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Page added on February 20, 2014
142 Cities In Brazil Are Now Rationing Water As Drought Goes Critical
Did you know that the drought in Brazil is so bad that some neighborhoods are only being allowed to get water once every three days? At this point, 142 Brazilian cities are rationing water and there does not appear to be much hope that this crippling drought is going to end any time soon. Unfortunately, most Americans seem to be absolutely clueless about all of this.
In response to the recent article about how the unprecedented drought that is plaguing California right now could affect our food supply, one individual left a comment stating “if Califirnia can’t supply South America will. We got NAFTA.” Apart from the fact that this person could not even spell “California” correctly, we also see a complete ignorance of what is going on in the rest of the planet. The truth is that the largest country in South America (Brazil) is also experiencing an absolutely devastating drought at the moment. They are going to have a very hard time just taking care of their own people for the foreseeable future.
And this horrendous drought in Brazil could potentially have a huge impact on the total global food supply. As a recent RT article detailed, Brazil is the leading exporter in the world in a number of very important food categories…
Over 140 Brazilian cities have been pushed to ration water during the worst drought on record, according to a survey conducted by the country’s leading newspaper. Some neighborhoods only receive water once every three days.
Water is being rationed to nearly 6 million people living in a total of 142 cities across 11 states in Brazil, the world’s leading exporter of soybeans, coffee, orange juice, sugar and beef. Water supply companies told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper that the country’s reservoirs, rivers and streams are the driest they have been in 20 years. A record heat wave could raise energy prices and damage crops.
Some neighborhoods in the city of Itu in Sao Paulo state (which accounts for one-quarter of Brazil’s population and one-third of its GDP), only receive water once every three days, for a total of 13 hours.
Are you starting to see what I mean?
This is serious.
The drought in North America also continues to get even worse. According to an expert interviewed by National Geographic, this drought in the state of California “could last for 200 years or more”…
B. Lynn Ingram, a paleoclimatologist at the University of California at Berkeley, thinks that California needs to brace itself for a megadrought—one that could last for 200 years or more.
As a paleoclimatologist, Ingram takes the long view, examining tree rings and microorganisms in ocean sediment to identify temperatures and dry periods of the past millennium. Her work suggests that droughts are nothing new to California.
A drought of even 10 years would absolutely cripple this nation. Already, the size of the total U.S. cattle herd is the smallest that it has been in 63 years and California farmers are going to let half a million acres sit idle this year because of the extremely dry conditions. If this drought persists for several more years we will have an unprecedented crisis on our hands.
Unfortunately, there are signs that this current drought in California may be part of a larger trend. I had never heard of “the Pacific Decadal Oscillation” before this week, but apparently it is a phenomenon that can cause droughts that last “for decades“…
Ingram and other paleoclimatologists have correlated several historic megadroughts with a shift in the surface temperature of the Pacific Ocean that occurs every 20 to 30 years—something called the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). The PDO is similar to an El Nino event except it lasts for decades—as its name implies—whereas an El Nino event lasts 6 to 18 months. Cool phases of the PDO result in less precipitation because cooler sea temperatures bump the jet stream north, which in turn pushes off storms that would otherwise provide rain and snow to California. Ingram says entire lakes dried up in California following a cool phase of the PDO several thousand years ago.
And of course it isn’t just the western half of the country that is struggling with water supply problems. In the Southeast, water has been a major political issue for quite some time…
The drought-parched states of Georgia, Alabama and Florida are back at it — fighting for a slice of water rights in a decades-long water war that’s left all three thirsty for more.
The 24-year dispute is emblematic of an increasingly common economic problem facing cities and states across the country – the demand for water quickly outpacing the supply as spikes in population soak up resources.
Most of us that live in the United States are accustomed to having seemingly inexhaustible supplies of fresh water. We use more fresh water per capita than anyone else on the planet, and most of us never even think twice about it.
Unfortunately, things are changing. We are on the precipice of a great water crisis, and many Americans are going to be in for a very rude awakening.
And the frightening thing is that the U.S. is actually in much better shape than most of the rest of the world is when it comes to supplies of fresh water. In some areas of the globe, a “water crisis” is already a daily reality.
We have heard that someday water is going to become the “new oil”, and we are starting to get to that point. Life is simply not possible without water, and as global supplies of clean, fresh water dwindle it is inevitable that it is going to cause global tensions to rise.
So what do you think the solutions to these problems are?
27 Comments on "142 Cities In Brazil Are Now Rationing Water As Drought Goes Critical"
rollin on Thu, 20th Feb 2014 12:15 pm
So much for conquering nature. All nature does is change. Can we?
Davy, Hermann, MO on Thu, 20th Feb 2014 12:18 pm
We have heard that someday water is going to become the “new oil”, and we are starting to get to that point. Life is simply not possible without water, and as global supplies of clean, fresh water dwindle it is inevitable that it is going to cause global tensions to rise.
Water and energy in a complex interconnected global world go hand and hand. Electric power generation needs water, food energy needs water, industry needs water, waste management needs water, and fossil energy production needs water. Water must be cleaned, transported, managed for transport, and managed for protecting infrastructure all energy intensive. Huge amounts are needed in our complex world. We see a predicament of declining water availability in critical areas at the same time we are seeing fossil energy difficulties. This points to diminishing returns to growth of the primary ingredients for growth. No other two items are more important, “period”. If this does not send a wakeup call then I don’t know what will. Yet, techno scientific bureaucrats and our economist gods of modern society are preaching more of the same. The problems are not getting solved but made worse. At what point will the system break down under this stress. I feel soon. Is there any hope or solutions. I would say it is possible but not without doing less with less, not without a decline in population by a factor of 10, not without an awakening of spirit. The awakening of spirit is necessary. It must be seen that there will have to be acceptance of a higher power involved here. We can’t inject religion here because that is too contentious. We must interject nature and we are part of a natural ecosystem. These ecosystems have been shown to cycle throughout natural history and human history. We must accept we are part of this and as such nature is the highest power in this regard. Again, in this scientific argument religion has to be kept out of it. If we accept nature is the higher power, our human ecosystem is set to break to a lower level, our top in that ecosystem is paralyzed, but our bottom offer hope maybe we will chose all of the simple, small, and possible ideas at the grass roots. It is possible if nothing else the top will throw up their hands and at least not smash these grass root initiatives with “NSA” type paranoia. There are no easy solutions to a predicament at this level. There is only a difficult painful adjustment with the possibility of complete failure. There is “hope” though, there is heroics of the spirit, and there is all the usual higher elements of the human spirit. Our lives will be on the decent down the slope complexity and stability. We can live better or worse in within this situation. We have choices. We ultimately are finite just like the world we live in. None of us will get out of this alive. It is how we live here that matters
J-Gav on Thu, 20th Feb 2014 12:36 pm
Droughts and floods; more droughts and floods; vicious cold snaps and unseasonably warm winter temps playing havoc with orchards etc… Barring an exceptional location, these not easy times for farmers to bask in long-term confidence that they can keep making things work. And if they can’t, it’ll be hell to pay for all of us.
eugene on Thu, 20th Feb 2014 2:02 pm
The people I meet are oblivious to anything and many barely able to read. As far as hope and spirit, those are words that apply to the already comfortable. For many millions of Americans, hope/spirit have long since disappeared in the daily struggle to survive. We’re all on a Titanic called Earth but the prospects for the future are the same. Oh, the media will rattle on about this or that planet/human saving gadget but that’s all it will be. It’s what the media does best, rattle on. There isn’t a replacement gadget for the concentrated energy of oil or the water that isn’t there.
Davy, Hermann, MO on Thu, 20th Feb 2014 2:57 pm
@Eugene For many millions of Americans, hope/spirit have long since disappeared in the daily struggle to survive
Agreed, BUT, even the suffering need hope. Life has a way of turning. The bigger they are the farther and harder they fall. These suffering of the world have some advantage and that is conditioning. I agree the well-to-do may have golden parachutes but some of those parachutes are getting moldy and insect eaten. If your golden parachute is based on BAU and only BAU I imagine when BAU starts to fail so will the plans and preparations of the rich
Northwest Resident on Thu, 20th Feb 2014 3:20 pm
Davy — The only long term advantage of being rich these days, from my point of view, is that it enables the rich person to more adequately prepare for the coming collapse. Financial collapse is imminent and when that happens, those multi-billion digital bank accounts will be worthless. But for now, all that money can buy a lot of preparation. The wealthy people who are preparing have a distinct advantage over the “budget preppers”. The wealthy people who are not preparing will lose everything.
Have any of you ever thought of what different preparations you would make if you had just a tiny lump of extra cash laying around — say, $1 million. Wouldn’t that be COOL! But in reality, there is no amount of money that can buy a guarantee of survival — not with the wild cards of climate change and social unrest factored in.
Davy, Hermann, MO on Thu, 20th Feb 2014 3:33 pm
@N/R – the problem with many rich they are completely bought into the BAU system. You know like the captain of the titanic.
I agree on a lump of cash for prepping but sometimes too much cash can lead to the lottery syndrome of bad decisions. Barely enough seems to focus the mind and allow for (as we say here) “southern ingenuity”
Northwest Resident on Thu, 20th Feb 2014 3:52 pm
Davy, that is true about many of the rich. Did you read that article where the wealthy financial people were having one of their secret society club meetings here recently and a reporter managed to infiltrate their gathering — where they sang stupid songs, dressed in drag and made fun of poor people. Very pathetic. They will all be leaping from tall buildings in the near future, that’s my guess, and not in Superman style.
Come on Davy, admit it. If you had $1 million, you would build an impenetrable underground fortress with a secret entrance somewhere on your farm, complete with propane-powered electricity, radiation filters and enough of that expensive freeze-dried food to last you and your close ones a few years or more. If you never ended up needing it — great! It would still make a great place to throw a party.
Kenz300 on Thu, 20th Feb 2014 4:14 pm
Every year the world adds 80 million more people to feed, provide WATER for and to house………
Resources are limited……. it seems that population growth is not.
chilyb on Thu, 20th Feb 2014 4:42 pm
As far as all this prepping talk goes, I’m becoming less sure that I would even want to survive if everything suddenly fell apart, a la mad max. What’s the point? Our planet will turn into a radioactive wasteland for the next several thousand years. We can’t let that happen, even if we can’t mitigate AGW or the economic effects of peak oil at this point.
ghung on Thu, 20th Feb 2014 4:59 pm
@chilyb – At least preppers may stand a better chance of checking out on their own terms.
“Our planet will turn into a radioactive wasteland for the next several thousand years. We can’t let that happen…”
Seems the first step to not letting that happen is to not be contributing to the mess in the first place. How many folks feel as you do, then go home and write a check for dirty, nasty grid power? Just askin’, since one of my first prepper steps was to disconnect from the very systems I was concerned about and objecting to. Whether or not I survive is irrelevant. Contributing to my own demise (and everyone else’s) seemed counter-productive when I started this process; still does.
chilyb on Thu, 20th Feb 2014 5:18 pm
Hi ghung,
I understand your point, but the mess currently exists and we are all going to have to deal with it one way or the other. On a personal note, I might have made different choices if I was as acutely aware of these issues several years ago. But in any case, I don’t see that it’s possible for everyone to move off the grid.
Northwest Resident on Thu, 20th Feb 2014 5:33 pm
“I don’t see that it’s possible for everyone to move off the grid.”
chilyb, I would rephrase that to “It is almost impossible for all but a very few to move off the grid.”
And I would add, especially if you have kids and a wife who won’t go along with it.
ghung — You’re a shining light for us all and a pioneer in paving the way for where many will follow (I think) in the near future. But saying “fuck it” to society, cutting the ties that bind and moving into a remote location completely off grid is a huge and for all practical purposes an impossible task for most people.
Davy, Hermann, MO on Thu, 20th Feb 2014 8:06 pm
@ghung
At least preppers may stand a better chance of checking out on their own terms.
Good one Ghung! Having a degree of control in the end is important. We can see this with all the interest in the assisted suicide phenomenon today. There is no guarantee this thing is going to blow completely and quickly. This very likely will be a long drawn out affair in some places. Other places are going to be apocalyptic by comparison early on. If you have not prepped then you will throw your lot in with the GP that will rely on FEMA or equivalent say the army, if they are even present. We know there are no guarantees. Life is a roll of the dice.
My idea behind prepping is a bridge to a landing zone of stability. This is a short and long term effort. Any prepping long term is frankly expensive and risky. It is expensive because you are stocking up on lots of everything needed for survival. It is risky because long term predictions are generally off the mark. You may make a huge investment in a faulty plan. Short term you can make this investment for two months’ worth of survival. If stability does not return in two months or so it may not return. The short term prep gives you time to leverage your efforts. If you have some food you can worry about other needs. If you have next to nothing your needs are overwhelming. With that said I do recommend long term lifestyle changes that occur within the status quo. You can do the usual gardening, bicycles, smaller home, lower energy consumptions, healthy lifestyles, libraries, hand tools, animal husbandry, food skills, gun training, and many other et all. Put yourself in training for a 19century lifestyle. Most here know the drill. I like the short term/long term approach because it focuses the mind and resources differently. The short term effort will be pricy but since it is short term it will not break the bank. The long term is lifestyle changes. The problem now at this point is “HOW” much time do we have? Do we even have time to prep much if at all. If you have not started anything you may be out of luck for a solid prep plan. Anytime is a good time to start. The most important prep is attitude!
Northwest Resident on Thu, 20th Feb 2014 9:13 pm
Davy — Great thoughts on short and long term survival plans!
My short term plan is a one year plan. I have enough food and butane and wood stored up to last my, my wife and son for a year — with the occasional foraged food as a bonus. Enough ammo and guns and a killer bow that would enable me to “go Rambo” and take on an entire army of lumbering, slobbering zombies, with plenty left over for the next batch.
My long term plan is grow, raise and forage enough vegetables, grains and small animals to feed us very well for basically ever. To do this right, I am going to have to raise winter crops (root crops mostly), I’m going to have to complete my root cellar and become proficient at how to store different foods in there, I’m going to have to learn how to dry and/or smoke different foods for long term storage, and I’m going to no doubt need to make contact with other people who have survived the initial collapse period and trade with them. To accomplish all this takes a LOT of education — learning how to do things that our forefathers learned from day one and then passed on to their children. But it is all doable — the knowledge is there and available. Just gotta survive the thick zombie hoards…
GregT on Thu, 20th Feb 2014 9:46 pm
Some very good posts here guys. Especially from Davy.
ghung on Thu, 20th Feb 2014 10:07 pm
NR, Davy,et al – I may have given the impression that we live a sequestered life in a very remote place and have broken ties with society. Far from it. We are less than 10 miles from a small but vibrant little town, and only 2 hours from Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Asheville. There are still some reasonably good jobs here, and we are involved in the community. Lots of small farmsteads around. I certainly don’t spend all of my time prepping, but have formed prepping habits: Avoiding financial traps and encumbrances, especially buying and doing things we don’t need to. We could walk away from here tomorrow and not owe anyone anything except property taxes. I also enjoy the options of having one foot in BAU society or being able to withdraw if need be.
Leanan, over at TOD, always said that changing your lifestyle to fit your view of how things are playing out, prepping and all that, is great, but not if you hate it. I’ve always gotten a kick out of being more self-sufficient; more of a hobby, so it’s a good fit. Those who are happy and fulfilled in their current lifestyle should continue living it but shouldn’t bitch when TSHTF. We certainly don’t want a bunch of miserable prepper wannabes around… and while I’m glad that our current lifestyle contributes a bit less to the overall mess we humans are making of our planet, I haven’t deluded myself into thinking it’ll make any difference at all. Like I’ve said, I just want to watch the game play out from the cheap seats. It’s as much of a retirement plan as anything, not getting stuck in some retirement home playing shuffle board and bridge.
Just hope some of your neighborhoods don’t end up like this Kunstlerization of xburbia:
h ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eJIQbCQTRU
Explanation from the NYT:
h ttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/us/08lehigh.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Northwest Resident on Thu, 20th Feb 2014 11:01 pm
ghung — I am glad to learn that you have one foot remaining the BAU world. There are two major realities living side by side these days, and one of them is BAU — might as well be a part of it. I definitely am thick into the BAU part — senior software developer for a company that creates and sells software to investment reps all over the world. My one great comfort is, as long as people are investing, I’ve still got a great job. And when they stop investing, then that’s the end of the world as we know it anyway, so what the heck. The people I pity are those stuck in the middle — the carpenters, the insurance agents who are slowly losing all their customers, the “middle tier” workers I guess.
Prepping feels like getting ready for a maxed out camping trip to me. Getting ready to go on a big camping trip was always exciting and rewarding for me — all part of the good feeling I get when I know I am totally prepared. Prepping, same thing.
I guess what I’m say is, the end of the world as we know it, total Armageddon, mass die-off, deprivation, near-certain death and vulnerability to a vast array of unknown sinister forces doesn’t have to be all bad — it can be fun if you just have the right attitude! 🙂
Northwest Resident on Thu, 20th Feb 2014 11:08 pm
And ghung, I imagine that it won’t be long — couple/few years probably — before almost all of suburbia looks more or less like Lehigh Acres. And THAT IS spooky to contemplate.
ghung on Thu, 20th Feb 2014 11:45 pm
NR – Being in the NW, perhaps you’ve hooked up with George Mobus at his “Question Everything” blog. He teaches CS at UW Tacoma, and has a pretty good take on things. I enjoyed his version of the State of the Union (World) in response to Obama’s dribble:
h ttp://questioneverything.typepad.com/question_everything/2014/01/the-real-state-of-the-union-and-world.html
He has some qualifications worth considering:
” …I teach computer science to undergraduate and graduate students as my day job. But my background is quite a bit broader. I have a PhD in CS, an MBA in Decision Science, and a baccalaureate in Zoology (with substantial coursework in math, chemistry, and oceanography) from the Seattle campus of UW.”
He used to post over at TOD on occasion. Great stuff. Nothing more fun than doomers with credentials.
Davy, Hermann, MO on Fri, 21st Feb 2014 12:49 am
@ghung
Leanan, over at TOD, always said that changing your lifestyle to fit your view of how things are playing out, prepping and all that, is great, but not if you hate it. I’ve always gotten a kick out of being more self-sufficient; more of a hobby, so it’s a good fit. Those who are happy and fulfilled in their current lifestyle should continue living it but shouldn’t bitch when TSHTF. We certainly don’t want a bunch of miserable prepper wannabes around… and while I’m glad that our current lifestyle contributes a bit less to the overall mess we humans are making of our planet, I haven’t deluded myself into thinking it’ll make any difference at all. Like I’ve said, I just want to watch the game play out from the cheap seats. It’s as much of a retirement plan as anything, not getting stuck in some retirement home playing shuffle board and bridge.
Great words that I also live by. I find enjoyment in prepping. It is a hobby. I have a foot in Bau and one out. I practice relative sacrifice hoping to do a bit less damage to mother nature. I am still shititng in her nest like the rest of us. I am not deluded about my preparations. It could go up in smoke quickly. Since it is fun I will enjoy seeing what burns up and what doesn’t i.e. smart and stupid prep work. 2008 was a wake up. I saw that one coming but wasted some money when it bounced out of the abyss in bad prep planning. It actually was too drastic then didn’t pay off. I learned from it though. I am having fun with this so “damn the torpedos” I am fascinated to see what is going to shake out of this mess. I will watch it like a scientist. I am also not deluded about the pain ahead. Maybe since I have been in this mode for 10 years I am a bit thick skin about it at one level. I don’t think you ever get too thick of skin. If you do you may be mentally ill or worse. Our human nature is sensitive as well as tough so bragging about thick skin is missing a point. I hope those new to this realization of and endgame follow the path of fun along with the anxiety. I most worry about my kids. I had kids early and late in life. I now see two young boys running around full of life and happy. That is the hardest part for me!
Stilgar Wilcox on Fri, 21st Feb 2014 3:06 am
“I’m going to no doubt need to make contact with other people who have survived the initial collapse period and trade with them.”
How will you know who to trust? It seems like a post peak collapse period will be extremely dangerous. I can see going to trade with someone only to realize too late it’s a trap. Then be forced at gunpoint to take them to my hideout and lose the whole cache, including whatever else is valuable like a hunting bow/arrows. Then they will probably nix our family to reduce competition for scant resources.
In this oil age we are able to be very trusting, i.e. go to markets with hundreds or thousands of other people and feel fairly safe. But once it’s a post peak oil era trust will be very hard earned. Fear of other people will be rampant. Remember the Twilight Zone episode with Elizabeth Montgomery and Charles Bronson. It took a lot to gain trust.
Northwest Resident on Fri, 21st Feb 2014 3:48 am
Stilgar — Good point, and I have thought about that exact same scenario. If it turns out that law and order completely breaks down and it turns into a dog-eat-dog world, then I’m going to lay low for a long, long time — at least six months or so, enough time so that people who haven’t prepared for long-term will have dropped off the grid. After that amount of time, the only people left will probably be people who are self-sufficient. And even then, it will be a case of approach with extreme caution, listen to the intuitive voice inside, maybe do some sneaky recon before approaching and get a feel for the person(s) and situation before walking up to introduce myself. I really hope it doesn’t get that bad, but it might.
ghung on Fri, 21st Feb 2014 4:15 am
Get in touch with your inner sociopath.
GregT on Fri, 21st Feb 2014 5:47 am
Carry a bigger gun, and have lots of backup.
GregT on Fri, 21st Feb 2014 5:56 am
Oh ya, I almost forgot, will a little bit of forethought, the home team definitely has the advantage.
Northwest Resident on Fri, 21st Feb 2014 6:36 am
Radiate bad-assness. Keep your finger on the trigger. Twitch every now and then to let them know you’re unbalanced. Chances are, they’ll look for an easier target. Carry a bag of tasty food and let ’em get a whiff, that way they’ll know you mean business.