Climate Change Event Tracker ~ January 2011

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Nova Friburgo, Brazil Flood, Jan 14, 2011

Cited as one of the worst natural disasters in Brazil's history, the heavy rains caused flooding and landslides over a vast distance, not just in one area.  The area affected takes one hour to drive across under normal circumstances, circling the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, where both the extremely wealthy have summer homes alongside those of lesser means.  As of today the death toll is over 600 and climbing.  The bodies are turning up so fast that graves are being dug with JCB diggers.  Unlike Australia where the rain has stopped, the rain is continuing to fall and is deeply hampering rescue operations.

As discussed in my "beginning of the end" blog you will see footage of the devastation of the flood in Brazil, and having found this extended video today about the lady with the dog am deeply saddened to realise that the woman had at least two dogs, one which was not even around anymore by the time the rescue occurred.  The dog's name was Beethoven and you can hear her yelling his name when she loses him.  The rest of the footage shows the torrential flood waters which makes what happened in Queensland look tame by comparison.

A dog sits for a second consecutive day next to the grave of her owner, Cristina Maria Cesario Santana, who died in the week's catastrophic landslides, at the cemetery in Teresopolis, near Rio de Janiero, on January 15, 2011. Brazilians on Sunday prayed for victims of devastating floods after the death toll from the natural disaster rose to at least 610 and was predicted to climb again.  Credit (AFP/Vanderlei Almeida)

the beginning of the end

I want to be like Charlie Frost, the real hero from the movie 2012 who lived in a RV filled with computers, maps, newspaper articles, assorted low tech tracking equipment and  whose fridge contained two basic items - beer and dill pickles.  You know  Charlie, he's the one who saw it all coming but nobody believed him since he looked and acted like a paranoid whack job.  Yes, I want to be like him, only I'll be the female version.  I will live in a remote setting on some high ground in nowhere, Sweden and I will watch the world carefully from my office, delving into the net using the skill of asking it the right questions, to get to the interesting answers (usually found in boring places like science journals). And I will eat pickles and talk to my cats.  But you know why I think Charlie is the true hero?  Because he had the balls to follow his instincts and ultimately was the one who saved the Jackson's life (and a few others too by mere dint of association to him).  If Jackson hadn't run into Charlie, he wouldnt have known what he needed to know to get to safety. When the end came Charlie died in a rather spectacular way, but he went the way he wanted to go, with his mind and eyes wide open to the truth, there was no fear, shock, terror or surprise, just blissful acceptance of his fate, which he welcomed with open arms.

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