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.

  • @bird@aussie.zone
    link
    fedilink
    English
    449 months 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
      link
      fedilink
      English
      159 months 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
      link
      fedilink
      English
      49 months 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
        link
        fedilink
        English
        29 months 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 :(