Grieving the Amazon Rainforest

About fourteen years ago I had the good fortune to visit the rainforest briefly on the Argentina side of the famous Iguazu falls.  It was a very short visit, but I promised myself I’d go back and see the rainforest in Brazil. (I confess, I am not at my best in hot and humid weather, so I have favored cooler destinations in my travels.)

My first reactions to the news that the rainforest is on fire was anger and frustration. Learning that it was in all likelihood purposefully set in order to illegally clear forests to graze cattle of course amped up my anger. Realizing that these fires are also an act of genocide… my anger was hard to contain. Indigenous people all over the world are trying to preserve the environment and corrupt governments, and corporate greed is literally killing them, and in turn eventually all of humanity. This is terrorism. This is war crimes. The time for respecting Brazil’s borders and offering help has passed. The rest of the world needs to act. Send in peacekeeping forces and fire fighters. These farmers are attacking us. They may as well have declared war and starting firing missiles.

Then fear started to set in. What does a world without its lungs look and feel like? I’ve been doing some reading, but I’m not clear on the physical consequences of losing the rainforest. Will we have less oxygen overall? Will we all start feeling the affects of oxygen deprivation? Slowed thinking, decreased physical dexterity and fine motor control, weakness, dizziness. Is this enough of a reduction to kill? Will increasing carbon dioxide benefit some plants? Will poisonous algae grow out of control? The articles I read talked about desertification. (My sci-fi nerd self immediately thought about Frank Herbert’s “Dune” which imagines a universe where Earth has turned into a desert planet whose people suffer under tyrannical leaders who mine the planet for powerful drugs. They live by strictly recycling every drop of water and have turned into vicious warriors hellbent on waging war across the galaxy. I never thought it was an aspirational story.)

Yesterday my emotions changed. I still feel anger and fear, but I became extremely sad. No, sad is the wrong word. I feel grief. Like after a death. Because the thing that we can’t get those acres of rainforest back. We have no idea what has been lost in terms of unique species of plants or animals. The Amazon rainforest is a complex interdependent system of plants, animals, water, air, and humans. It evolved and grew over millions of years. If deforestation continues at this pace the whole system could collapse. 5e rest of the rainforest could turn into a Savannah, supporting fewer plants and animals,  creating less oxygen, affecting global climate in a catastrophic way.



Some information from people who know more than me:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/amazon-burning-190823082046821.html
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1168830/amazon-rainforest-fires-what-happens-amazon-rainforest-burns-down-amazon-fires-impact
https://www.wired.com/story/the-horrifying-science-of-the-deforestation-fueling-amazon-fires/
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/brazilian-farmers-believe-they-have-the-right-to-burn-the-amazon-875879/
https://theweek.com/articles/858586/why-indigenous-land-rights-are-key-slowing-climate-change
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_hypoxia

industrial film? or surrealist masterpiece?

No posts in far too long

I intend to remedy that! Some changes in my world: new apartment and new kitty cat. I refuse to become one of those people that talks about their cat all the time, so I'll just post a picture of him now to get it out of the way and only in the future if I think the photo has artistic merit on its own (you can disagree with me vocally and often if you'd like).

yuck

I went to get a Diet coke at Store 24 and weirdly not only were they were sold out of Diet Coke there was no Diet Coke with Lime or Diet Vanilla Coke (the varieties of Diet Coke that I can stand) so I bought Diet Black Cherry Vanilla Coke thinking, "well, you never know." Now I know. Wow. Really really bad.

Something of a mystery

For 2 months now I have been receiving Marie Claire magazine in the mail. I haven't the foggiest idea why.

Little Miss Muffet

I pride myself on being a liberated 21st Century feminist woman. Generally I know I can do anything a man can do and do it well. This morning, though, I fell back on stereotypes for the sake of convenience and humor and for no other real reason. There was huge icky looking bug or spider on the wall next to the department secretary's desk and I asked a male co-worker to come out of his office and "do the guy thing" and take care of it. Which he did. He didn't even mock me (so far).

Camera

So, I blew a chunk of my savings and bought the camera I've been ogling for over a year. The Canon Digital Rebel XT. This is far more camera than an average person requires, but let's face it, I'm not usually considered average. This is my first digital camera and I have no idea how to use all of the bells and whistles. Looking forward to figuring it out soon, though.