.

    • SomeDude@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      It’s worse. The rich want civilization to break, so they can become the new aristocracy - ruling their own countries, having their own armies.

      • underisk@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        If that’s their plan it’s incredibly stupid. They’re really underestimating the lethality of ecological collapse, and overestimating the ability of their wealth to mitigate it. Their best bet at survival is being holed up in a bunker by themselves living an austere subsistence life with maybe some close family. There’s not going to be anything to rule over.

        • SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          1 year ago

          In the end, the rich and powerful only live in wealth because of the supply chain and, ultimately, the workers.

          If civilization crumbles, so does their little empire.

          • lobut@lemmy.ca
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            1 year ago

            What’s funny is that in a real collapse. Their skills are the least useful.

          • Ænima@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            I keep saying the same things. These wealthy morons are destroying the planet, lives, civilization, and governments to earn short-sighted profits. They clearly aren’t as smart as they like to think they are because the low pay to workers means those workers’ can’t buy a lot of the shit these businesses make. Then because of low profits, the jackasses lay off workers to show “growth” in the company at earnings. Fewer people have the means to buy what they’re selling so it just keeps spiraling down.

            They destroy the planet for the same reason. They think at the end of it all, they can just throw money at the problem and fix it immediately, making it all worth it on the end. Thing is, circling back to the first part, they’re wealthy and not intelligent. If the planet took this long to get to 1.5°C, what do they think they can accomplish before catastrophic ecological disaster we’re already seeing the start of?

            Then should they fail to fix it, a subset of them think they can just escape the planet to space. Thing is we’re still decades from living in space or another planet. The planet is on the decline now, not in a few decades.

            It’s infuriating how selfish these people are…

            • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Heres the thing though. Its not just the wealthy, anyone with a 401k and wanting it to appreciate is carrying part of the blame too. The stock market allows us all to demand infinite return from finite resources and a lot of peoples’ retirements are nested in that hell handbasket. This entire place is built like this. Literally everything has to change.

        • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          If that’s their plan it’s incredibly stupid.

          It’s not, like most things it’s a lot dumber and simpler. Rich people don’t fight or organize as a class, but they don’t need too. The wealthy just have to look after themselves, and by doing so will vicariously establish benefits for other rich people.

          I think in regards to climate change the wealthy are experiencing a malicious version of the bystander effect. Where they on some level understand their own endangerment, but expect a higher power to fix it for them.

          However, when a government does attempt a fix that is personally detrimental to their financial health, they take it personally and become reactionary.

        • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Anyone who thinks wealthy equals smart should not have a driver’s license or be out in public without a handler.

          • d33pblu3g3n3@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            The richest person that I personally know was unable to finish highschool, but is the most ruthless, cold hearted motherfucker I ever crossed paths with. Of course he doesn’t believe in climate change.

      • 5BC2E7@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        If history has anything to teach us is that we should expect the opposite outcome from such a collapse. i an not a doomer/tankie advocating for collapse. I am just pointing out you have the wrong conclusion.

    • Wanderer@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      The problem lies with the people.

      People did try to increase taxes for things like funding public transport or on CO2 but people don’t want less consumption they want more. Can’t even get Americans to stop driving huge oversized cars. We can’t built cycling lanes. We can put taxes on imports from polluting countries. We can’t ban gas and force heat pumps and induction.

      People do not want change.

      Because of that the business do business as usual. It’s the responsibility of the people to get leaders and laws in place to reduction consumption. But the people really really don’t want that so it isn’t going to happen.

  • AngryMulbear@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    While this water temp is concerning, the Amazon river is also dammed preventing the dolphins from fleeing to cooler water.

  • FUCKRedditMods@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Nevermind all the birds and insects dying, the crop and literal drinking water shortages. We’re gonna have front row seats to the collapse of civilization as we know it. What a fucked up time to be alive for anyone like me who cares deeply about nature. This shit is ruining my mental health.

    Humanity does not deserve to exist. It has been decided, greed is our great filter. If there were 100 people to blame for all of this I could go out and kill them, but 100 million? What the hell can any of us do about that?

    We still have the whole republican party denying climate change… these people are hopelessly fucking greedy and stupid.

    • bird@aussie.zone
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      1 year ago

      Hear, hear. Something that comes close to to how I feel about us killing our biosphere is a quote from Paul Ehrlich: “What we’re losing are our only known companions in the entire universe”.

      I am so enchanted by all of the weird little lifeforms we are supposed to be sharing our world with. All their amazing intricacies, beauty, and evolutionary history. All of it (but especially birds! Birds are my favourite). It’s so alien to me that people don’t give a shit and, to the detriment of everything else, only care about looking inwards to other humans.

      That was a ramble! Quite sleep deprived and loopy over here.

      • Hubi@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        What we’re losing are our only known companions in the entire universe

        That is one hell of a quote and absolutely on point. I’ll remember this one.

      • FUCKRedditMods@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        It breaks my fucking heart man I’m about to cry just thinking about it. Why don’t people care? It’s so easy to just call them stupid/ignorant, but is that really all there is to it?

        • bird@aussie.zone
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          1 year ago

          I think about this a lot. I think a lot of people simply don’t care. It’s just not something they think about. This ties in with feeling entitled to taking everything the planet makes for humans. Unfortunately it seems to be how a lot of politicians think. Which I suppose makes sense, as what could be more anthropocentric than fucking politics?

          I can’t comprehend it, but then I remember that there are people who feel the exact same way about the view that the planet doesn’t just belong to humans. We were supposed to share :(

    • Dojan@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      You can take heart in that once we’ve wiped ourselves out, nature will slowly but surely find its way back. We like to think that we’re special, and we certainly are loud and boisterous. Yet we underestimate how small and fragile we are.

    • Syrc@lemmy.world
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      If there were 100 people to blame for all of this I could go out and kill them, but 100 million? What the hell can any of us do about that?

      Oh you could definitely go a long way by killing the right 100 people. I think killing even one of those would require a coordinated effort by way too many people though, so not that it changes much.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    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.

    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.

    Researchers and activists are trying to rescue surviving dolphins by transferring them from lagoons and ponds in the outskirts to the main body of the river where the water is cooler, reported CNN Brasil, but the operation is not easy due to the remoteness of the area.

    Below average levels of water have been reported in 59 municipalities in Amazonas State, impeding both transport and fishing activities on the river.

    Authorities expect even more acute droughts over the next couple of weeks, which could result in further deaths of dolphins, CNN Brasil reported.


    The original article contains 332 words, the summary contains 179 words. Saved 46%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • Tygr@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    If we stopped the economy and stopped all emissions worldwide, this progression would still occur for more than 2 decades.

    This is just the beginning for stuff we did since y2k.

    By the time we actually make serious change, it will be far too late.

    Happy Sunday. Enjoy football.

    • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      If we stopped the economy and stopped all emissions worldwide, this progression would still occur for more than 2 decades.

      The economy did basically stop for a month in March 2020, and pollution dropped incredibly.

      Change is possible. We just don’t want it.

  • foggy@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    It’s tough to see stuff like this and not think that we are helplessly doomed.

    All the flooding… water temps over 100…

    And crude oil is like $90 a barrel.

    • Nudding@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      It gets easier to process the more you accept that we are bound for civilizational collapse, due to runaway climate catastrophes.