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Thousands in Brazil’s southern Rio Grande do Sul state lack water and electricity as floodwaters inundate entire towns.

Rescuers are rushing to evacuate people stranded by floodwaters across the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, where at least 90 people have been killed and more than 130 others are missing.

The state capital of Porto Alegre has been virtually cut off by the flooding, with the airport and bus station closed and main roads blocked.

Reporting from the city on Tuesday afternoon, Al Jazeera’s Latin America editor Lucia Newman said the situation had become “very desperate” as volunteers and rescue crews try to evacuate residents.

INTERACTIVE_BRAZIL_FLOODS_MAY28_2024-1715150016 — (Al Jazeera)

“Everywhere you look, people have no water, no electricity. Sewage has, in this part of town which is downtown, completely come up.”

The state’s Civil Defence agency said the death toll has risen to 90 with another four deaths being investigated. Another 131 people are still unaccounted for, and 155,000 are homeless.

Heavy rains that began last week have caused rivers to flood, inundating whole towns and destroying roads and bridges.

In Porto Alegre, a city of 1.3 million residents on the Guaiba River, residents faced empty supermarket shelves and closed gas stations, with shops rationing sales of mineral water.

Five of Porto Alegre’s six water treatment facilities are not working, and Mayor Sebastiao Melo on Monday decreed that water be used exclusively for “essential consumption”.

“We are living an unprecedented natural disaster, and everyone needs to help,” Melo told reporters.

“I am getting water trucks to football fields, and people will have to go there to get their water in bottles. I cannot get them to go home to home.”

Almost half a million people were without power in Porto Alegre and outlying towns, as electricity companies cut off supplies for security reasons in flooded neighbourhoods.

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Transitioning Fleet Trucks to Electric Raises Costs by up to 114 Percent, Report Warns Mandating EV trucks in today’s market leads to even ‘more supply chain disruptions,’ said an industry expert. Friends Read Free 596 291 Save Transitioning Fleet Trucks to Electric Raises Costs by up to 114 Percent, Report Warns Trucks sit idle as they block the entrance to a container terminal at the Port of Oakland in Oakland, Calif., on July 21, 2022. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Naveen Athrappully By Naveen Athrappully 5/11/2024 Updated: 5/12/2024 Print X 1 0:00 Transitioning conventional truck fleets to electric vehicles (EVs) pushes up annual operational costs, which subsequently increases economic inflation, according to a recent report from transportation and logistics firm Ryder. Florida-based Ryder analyzed the potential cost of transportation if internal combustion engine trucks are converted to EVs. There is a 5 percent cost increase for light-duty EVs and a 94–114 percent increase for heavy-duty trucks, the May 8 report states. For a fleet of 25 mixed vehicles—light-, medium-, and heavy-duty trucks—costs surge by 56–67 percent. As transportation costs have a direct bearing on the price of goods sold in markets across the country, Ryder estimates such increases to eventually add about 0.5–1 percent to overall price inflation in the economy. “There are specific applications where EV adoption makes sense today, but the use cases are still limited. Yet we’re facing regulations aimed at accelerating broader EV adoption when the technology and infrastructure are still developing,” said Karen Jones, executive vice president and head of new product development for Ryder. “Until the gap in TCT [total cost to transport] for heavier duty vehicles is narrowed or closed, we cannot expect many companies to make the transition; and, if required to convert in today’s market, we face more supply chain disruptions, transportation cost increases, and additional inflationary pressure.” In California, the annual TCT increase for a heavy-duty EV tractor was approximately $315,000, with the number rising to more than $330,000 in Georgia. In both cases, equipment costs were the biggest contributor to the increase, rising by 500 percent. RELATED STORIES Amazon to Roll Out New Fleet of Electric Trucks in Southern California 5/8/2024 Amazon to Roll Out New Fleet of Electric Trucks in Southern California China Benefits From Unscientific Electric Vehicle Mandates 5/3/2024 China Benefits From Unscientific Electric Vehicle Mandates Ryder noted there were 16.4 million Class 3 to Class 8 commercial vehicles in operation in the United States, out of which only an estimated 18,000 EVs have been deployed. “Therefore, if companies are required to convert to EVs in the near future, availability and production of EVs may be far less than the vehicles needed to run America’s supply chains,” the report states. The report points to a statement made by Clean Freight Coalition (CFC) that there is currently no network in the United States where truck drivers can take rest breaks and charge their EV batteries at the same time. Despite Plummeting Electric Vehicle Sales, Biden Administration Will Not Change EV Policy: Jean-Pierre Play Video CFC estimates that electrifying the United States’ current commercial vehicle fleet would necessitate a $1 trillion investment. Moreover, the International Council on Clean Transportation calculates that almost 700,000 chargers will be required to accommodate the 1 million Class 4, 6, and 8 electric trucks expected to be deployed by 2030. This alone will consume 140,000 megawatts of electricity per day, which is equivalent to the daily electricity needs of roughly 5 million U.S. homes. “Ryder’s analysis underscores the reasons EV adoption for commercial vehicles remains in its infancy. In addition to the limited support infrastructure and EV availability, the business case for converting to EV for most payload and mileage applications, is extremely challenging,” the report reads.

May 14, 2024

Transitioning Fleet Trucks to Electric Raises Costs by up to 114 Percent, Report Warns

Mandating EV trucks in today’s market leads to even ‘more supply chain disruptions,’ said an industry expert.

Transitioning conventional truck fleets to electric vehicles (EVs) pushes up annual operational costs, which subsequently increases economic inflation, according to a recent report from transportation and logistics firm Ryder.

Florida-based Ryder analyzed the potential cost of transportation if internal combustion engine trucks are converted to EVs. There is a 5 percent cost increase for light-duty EVs and a 94–114 percent increase for heavy-duty trucks, the May 8 report states. For a fleet of 25 mixed vehicles—light-, medium-, and heavy-duty trucks—costs surge by 56–67 percent.

As transportation costs have a direct bearing on the price of goods sold in markets across the country, Ryder estimates such increases to eventually add about 0.5–1 percent to overall price inflation in the economy.

“There are specific applications where EV adoption makes sense today, but the use cases are still limited. Yet we’re facing regulations aimed at accelerating broader EV adoption when the technology and infrastructure are still developing,” said Karen Jones, executive vice president and head of new product development for Ryder.

“Until the gap in TCT [total cost to transport] for heavier duty vehicles is narrowed or closed, we cannot expect many companies to make the transition; and, if required to convert in today’s market, we face more supply chain disruptions, transportation cost increases, and additional inflationary pressure.”

In California, the annual TCT increase for a heavy-duty EV tractor was approximately $315,000, with the number rising to more than $330,000 in Georgia. In both cases, equipment costs were the biggest contributor to the increase, rising by 500 percent.

Ryder noted there were 16.4 million Class 3 to Class 8 commercial vehicles in operation in the United States, out of which only an estimated 18,000 EVs have been deployed.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Recent study finds ‘garbage lasagnas’ forming in open landfills across US release staggering amount of air pollution: ‘Decades of trash that’s sitting under the landfill’

May 14, 2024

Recent study finds ‘garbage lasagnas’ forming in open landfills across US release staggering amount of air pollution: ‘Decades of trash that’s sitting under the landfill’

Researchers discovered that over half had sizable methane plumes, which sometimes lasted for months or years.

Photo Credit: iStock

Landfills across America are releasing far more methane, a potent planet-warming gas, than we previously thought.

A study published in the journal Science found that our nation’s dumps are releasing almost three times more methane than estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency indicate. It’s a discovery that could have major implications for our climate and our communities.

What’s happening?

By flying planes over roughly 20% of the nation’s 1,200 large, open landfills, researchers discovered that over half had sizable methane plumes, which sometimes lasted for months or years.

This suggests that something has gone awry at these sites, such as big leaks of trapped methane from layers of long-buried, decomposing trash.

“You can sometimes get decades of trash that’s sitting under the landfill,” said study lead Daniel H. Cusworth, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona. “We call it a garbage lasagna.”

Why are landfill emissions concerning?

When our vegetable scraps and old appliances end up buried in landfills, they decompose without oxygen, releasing methane. Over a 20-year period, methane‘s warming effect is a whopping 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, according to Stanford University’s Doerr School of Sustainability.

The EPA already considers landfills the third-largest source of human-caused methane pollution in the United States, equal to the yearly emissions of 23 million cars. But if landfills are emitting nearly triple previous estimates, the threat to our communities and climate is far greater than we realized.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Globalists Plot Worldwide Genocide Via WHO Pandemic Treaty

May 14, 2024

Globalists Plot Worldwide Genocide Via WHO Pandemic Treaty

Introduction

With all the trouble in today’s world, including the completely pointless American-instigated war in Ukraine, Israel’s loathsome genocidal onslaught against the Palestinians in Gaza, and militant U.S. threats to China over Taiwan, perhaps we should be asking whether the escalation in tensions threatening massive global conflict is really a carefully-crafted Globalist “false-flag” concealing something even more sinister.

Particularly dominating the news cycle are the battles now raging in the U.S. and elsewhere between activists and authorities via pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

But again, is it more contrived distraction?

I believe it is.

What then is the real agenda behind these headline-dominating events? What are the Globalists, who are the real string-pullers, actually trying to achieve? Will more conventional wars and street-level conflict really do the job?

Actual Human Deaths from War

To narrow our focus, the world has not seen a major war since World War II took place in 1939-1945, with over 16 million military fatalities and an estimated 70-85 million overall casualties, including civilians. Given a world population of 2.3 billion in 1940, war casualties were thus about 3.7 percent of that total.

Granted the horrific nature of wartime deaths, 3.7 percent remains a relatively low figure, with the concentration of deaths obviously affecting some nations much more than others. In World War II the hardest hit were the Soviet Union and Germany. But the total loss was scarcely a bump in the road of long-term growth of the world’s human population, today reaching 8.1 billion and counting.

Looking at more contemporary data, deaths attributed to all wars since 9/11, a period often referred to as one of “endless war,” are about 4.5-4.7 million. This figure, however, yields vastly smaller proportions than those of World War II. Thus the net demographic effect of war over the past two-plus decades is scarcely noticeable, though again, any casualties are horrific to those affected.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

NASA Shares Photos Of Massive Explosions On Sun That Unleashed Solar Flares

May 14, 2024

NASA Shares Photos Of Massive Explosions On Sun That Unleashed Solar Flares

NASA has recorded two explosions on the surface of the sun which unleashed powerful solar flares on Friday and Saturday. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory meticulously documented the solar eruptions which sent ripples of electromagnetic energy hurtling towards Earth.

“The Sun emitted two strong solar flares on May 10-11, 2024, peaking at 9:23 p.m. EDT on May 10, and 7:44 a.m. EDT on May 11. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured images of the events, which were classified as X5.8 and X1.5-class flares,” NASA said in a statement.

What followed was a cosmic spectacle, as Earth braced for the impact of these solar storms. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued alerts as the first of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) surged towards our planet.

For skywatchers across the globe, this celestial drama unfolded in stunning auroras that painted the skies with vibrant hues of pink, green, and purple. From northern Europe to Australia’s Tasmania, sky-gazers were able to capture stunning photos courtesy of the rare phenomena.

Solar storms, while mesmerising, pose potential risks to technological infrastructure. Fluctuating magnetic fields induced by geomagnetic storms can disrupt power grids, communication networks, and satellite operations.

Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and Starlink, acknowledged the challenges posed by the solar storm, noting the strain on satellite operations. Despite concerns, Musk reassured that SpaceX’s satellites were well equipped to handle the solar storm.

Satellite images reveal devastating flooding in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

May 12, 2024

Satellite images reveal devastating flooding in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

porto alegre rio grande do sul brazil may 8 2024

Heavy rainfall across southern Brazil has caused severe flooding and landslides over the past 9 days, significantly affecting the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Parana, and Santa Catarina.

The most severe impact has been in Rio Grande do Sul, where rising casualties and widespread destruction continue to mount. As of May 9, at least 95 people have died, 372 have been injured, and 131 remain missing. Additionally, more than 208 000 people have been displaced, and at least 1.5 million people have been affected.

The extensive flooding has left over 1.4 million people without electricity and isolated 48 cities from telecommunications.

Widespread severe flooding was reported in Porto Alegre, the state capital. Roads have been rendered impassable across the city, cutting off the capital, and flights at the main airport have been suspended.

Widespread agricultural damage was also reported while analysts anticipate that damage to silos, storage facilities, transportation networks, and ports will hinder grain exports. Rio Grande do Sul is a key hub for the production and export of soy, rice, wheat, and meat.

Satellite imagery acquired on May 8 showed devastating flooding across Porto Alegre, including Salgado Filho International Airport completely flooded.

May 8, 2024

porto alegre rio grande do sul brazil may 8 2024 overhead

April 3, 2024

porto alegre rio grande do sul brazil april 3 2024 overhead

Credit: Copernicus EU/Sentinel-2, The Watchers

May 8, 2024

porto alegre rio grande do sul brazil may 8 2024

April 3, 2024

porto alegre rio grande do sul brazil april 3 2024

Credit: Copernicus EU/Sentinel-2, The Watchers

May 8, 2024

salgado filho international airport porto alegre brazil may 8 2024

April 3, 2024

salgado filho international airport porto alegre brazil april 3 2024

Credit: Copernicus EU/Sentinel-2, The Watchers

May 8, 2024

eldorado do sul porto alegre brazil may 8 2024

April 3, 2024

eldorado do sul porto alegre brazil april 3 2024

Credit: Copernicus EU/Sentinel-2, The Watchers

May 8, 2024

sao leopoldo porto alegre brazil may 8 2024

April 3, 2024

sao leopoldo porto alegre brazil april 3 2024

Credit: Copernicus EU/Sentinel-2, The Watchers

Authorities are closely monitoring four dams: Blang, Dal Bo, Santa Lucia, and the 14 de Julho dam in Cotipora municipality, which has partially collapsed.

Hurricanes, heatwaves and rising seas: The impacts of record ocean heat

May 12, 2024

Hurricanes, heatwaves and rising seas: The impacts of record ocean heat

Getty Images A boat cuts a path through a layer of slime on the sea near the shore of Turkey's Marmara Sea (Credit: Getty Images) — Excessive phytoplankton growth can choke the sea surface with a jelly-like layer of slime known as “sea snot” as ocean temperatures increase (Credit: Getty Images)

Record ocean temperatures suggest the seas are warming faster than expected, and the impacts will be felt from polar ice shelves to coastal cities across the globe.

The world’s oceans are like a planet-sized battery: they absorb huge amounts of heat, which is then released slowly. So far, our oceans have soaked up over 90% of the heat trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere by rising greenhouse gas emissions. But recently, their rate of warming has been dramatic.

Every day since late March 2023, global ocean surface temperatures have set new records for the hottest temperature ever recorded on that date. On 47 of those days, temperatures have also surpassed previous highs by the largest margin seen in the satellite era, according to data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. (Read the analysis of the data in this article by the BBC News Climate and Science team.)

In February 2024, the world had breached 1.5C warming of surface air temperatures for a full year. But in some regions last year, ocean temperatures were similar to those expected if overall global warming of surface air temperatures reached 3C above pre-industrial levels – suggesting quicker ocean heating than expected.

This rapid heating raises a puzzle for scientists: why is recent ocean warming even greater than models suggest?

“The step-change in ocean temperatures over last year is huge,” says Hayley Fowler, professor of climate change impacts at Newcastle University in the UK. “The fact we can’t simulate these step-change increases and understand why it’s happening is terrifying.”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Bidenomics At Work: Ford Slashing Battery Orders As Losses Per EV Approach $100,000

May 12, 2024

Bidenomics At Work: Ford Slashing Battery Orders As Losses Per EV Approach $100,000

Ford is cutting battery orders in yet another sign that the EV market, despite a constant tailwind from the U.S. taxpayer, is starting to slow.

The company is cutting the orders to curb electric-vehicle losses as it scales back its EV strategy in a slowing plug-in market, according to insiders who spoke to Bloomberg.

Ford CEO Jim Farley has said the company’s EV unit “is the main drag on the whole company right now” and CAT said its “cooperation with Ford is moving forward as normal”.

The company responded by saying it wouldn’t comment on relationships with suppliers.

Bloomberg notes that with plummeting EV prices and weakening demand, Ford’s losses per electric vehicle exceeded $100,000 in the first quarter, doubling last year’s deficit.

Bloomberg Intelligence estimates that Ford’s projected EV unit losses this year will nearly offset profits from its Ford Blue division, which produces traditional internal combustion engine vehicles like the Bronco SUV and gas-electric hybrids such as the Maverick truck.

BI analysts said of the results: “That raises questions about the prudence of investing heavily in EVs.”

Ford’s order reductions highlight industry challenges as U.S. automakers face weaker-than-expected EV demand and battery makers in South Korea, China, and beyond struggle with unsold inventory.

This has affected prices for key metals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel, leading to multiyear lows and stalling new projects. Ford has reduced EV production costs but had to cut prices to stay competitive with Tesla.

Ford CFO John Lawler said in April: “We’ve seen prices coming down quite dramatically and that’s why we haven’t been able to keep up from a cost reduction standpoint.”

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The World’s Largest Floating Solar Farm Wrecked by a Storm Just Before Launch

May 11, 2024

The World’s Largest Floating Solar Farm Wrecked by a Storm Just Before Launch

h/t Dr. Willie Soon; Who could have predicted acres of fragile floating structures would be vulnerable to bad weather?

Madhya Pradesh: Summer Storm Damages World’s Largest Floating Solar Plant at Omkareshwar Dam (Watch Video)

Indore: A summer storm on Tuesday damaged a floating solar plant at Madhya Pradesh’s Omkareshwar dam. The floating solar plant, situated in the backwater of the dam, is the biggest of its kind in the world. A joint venture between Madhya Pradesh Govt and National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), the project was nearly completed and ready for its launch. A part of the project became operational last week.

The project near the village of Kelwa Khurd, aimed at generating 100 MW of electricity, with additional capacities of 88MW at Indawadi and 90 MW at Ekhand village. However, on Tuesday, summer storms with the speed of 50kmph hit the project and threw the solar panels all around the place. No employee was fortunately injured.

…

Read more: https://www.lokmattimes.com/national/madhya-pradesh-summer-storm-damages-worlds-largest-floating-solar-plant-at-omkareshwar-dam-watch-video-a514/

A video of the disaster;

Anyone who has ever owned a boat, particular a large boat which gets left in the water, knows what a harsh environment the sea can be. Some kind of failure was inevitable. If it hadn’t been a storm, there are plenty of other things which could have gone wrong.

Greens keep telling us we can expect more frequent and extreme superstorms – so what is the point of building vulnerable floating structures?

Plastics tend to disintegrate under tropical sunlight, especially when in contact with water or water spray. Ultraviolet from the sun drives exotic chemical reactions, which leads to chemical breakdown.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The Escalating Threat Of Avian Influenza H5N1 And The Ethical Quandary Of Gain-of-Function Research

May 11, 2024

The Escalating Threat Of Avian Influenza H5N1 And The Ethical Quandary Of Gain-of-Function Research

Since the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus was first identified in humans in 2003, approximately 600 cases have been reported worldwide, with a laboratory-confirmed case-fatality rate (CFR) of 60%.

The recent death of a woman in southwest China who had no contact with poultry signals a potentially alarming shift in the virus’s transmission dynamics, raising the specter of human-to-human transmission, according to a report by the Federation of American Scientists.

Health authorities in Guiyang, Guizhou province concluded that two patients, including the woman who died, did not have contact with poultry before showing symptoms of the illness. Currently, the public health community remains cautious as H5N1 influenza viruses continue to evolve and potentially gain the ability to be transmitted efficiently to humans.

The evolution of H5N1 over two decades necessitates an urgent and strategic response from the global health community. Scientific efforts are primarily focused on understanding the genetic shifts that facilitate the virus’s leap among species, aiming to forestall a possible pandemic. This has led to the controversial practice of gain-of-function (GoF) research, wherein viruses are deliberately engineered to be more potent or transmissible.

And of course, as we all know – a bunch of over-educated idiots cobbling together chimeric viruses that can better-infect humans may have led to the COVID-19 pandemic – as GoF research is fraught with ethical, biosafety, and biosecurity dilemmas.

The dual-use nature of this research—where scientific advances could potentially be misused to cause harm—places it under intense scrutiny. The debate is not just about managing the risks of accidental release but also about the moral implications of potentially providing a blueprint for bioterrorism…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

North America’s biggest city is running out of water

May 11, 2024

North America’s biggest city is running out of water

Mexico City is staring down a water crisis. It won’t be the last city to do so.

A boat stranded on the dry floor of the Miguel Alemán dam on February 28, 2024, in Valle de Bravo, Mexico. — Mexico City is being threatened by a water crisis after the main reservoirs remain under 40 percent of their full capacity due to low rainfall, geography, and lack of infrastructure.

Mexico City is parched.

After abysmally low amounts of rainfall over the last few years, the reservoirs of the Cutzamala water system that supplies over 20 percent of the Mexican capital’s 22 million residents’ usable water are running out.

“If it doesn’t start raining soon, as it is supposed to, these [reservoirs] will run out of water by the end of June,” Oscar Ocampo, a public policy researcher on the environment, water, and energy, told my colleagues over on the Today, Explained podcast.

Already, some households receive unusably contaminated water; at times, others receive none at all. It’s stoking tensions over obvious inequities: Who gets water and who doesn’t?

The crisis is also leading Mexico City to siphon more from the underground aquifers on which the city sits, a decision that’s not just unsustainable without replenishment but also causes the ground to sink — at a rate of almost five inches each year, Ocampo said.

While many factors that led to this moment might be specific to Mexico City, or CDMX (including the Spanish colonists’ decision hundreds of years ago to drain the lake on which the city originally sat), or this moment in time (see: El Niño exacerbating droughts), the bigger issue is not.

Bogotá, Colombia, is rationing water amid a drought that has pushed reservoirs to “historically low” levels. And you might remember Cape Town staring down its own Day Zero crisis in 2018. A few years earlier, Sao Paulo, Brazil confronted a similar situation.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Floods and flooding ‘will be part of our lives,’ says Brazilian architect and urbanist

May 11, 2024

Civilians help with rescues in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, in the floods that hit the state. Photo by Alex Rocha/PMPA, used with permission

Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state of Brazil, is going through the worst climate disaster in its history. From April 28 onward, a major part of its territory, about the size of the United Kingdom, has been submerged underwater. The heavy rains soon transformed into violent floods, impacting over 1.4 million people, with at least 100 people confirmed dead, according to reports published May 8. Entering its sixth day of flooding, the state capital, Porto Alegre, is now facing a shortage of drinking water.

Under such critical circumstances, it is crucial to understand how this situation escalated so rapidly and consider how intentional city planning might prevent it from repeating itself.

Mariana Bernardes is an architect and urbanist from Passo Fundo, in the northern portion of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is also among the 425 out of 497 affected, with floods isolated to certain regions of the city.

Bernardes’ work focuses on humanizing structural problems with planning, technical responsibility, and social commitment. In an interview with Global Voices, she spoke about what could have been done to prevent the floods in Brazil and what can be done as communities look to collective reconstruction.

Global Voices (GV): The floods in southern Brazil demonstrate a series of failures and omissions, especially by the State. How could a humanized view of architecture and urbanism have prevented parts of this ongoing tragedy?

‘Desperate’ rescues under way as Brazil floods kill 90, displace thousands

May 10, 2024