Mittwoch, 26. Januar 2011

Canine Moments in Brazil....

Hier einige Fotos aus Brasilien, wo durch eine Erdrutschkatastrophe bislang 869 Menschen getötet wurden. Ausgelöst wurden die Erdrutsche durch außergewöhnlich heftige Regenfälle, möglicherweise verbunden mit dem Wetterphänomen La Nina, und einer Reihe anderer Faktoren, die zusammengewirkt haben, Folgen menschlicher Eingriffe an der Umwelt und Besiedlung an gefährdeten Plätzen. Das Epizentrum hat die drei Städte Nova Friburgo, Teresopolis und Petropolis, gelegen im Norden von Rio de Janeiro.

Here some photos from Brazil. An extraordinary landslide disaster has unfolded in Brazil, killing so far 869 people. The trigger has been very heavy rainfall associated with the current La Nina conditions, although the underlying cause is likely to be a combination of people living in the wrong places and damage to the environment as a result of human activities. The epicentre has been the three towns of Nova Friburgo, Teresopolis and Petropolis, located to the north of Rio de Janeiro. (source)

13.01. 2011 Dog and boy in Jardim Itaim Neighbourhood/photo: Mauricio Lima

13.01. 2011 This lady and her dog were lucky, that dog in this video here unfortunately could not be saved.../photo:Mauricio Lima

14.01.2011 Teresopolis Little dog looking on debris/ photo: Felipe Dana

But as so often after such disasters there were also Rescue dogs searching for survivors which must have been difficult considering the condition of the soil /Photo:Reuters

20.01.2011 - A Spanish rescue team (NGOK9 de Creixell) ....

.....is under way in Nova Friburgo...

... to look for survivors in mud filled houses.../photos: Felipe Dana

And here two photos which got more than any others just straight under my skin....

15.01.2011 Teresopolis - A dog, Leao, was seen during 2 days beside one of the freshly digged graves of his dead owner Cristina Maria Cesorio Santana....

After two days somebody has taken Leao away to give him a new home...at least that's what I have read..../ photos: Vanderlei Almeida


Sources & photos:
-
Devastating landslides hit Brazil/The Frame 14.01.2011
-
Landslides in Brazil-The big Picture /Boston Globe 21.01.2011
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Brazil rains kill more than 626/ All Voices 17.01.2011 Reuters Photo Gallery
-
Rescue workers and dogs continue to search for Brazilian landslide victims/ MSNBC Photoblog 20.01.2011 (Felipe Dana pics)
-
Brazil mudslides:Death toll climbs to 727/Hindustan Times 20.01.2011
- Brazil Floods:The loyal dog who refuses to leave grave of his owner/Mail Online 17.01.2011
-
A review of Brazil landslides - Nuvo Friburga/ AGU Blogosphere 21.01.2011

Related:
- Zwischen El Nino, La Nina und Klimaerwärmung...When disaster strikes/24.01.2011

Montag, 24. Januar 2011

Zwischen El Niño, La Niña und Klimaerwärmung...When disaster strikes...,

Nur wenige Monate ist es erst her, dass während der Überschwemmungen in Pakistan mehr als 1700 Menschen und mindestens 200 000 Nutztiere ihr Leben verloren haben. Betroffen von den Wassermasssen waren insgesamt 20 Millionen Menschen, viele wurden obdachlos und verloren durch zerstörte Ernten und Vieh ihre Lebensgrundlage. Für überlebende Tiere gab es häufig kein Futter, geschweige denn angemessene tierärztliche Versorgung.

Remember...just a few months ago - At least 200,000 cattle drowned during the tragic floods in Pakistan, which has claimed more than 1,700 human lives and affected more than 20 million people. Of those animals that survived, many were at severe risk and in desperate need of feed and veterinary care.


Bei Naturkatastrophen werden Tiere häufig vergessen in all dem Chaos. Dabei sind sie schlimmem Leid ausgesetzt. Oft ist ihre Umgebung zerstört, sie finden sich eingeschlossen, sie werden zurückgelassen oder sie finden kein Futter oder sauberes Wasser mehr. Auch bei Tieren gilt, dass jede Minute zählt, um sie zu retten.

When disaster strikes, animals can be forgotten in the chaos. Yet they still face terrible suffering. Their homes and habitats are often destroyed; they can become trapped or abandoned with no food or water and no one to care for them. To save animal lives, every minute counts.


Seit Wochen sehen wir immer mehr Regionen in Australien gegen die verheerendsten Überschwemmungen kämpfen, die je aufgezeichnet wurden. 35 Menschen verloren ihr Leben, manche sind noch vermisst. Wieveiel Tiere betroffen sind, kann noch gar nicht eingeschätzt werden. Die ersten Überschwemmungen gab es bereits um Anfang Dezember in New South Wales (NSW). Kängurus und Emus, die auf einer kleinen Insel am Lake Burrendong in der Nähe von Wellington lebten, mussten von dort evakuiert werden.

For weeks now we have been seeing more and more regions and communities in Australia fighting against the inundations, which are the worst in people's memory and ever recorded. 35 people lost their lives, some are still missing, until now it is not possible to say how many animals have been affected.

The first floods happened already in the beginning of December in New South Wales (NSW) .
Kangaroos and emus had to be rescued from Two Tree Island at Lake Burrendong near Wellington. Everything from tinnies to floaties was used to get them to dry land, says Australia's biggest wildlife rescue group WIRES
. (full article)


Exkurs:Wenn das Wetter verrückt spielt...

Was die Überschwemmungskatastrophe in Pakistan, die Waldbrände in Russland, die Überschwemmungen im Dreiländereck Deutschland, Polen und Tschechien im letzten Sommer mit den jetzigen in Australien verbindet, ist vor allem das weiterhin aktive Wetterphänomen La Niña.

" Ursache der Überschwemmungen in Queensland waren die ergiebigsten Niederschläge seit Beginn der Wetteraufzeichnungen in dem Staat im Jahr 1900. Auch für diese Starkregen gibt es einen Grund: Die Gewässer rund um den fünften Kontinent waren so warm wie noch nie seit Aufzeichnungsbeginn. Entsprechend verdunstete mehr Wasser, das dann in Sturzbächen über dem Kontinent abregnete. Zugleich hatte sich die Oberfläche des Zentralpazifiks in einem großen Gebiet, das sich um den Äquator herum zwischen Indonesien und Südamerika erstreckt, stark abgekühlt.

Dies ist das charakteristische Muster einer „La Niña“. Das Wetterphänomen ist zusammen mit seinem Gegenstück El Niño Bestandteil der so genannten Pazifischen Dekadischen Oszillation (PDO). Sie entspricht einer Art Klimaschaukel mit zyklischen Erwärmungs- und Abkühlungsphasen im äquatorialen Pazifik, die sich über 20 bis 30 Jahre erstrecken können. Dazwischen liegen kürzere Schwankungen. Die letzte anhaltende Warmphase der PDO gab es von 1977 bis 1998, seither dominiert ein Wechsel von kurzen Erwärmungs- und Abkühlungsphasen das Klima.
BBC

Meist schlägt ein El Niño zügig in eine La Niña um. Dann bilden sich über dem Pazifik starke Luftdruck-Unterschiede aus. Sie bewirken, dass kräftigere Passatwinde wehen, die das warme Wasser an der Oberfläche von Südamerika nach Südostasien und Australien treiben. Vor der Küste Perus quillt dafür kaltes Tiefenwasser auf, das bis zu drei Grad Celsius unter der pazifischen Durchschnittstemperatur liegt. Die Auswirkungen dieser Wärmeumschichtung sind weltweit spürbar.

Zuletzt setzte im Juli 2009 ein El Niño ein, der bis Ende April 2010 anhielt. Er ging mit einem kräftigen Anstieg der Temperaturen im Pazifik einher, was dazu beitrug, dass 2010 zum neuen Wärme-Rekordjahr wurde. Seit Mai 2010 herrscht nun ein La Niña , das zu den ausgeprägtesten seit Aufzeichnungsbeginn zählt. Das hat Folgen. Denn je stärker das Temperaturgefälle zwischen den östlichen und westlichen pazifischen Gewässern ist, desto mehr Regen fällt an der australischen Nordostküste. Tatsächlich gab es dort ab dem zweiten Halbjahr 2010 extreme Niederschläge, während im Südwesten Australiens eine verheerende Dürre herrschte, wie sie noch nie beobachtet worden war." (Quelle)

Sheep after Australian wildfires in 2009

Causes

What links phenomena as last years heat waves and wildfires in Russia and the floods of Pakistan with the recent floods in Sri Lanka and Australia is the - since mid May 2010- ongoing weather pattern La Niña.

The "cold tongue" is also called the "freezing of the jet stream"/ BBC

"La Nina occurs when surface temperatures are cooler than normal in the eastern Pacific and warmer than normal in the western Pacific. Cold water rises up from the ocean's depths and collects off the west coast of South America. Pulled by strong easterly winds, the cool water surges westwards across the Pacific in the form of a 'cold tongue'. Warm water builds up and high pressure is trapped along the east coast of Australia and South-East Asia resulting in unusually heavy rainfall.BBC

La Nina's effects are wide-reaching and varied and this season's La Nina has been described as one of the strongest in decades. Powerful easterly winds may have intensified the usual monsoon in Sri Lanka - but meteorologists say it is unlikely to have led to recent flooding and landslides near Rio de Janeiro."(source)


Stranded wallaby on 6.01.2011/Anthony Skerman AP


Hier ein längerer Auszug eines zusammenfassenden Berichts zur Situation Ende Dezember und Januar in Australien. Leider in englischer Sprache...-

Here part of a summarizing report about the devastation of the recent floods including wildlife, cattle and pets

FLOOD DEBVASTATION IN AUSTRALIA

Queensland, Australia is experiencing one of its darkest hours. Gripped by the worst floods in the country’s recorded history, Australia is fighting for survival. Major search and rescue operations are underway searching for dozens of missing people, mainly young children. The flooding began Christmas Eve, 2010. After weeks of pounding rain, many towns are reduced to sodden ruins. Late on 10 January 2011, the city of Towoomba was unexpectedly hit with an eight meter inland instant tsunami that went straight down the Lockyer Valley. The tsunami caused catastrophic damage and loss of life.


People on Rooftops, Fish on Highways and Snakes in Homes

Once beautiful and tranquil, the Lockyer Valley now resembles a war zone. Live fish were photographed on highways, more than 60 kilometers from lakes and streams. Areas underneath bridges have been photographed jammed tight with cars, dead horses, cattle, furniture, tractors and so on. Houses literally lifted off their foundations and floated away. Cars and trucks were picked up and rolled like dice. Snakes began filling people’s houses, searching out any dry area at all. People that had survived the raging floods were now being driven into raging water to escape poisonous snakes who were claiming their houses. (Australia is home to five of the world’s most poisonous snakes.)

January 2011 in Ipswich/Nick de Villiers

The raging muddy waters continued down through the state of Queensland, submerging the big city of Ipswich, then culminating in the capital city Brisbane. When it seemed impossible for things to get worse, the television stations reported bull sharks were swimming in the main street of Goodna, just outside Ipswich. Bull sharks are the most aggressive of all sharks and are common in some areas of the Brisbane River, but never in the main street of a city! Currently 16 people are dead, over 60 people are still missing and presumed dead, tens of thousands of homes are ruined, 120,000 homes are without power. Bodies are being found over 80 kilometers from where they were taken by the water.

Graphic footage of families clinging to rooftops with their pets under their arms is painful to view. Parents have been filmed tying “floaties” to their small children and floating them up to the rooftops, where they then tie their children to the crest of the roof line. Babies are filmed strapped into pump-up wading pools where they are also then tied onto roof crests. These are desperate actions by frantic parents to keep their children alive. Then they wait. Rescue helicopters are working day and night in horrendous conditions. Rescue pilots tell harrowing stories of women they have plucked from rooftops, after having had their babies ripped from their hands, with the force of surging torrents of water.

Animal Losses Are Catastrophic

Animal rescue services are also working day and night. When interviewed, they break down and weep. They are doing everything in their power to rescue every type of animal and relocate them to higher ground.

Australia prides itself on having prolific amounts of wildlife but unfortunately the number of animals in life-threatening circumstances far exceeds the number of emergency animal rescue people available. Animal losses are catastrophic in number. Hundreds of thousands of wildlife creatures have drowned and surviving ones have had their habitat destroyed. It will be decades before wildlife recover to their former numbers. Some species, like the Hairy Nose Wombat may even have become extinct due to these floods.

On Wednesday 12th January, the flood situation took another turn for the worse. The State’s capital city, Brisbane and its CBD sounded emergency beacons for all its residents to evacuate immediately. Within 12 hours the Brisbane River burst its banks and began swallowing street after street of residential housing and businesses alike. Thousands of people and their pets were thrown into chaos. Evacuations began Tuesday evening at an alarming rate; people fled to evacuation centers with just their pets. Brisbane is the third biggest capital city in Australia and was now facing being erased by a 22 meter surge of debris-filled raging flood waters!

The Brisbane RSPCA began flooding and sent out an urgent call for help needing foster housing for all their animals. At the same time Goodna Dog Shelter began flooding and needed urgent rescue of 70 dogs. Horse Rescue facilities were receiving panicked calls from distressed horse owners needing help. @AWLQ (The Animal Welfare League, Qld) drove to Brisbane and loaded up four trucks of cats and dogs and birds from the RSPCA and brought them back to their AWLQ facilities. They then assisted the Goodna Shelter evacuation as well. Horses and cattle were filmed swimming for their lives, trying desperately to cling to house rooftops, frantic to find a way to stand on submerged terracotta roofs. These same horse were rescued, treated by vets and are expected to make a good recovery. " (full article here)

Horse rescue video

Die große Frage ist, wieviele Tiere starben während der Überschwemmungen, es wird Wochen dauern bis das Wasser völlig zurückgegangen ist und bis man wirklich einen genauen Überblick hat....

And on the Animal rescue site you can read:

"It's currently expected that floodwaters will take many weeks to fully recede, and delicate ecosystems of scrub and grassland may not be able to withstand such a long time underwater. The loss of habitat is likely to be devastating for ground-burrowers and for smaller animals that are not able to get away from the flooding, including wallabies, quolls, and echidna. Flash-flooding may also endanger larger animals, both wild and domestic.

For animals who survive the floods, food will be difficult to find during a time when many species have young who are still dependent on them. Wildlife will need food and care for some time after floodwaters recede while their habitats recover.

But Ms Taylor said the biggest fear was that we just do not know how many animals have been killed in the floods.

“We just don't know what is going to be left after the floodwaters recede. Most of these animals were already under pressure of habitat loss, roadkill, hunting and development – populations were only just starting to recover after Australia's prolonged drought.”

Sources and photo credits:
-
Überschwemmungen in Pakistan/ wikipedia dt.
-
Pakistan floods/ wikipedia engl.
-
When disaster strikes who will be there for the animals?/ WSPA Appeal for donations
-
Hop on board-Rescue of drowning kangaroos/Mail Online 10.12.2010
-
The flood is coming/ Mail online 12.01.2011
-
Unprecedented, "Biblical" Floods inundate Australia/National Geographic photo gallery January 2011
-
WIRES fears for the fate of flood stricken wildlife/WIRES is Australia's biggest wildlife rescue association
-
The Animal Rescue Site/Donation Appeal - Food Devastation In Australia/The Anipal Times 15.01.2011

- Wenn das Wetter verrückt spielt/ Focus 21.01.2011
- Wildlife pays price after drought sweeps Australia/ Telegraph 21.07.2002
- Drought in SW Australia linked to snowfall in Antarctica/ physorg.com 07.02.2010
- How La Nina triggered floods in Australia/BBC 14.01.2011
- La Nina and severe weather around the world/travelio.net 17.01.2011

Related postings:
-
Hochwasser - Floodings and animals17.08.2010 (dt./engl)
-
Pakistan floods ravage bear sanctaury/ 26.08.2010 (dt./ engl.)

Donnerstag, 20. Januar 2011

2011...

Photo by creatief2

2011 ist bereits fast 3 Wochen alt und erst jetzt komme ich dazu allen ein frohes und vor allem gesundes neues Jahr zu wünschen und mich für das in welcher Form auch immer geäußerte Interesse an Knuts Aussenposten im alten Jahr zu bedanken. Ohne eure Kommentare, Fotos und Geschichten gäbe es den Aussenposten nicht...!

Leider hat dieses Jahr wie so viele andere zuvor nicht gerade gut angefangen... Mysteriöses Vogel -und Fischsterben in verschiedenen Regionen der Welt, Dioxin in Eiern und Schweinefleisch in Deutschland, beklemmende Gewaltakte wie in Tucson, Unruhen...aber auch Aufbegehren wie in Tunesien...

Beebe/Arkansas New Year 2011

Und vor allem: beunruhigende Bilder der Zerstörungen durch die Überschwemmungen und Erdrutsche in Australien, Brasilien und Sri Lanka, die einmal mehr deutlich machen, wie sehr unser aller Leben bestimmt wird von der Natur, die wir immer weniger in der Hand zu haben scheinen, ganze Landstriche und Länder werden nicht nur in diesem Jahr mit Aufräumen und Wiederaufbau beschäftigt sein. Ein Jahr nach dem schweren Erdbeben in Haiti hat sich für die meisten Menschen dort nicht viel verändert, Bürokratie und Korruption erschweren gerade in den armen Ländern die nötigen Massnahmen zur Verbesserung der Situation der betroffenen Menschen. Das Wissen, dass ähnliche Katastrophen jederzeit wieder passieren können, und vielleicht sogar noch bevor alle Schäden beseitigt sind, liegt wie ein schwerer Schleier auf der Trauer um verlorenes Leben und Besitz.Queensland January 2011

Für wieviel mehr Katastrophen haben wir die Resourcen, die Kraft und Antworten?

Machen wir uns nichts vor, Zerstörtes kann nicht wieder ersetzt werden, Menschen, Tiere und Ernten sind unwiederbringlich verloren, ob und wie lange wir unsere Erde besänftigen können, hängt von uns allen ab, unseren Gewohnheiten, unseren Bedürfnissen, unserem Respekt vor Leben. Gier, Gewalt, Korruption und Krieg sollten schon lange keine Rolle mehr spielen, genausowenig wie bürokratische geldverschlingende Wasserköpfe und Männer, die heute erzählen, was geschützt werden soll und die morgen schon den Vertrag unterschreiben, der das Schützenswerte noch mehr bedroht, wie vor ein paar Tagen erst bei dem Arktis Deal zwischen BP und Russland, auf einer Fläche größer als die Nordsee sollen nun Öl-und Gasvorräte erschlossen werden...

Willkommen im Jahr 2011...ich wünsch uns allen viel Kraft, Mitgefühl, Ausdauer und Kreativität...

Dead fish in Arkansas

2011 is already nearly 3 weeks old and only now I have the possibility to wish all of you a happy and healthy new year and to thank everybody for the interest in Knut's Outpost during the old year. Without you, your comments, stories and photos the outpost would not exist ...

Unfortunately, this year, as already so many others before, has not exactly had a good start ... Mysterious bird and fish deaths in different regions of the world, dioxin in eggs and pork in Germany, oppressive acts of violence such as in Tucson, unrest but also rebellion as in Tunisia...
Nova Friburga/Brazil January 2011

And above all, disturbing images of the devastation caused by floods and landslides in Australia, Brazil and Sri Lanka, which once again make clear how much our lives depend on nature, a nature that we seem to have less and less in our hand. Cleanup and reconstruction will certainly keep the countries and regions affected busy for much longer than this year.

One year after the devastating earthquake in Haiti not much has changed for most people there, bureaucracy and corruption are especially obstacles in poor countries to take the necessary measures for improvement. The knowledge that similar disasters can happen at any time again, and perhaps even before all debris can even be removed, is laying like a heavy veil on the mourning for lost life and property.

Nova Friburga/Brazil January 2011

For how many more disasters, do we have the resources, strength and answers?

Let us not deceive ourselves, what is destroyed can not be replaced again, people, animals and crops are irretrievably lost, whether and how long we can appease our planet depends on all of us, our habits, our needs, our respect for life.

Greed, violence, corruption and war, shouldn't have mattered long ago, the same goes for bloated and money devouring bureaucracy and for men who tell us today what should be protected but who sign tomorrow the contract, which puts all conservation efforts at risk as we could just witness a few days ago when British BP signed the Russian Arctic deal, allowing them to drill for more oil in a fragile region larger than the North Sea...

Welcome to 2011 ...It looks as if we all need lots of strength, empathy, perserverance and creativity...

Sources & photo credits:
-
USA wieder Massensterben von Vögeln/ Focus o5.01.2011 , mehr hier
- Ein Jahr nach dem Erdbeben in Haiti/tagesschau 12. 01.2011
- Brazil mudslides:Death toll climbs to 727/Hindustan Times 20.01.2011
- Brazil Floods:The loyal dog who refuses to leave grave of his owner/Mail Online 17.01.2011
- Vladimir Putin calls for calm in battle for Arctic energy reserves/ Telegraph 23.09.2010
-
American hostility grows over BP deal with Russian oil company/Guardian 16.01.2011
-
BP enters deal with Russia's Rosneft/Business Report 17.01.2011
-
Neue Allianz BP und Rosneft erkunden russische Arktis gemeinsam/ Spiegel 16.01.2011

Related:
- Operation Peilsender: Putin in Franz-Josef-Land/01.05.2010
- Eisbären in Russland: Putin und ein Arktischer Nationalpark/06.04.2010
- Eisbären mit Gebietsansprüchen...The Russian Arctic/06.04.2010