Nancy Scheper-Hughes Responds to Our Profile, ‘The Organ Detective’ (Pacific Standard)

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BY NANCY SCHEPER-HUGHES • July 15, 2014 • 7:32 PM

The chair of the doctoral program in medical anthropology at the University of California-Berkeley was written about in the July/August issue of Pacific Standard.

In his profile of me (“The Organ Detective,” July/August), Ethan Wattersquotes sources indicating that I have a deep animus toward the medical establishment. I have always worked closely with surgeons, pathologists, psychiatrists, pediatricians, and transplant professionals. I have co-authored numerous articles with physicians and transplant surgeons. In 2007, I was offered a McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair and Professorship at the University of Minnesota, with a primary appointment in the Department of Surgery. I declined, regretfully, but I believe the offer reflected that school’s faith in my ability to play a positive role in the training of medical students (including surgeons) in medical anthropological concepts and methods bearing on ethical clinical practice.

In different ways, and from very different political, moral, and professional positions, together we were able to bring the sad story into international public discourse.

Watters also writes about the scandal surrounding the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, the sole facility in Israel that conducts official autopsies. But he leaves out crucial details. For more than two decades, the Israeli government denied accusations that pathologists at Abu Kabir were secretly harvesting organs, bone, skin, and other tissues from the bodies of “enemy” combatants as well as Israeli citizens. Israeli officials dismissed these charges as “blood libel” against the state. In the early 1990s, a Swedish journalist named Donald Bostrom and I, independently of each other, began investigating allegations of human rights abuses at the institute, Bostrom in the West Bank and me in Israel. Neither Bostrom nor I knew that an internal whistle-blower, Chen Kugel, a young Israeli forensic pathologist and military officer at Abu Kabir, was working behind the scenes to stop the plunder of dead bodies at the institute. As Kugel observed, hearts, glands, heads, and even skin grafts of tattoos were being stockpiled and sold for poorly specified “science,” or kept in a kind of curiosity museum.

In 2009, after Bostrom sparked an international controversy with an article in the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, I released an audio interview with Yehuda Hiss, the longtime director of Abu Kabir, in which he acknowledged the illicit harvesting. This resulted in an unlikely and uneasy collaboration among Kugel, Bostrom, and me. In different ways, and from very different political, moral, and professional positions, together we were able to bring the sad story into international public discourse. In the end, the Israeli government admitted to the crimes committed against Jewish as well as Muslim, Christian, and immigrant dead bodies. Yehuda Hiss was removed, and the heroic whistle-blower, Dr. Kugel, was appointed Hiss’ successor. As a result, all dead bodies at Abu Kabir are safe and protected.

My discipline’s reticence toward actively engaged scholarship has sometimes turned anthropologists into bystanders when crimes against humanity are taking place.

visceraRELATED STORY

The Organ Detective: A Career Spent Uncovering a Hidden Global Market in Human Flesh

NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 / Aura satellite

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NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2: Data to lead scientists forward into the past

Date: July 20, 2014

Source: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Summary: NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, which launched on July 2, will soon be providing about 100,000 high-quality measurements each day of carbon dioxide concentrations from around the globe. Atmospheric scientists are excited about that. But to understand the processes that control the amount of the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, they need to know more than just where carbon dioxide is now. They need to know where it has been. It takes more than great data to figure that out.

Scientists will use measurements from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 to track atmospheric carbon dioxide to sources such as these wildfires in Siberia, whose smoke plumes quickly carry the greenhouse gas worldwide. The fires were imaged on May 18 by NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer instrument on the Terra satellite. Credit: NASA/LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response 

NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, which launched on July 2, will soon be providing about 100,000 high-quality measurements each day of carbon dioxide concentrations from around the globe. Atmospheric scientists are excited about that. But to understand the processes that control the amount of the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, they need to know more than just where carbon dioxide is now. They need to know where it has been. It takes more than great data to figure that out.

“In a sense, you’re trying to go backward in time and space,” said David Baker, a scientist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. “You’re reversing the flow of the winds to determine when and where the input of carbon at the Earth’s surface had to be to give you the measurements you see now.”

Harry Potter used a magical time turner to travel to the past. Atmospheric scientists use a type of computer model called a chemical transport model. It combines the atmospheric processes found in a climate model with additional information on important chemical compounds, including their reactions, their sources on Earth’s surface and the processes that remove them from the air, known as sinks.

Baker used the example of a forest fire to explain how a chemical transport model works. “Where the fire is, at that point in time, you get a pulse of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from the burning carbon in wood. The model’s winds blow it along, and mixing processes dilute it through the atmosphere. It gradually gets mixed into a wider and wider plume that eventually gets blown around the world.”

Some models can be run backward in time — from a point in the plume back to the fire, in other words — to search for the sources of airborne carbon dioxide. The reactions and processes that must be modeled are so complex that researchers often cycle their chemical transport models backward and forward through the same time period dozens of times, adjusting the model as each set of results reveals new clues. “You basically start crawling toward a solution,” Baker said. “You may not be crawling straight toward the best answer, but you course-correct along the way.”

Lesley Ott, a climate modeler at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, noted that simulating carbon dioxide’s atmospheric transport correctly is a prerequisite for improving the way global climate models simulate the carbon cycle and how it will change with our changing climate. “If you get the transport piece right, then you can understand the piece about sources and sinks,” she said. “More and better-quality data from OCO-2 are going to create better characterization of global carbon.”

Baker noted that the volume of data provided by OCO-2 will improve knowledge of carbon processes on a finer scale than is currently possible. “With all that coverage, we’ll be able to resolve what’s going on at the regional scale,” Baker said, referring to areas the size of Texas or France. “That will help us understand better how the forests and oceans take up carbon. There are various competing processes, and right now we’re not sure which ones are most important.”

Ott pointed out that improving the way global climate models represent carbon dioxide provides benefits far beyond the scientific research community. “Trying to figure out what national and international responses to climate change should be is really hard,” she said. “Politicians need answers quickly. Right now we have to trust a very small number of carbon dioxide observations. We’re going to have a lot better coverage because so much more data is coming, and we may be able to see in better detail features of the carbon cycle that were missed before.” Taking those OCO-2 data backward in time may be the next step forward on the road to understanding and adapting to climate change.

To learn more about the OCO-2 mission, visit these websites:

NASA monitors Earth’s vital signs from land, air and space with a fleet of satellites and ambitious airborne and ground-based observation campaigns. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth’s interconnected natural systems with long-term data records and computer analysis tools to better see how our planet is changing. The agency shares this unique knowledge with the global community and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet.

For more information about NASA’s Earth science activities in 2014, visit:http://www.nasa.gov/earthrightnow

OCO-2 is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.

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A 10-year endeavor: NASA’s Aura and climate change

Date: July 18, 2014

Source: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Summary: Celebrating its 10th anniversary this week, NASA’s Aura satellite and its four onboard instruments measure some of the climate agents in the atmosphere, including greenhouse gases, clouds and dust particles. These global datasets provide clues that help scientists understand how Earth’s climate has varied and how it will continue to change.

NASA’s 10-year-old Aura satellite, which studies Earth’s atmosphere, continues to help scientists understand Earth’s changing climate. Credit: NASA

Nitrogen and oxygen make up nearly 99 percent of Earth’s atmosphere. The remaining one percent comprises gases that — although present in small concentrations — can have a big impact on life on Earth. Trace gases called greenhouse gases warm the surface, making it habitable for humans, plants and animals. But these greenhouse gases, as well as clouds and tiny particles called aerosols in the atmosphere, also play vital roles in Earth’s complex climate system.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this week, NASA’s Aura satellite and its four onboard instruments measure some of the climate agents in the atmosphere, including greenhouse gases, clouds and dust particles. These global datasets provide clues that help scientists understand how Earth’s climate has varied and how it will continue to change.

Measuring Greenhouse Gases

When the sun shines on Earth, some of the light reaches and warms the surface. The surface then radiates this heat back outward, and greenhouse gases stop some of the heat from escaping to space, keeping the surface warm. Greenhouse gases are necessary to keep Earth at a habitable temperature, but since the Industrial Revolution, greenhouse gases have increased substantially, causing an increase in temperature. Aura provides measurements of greenhouse gases such as ozone and water vapor, helping scientists understand the gases that influence climate.

People, plants and animals live in the lowest layer of the atmosphere, called the troposphere. In this layer, the temperature decreases with altitude, as mountain climbers experience. The temperature starts to increase again at the tropopause, about 8 miles (12.9 kilometers) above the surface at temperate latitudes, like those of the United States and Europe. Closer to the equator, the tropopause is about 11 miles (17.7 kilometers) from the surface.

In the middle and upper troposphere, ozone acts as a greenhouse gas, trapping heat in Earth’s atmosphere. Tropospheric ozone is one of the most important human-influenced greenhouse gases.

Aura’s Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) instrument, built and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, delivers global maps showing annual averages of the heat absorbed by ozone, in particular in the mid troposphere. Using these maps and computer models, researchers learned that ozone trapped different amounts of heat in Earth’s atmosphere depending on its geographic location. For instance, ozone appeared to be a more effective greenhouse gas over hotter regions like the tropics and cloud-free regions like the Middle East.

“If you want to understand climate change, you need to monitor the greenhouse gases and how they change over time,” said Bryan Duncan, an atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Along with ozone, Aura measures other important greenhouse gases such as methane, carbon dioxide and water vapor.

Improving Climate Models

In addition to greenhouse gases, Aura measures several other constituents relevant to climate — smoke, dust and clouds including the ice particles within the clouds — that are important for testing and improving climate models.

“If you don’t have any data, then you don’t know if the models are right or not,” said Anne Douglass, Aura project scientist at Goddard. “The models can only be as good as your knowledge.”

The way clouds affect Earth’s climate depends on their altitude and latitude. Two of Aura’s instruments have provided information about tropical clouds. Like greenhouse gases, high, thin clouds in the tropics absorb some of Earth’s outgoing heat and warm the surface. Aura’s High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder (HIRDLS) instrument provided global maps showing cirrus clouds in the upper altitudes in the tropics. Researchers have used these data along with data records from previous satellites going back to 1985 to show that the tropical cirrus cloud distribution has been steady, giving scientists information about the interplay among water vapor, ice and the life cycle of these clouds.

Aura’s Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) instrument, also built and managed by JPL, made the first global measurements of cloud ice content in the upper troposphere, providing new data input for climate models. MLS showed cloud ice is often present over warm oceans. Along with satellite rainfall data, MLS shows that dirty, polluted clouds rain less than clean clouds. The novel relationships obtained from HIRDLS and MLS connect ocean temperatures with clouds and ice and quantify effects of pollution on tropical rainfall — which are important assessments for climate models.

Aerosols influence climate, but their influence is challenging to decipher because they play several different roles. Aerosols reflect radiation from the sun back into space; this tends to cool Earth’s surface. Aerosols such as dust and smoke also absorb radiation and heat the atmosphere where they are concentrated. Aura’s Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) is especially good at observing these absorbing aerosols above clouds and bright deserts. Both OMI and TES also provide data on gases, such as sulfur dioxide and ammonia, which are primary ingredients for other types of less-absorbing aerosols. Aura data, in conjunction with other satellite data, are helping scientists understand how aerosols interact with incoming sunlight in Earth’s atmosphere; this, in turn, helps scientists improve long-term predictions in climate models.

Learning from Long Data Sets

Researchers investigated how natural phenomena such as El Niño affect tropospheric ozone concentrations — a study made possible by Aura’s extensive data set.

El Niño is an irregularly occurring phenomenon associated with warm ocean currents near the Pacific coast of South America that changes the pattern of tropical rainfall. The occasional appearance of areas of warmer temperatures in the Pacific Ocean shifts the stormiest area from the west to the east; the region of upward motion — a hallmark of low ozone concentrations over the ocean — moves along with it.

Without a decade-long data record, researchers would not be able to conduct such a study. Using the extensive data set, researchers are able to separate the response of ozone concentrations to the changes in human activity, such as biomass burning, from its response to natural forcing such as El Niño.

“Studies like these that investigate how the composition of the troposphere responds to a natural variation are important for understanding how the Earth system will respond to other forcing, potentially including changes in climate,” said Douglass. “The Earth system is complex, and Aura’s breadth and the length of the composition data record help us to understand this important part of the system.”

For more information on Aura, visit: http://aura.gsfc.nasa.gov/

For more on TES, visit: http://tes.jpl.nasa.gov/

For more on MLS, visit: http://mls.jpl.nasa.gov/index-eos-mls.php

NASA monitors Earth’s vital signs from land, air and space with a fleet of satellites and ambitious airborne and ground-based observation campaigns. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth’s interconnected natural systems with long-term data records and computer analysis tools to better see how our planet is changing. The agency shares this unique knowledge with the global community and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet.

For more information about NASA’s Earth science activities in 2014, visit:http://www.nasa.gov/earthrightnow

*   *   *

Ten-year endeavor: NASA’s Aura tracks pollutants

Date: July 18, 2014

Source: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Summary: NASA’s Aura satellite, celebrating its 10th anniversary on July 15, has provided vital data about the cause, concentrations and impact of major air pollutants. With instruments providing key measurements of various gases — including two built and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory: the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) and Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) — Aura gives a comprehensive view of one of the most important parts of Earth — the atmosphere.

The maps show the Antarctic ozone hole on September 16 in 2006 and 2011, the two years with the lowest ozone concentrations ever measured. They were made with data from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument on Aura. Credit: NASA’s Earth Observatory

NASA’s Aura satellite, celebrating its 10th anniversary on July 15, has provided vital data about the cause, concentrations and impact of major air pollutants. With instruments providing key measurements of various gases — including two built and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory: the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) and Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) — Aura gives a comprehensive view of one of the most important parts of Earth — the atmosphere.

Aura has improved our understanding of ozone, a versatile gas that both benefits and harms the atmosphere, depending on its location. Near the ground, ozone is a pollutant that damages plants and can decrease lung function in humans. Somewhat higher in the atmosphere, ozone affects climate as a greenhouse gas. Aura’s TES instrument provides measurements of ozone and other greenhouse gases.

The majority of ozone, about 90 percent, is even higher — in the stratosphere, 12 to 90 miles above the surface — where it shields us from the sun’s ultraviolet light and makes life possible on Earth. Over the Antarctic, cold temperatures and human-produced chlorine gases destroy ozone each spring. Scientists use Aura’s Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) instrument to measure ozone and other trace gases in and around the ozone hole every year. In 2006 and 2011, Aura’s instruments revealed two of the largest and deepest ozone holes in the past decade, and also helped scientists understand the different causes of the two large holes.

Shortly after Aura’s launch, the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) began monitoring levels of another major pollutant — nitrogen dioxide. This brownish gas can lead to respiratory problems and is an ingredient in ground-level ozone pollution. OMI data show that nitrogen dioxide levels in the United States decreased 4 percent per year from 2005 to 2010, a time when stricter policies on power plant and vehicle emissions came into effect. As a result, concentrations of ground-level ozone also decreased. During the same period, global nitrogen dioxide levels increased a little over half a percent per year. China’s level increased about 6 percent per year.

OMI also measures sulfur dioxide, a gas that combines with other chemicals in clouds to produce acid rain or reacts to form sulfate aerosols, which affect health and climate. OMI has identified large concentrations of sulfur dioxide around power plants and volcanoes.

Aura’s decade of work has set the stage for future air quality monitoring instruments. The European Space Agency will be launching the follow-up TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument, which will continue Aura’s OMI measurements with better ground resolution and precision. NASA plans to launch the Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument, which will observe ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, formaldehyde and aerosols over the United States, Canada and Mexico.

“Pollution is a global issue because it can travel long distances in the wind,” said Anne Douglass, Aura project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “By using satellites, we can develop a valuable global inventory of pollutants and understand how air quality may be changing.”

For more on Aura’s 10-year contribution to atmospheric chemistry research, visit:

For more on TES, visit: http://tes.jpl.nasa.gov/

For more on MLS, visit: http://mls.jpl.nasa.gov/index-eos-mls.php

NASA monitors Earth’s vital signs from land, air and space with a fleet of satellites and ambitious airborne and ground-based observation campaigns. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth’s interconnected natural systems with long-term data records and computer analysis tools to better see how our planet is changing. The agency shares this unique knowledge with the global community and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet.

For more information about NASA’s Earth science activities in 2014, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/earthrightnow

 

Transcrição da entrevista de José Mujica à Folha e ao UOL (FSP)

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19/07/2014 06h00

Leia a transcrição da entrevista de José Mujica à Folha e ao UOL

José Mujica, presidente do Uruguai, participou do Poder e Política ), programa da Folha e do “UOL” conduzido pelo jornalista Fernando Rodrigues. A gravação ocorreu em 17.jul.2014 na Embaixada do Uruguai em Brasília.

VIDEOS: http://www3.uol.com.br/module/playlist-videos/2014/jose-mujica-no-poder-e-politica-1405731431138.js

José Mujica – 17.jul.2014

Narração de abertura [EM OFF]: José Alberto Mujica Cordano tem 79 anos. Nasceu em Montevidéu, no Uruguai.

Pepe Mujica, como é conhecido, iniciou sua militância política ainda jovem, no grupo armado Tupamaro, que pretendia chegar ao poder inspirado pela revolução cubana.

Foi preso diversas vezes na década de 70 pela ditadura uruguaia. Permaneceu encarcerado por 14 anos. Nesse período, passou 2 anos em uma solitária no fundo de um poço.

Em 1985, Pepe Mujica foi anistiado e ganhou a liberdade. Alguns anos depois, ajudou a fundar um partido de esquerda, o Movimento de Participação Popular.

Mujica elegeu-se deputado em 1994. Cinco anos depois, foi eleito senador.

Em 2005, o então presidente do Uruguai Tabaré Vázquez o nomeou ministro da Pecuária, Agricultura e Pesca. Ganhou a simpatia da população com sua capacidade de diálogo e modo franco de expressar opiniões

Pepe Mujica deixou o ministério em 2008. No ano seguinte, elegeu-se presidente do Uruguai, cargo que exerce até hoje.

Folha/UOL: Olá. Bem-vindo a mais um Poder e Política Entrevista. Este programa é uma realização do jornal Folha de São Paulo e do Portal UOL. A gravação desta edição do Poder e Política está sendo realizada, excepcionalmente, na Embaixada do Uruguai em Brasília, porque o entrevistado desta edição do Poder e Política é o presidente do Uruguai, José Mujica.

Folha/UOL: Olá, presidente. Como vai?
José Mujica: É um prazer cumprimentá-lo.

Muito obrigado. É um privilégio tê-lo aqui no Poder e Política. Como o senhor define a relação hoje entre o Brasil e o Uruguai?
Eu acho que é uma relação cordial, de muito reconhecimento, apesar da diferença notória de recursos, de tamanho. Mas o Brasil, com muita inteligência, olha para o Sul como parte componente de seu espaço geopolítico natural.

Às vezes, no Cone Sul, na América Latina, nota-se um sentimento sobre o Brasil ser um país com interesses imperialistas nessa região. Às vezes Algumas pessoas dizem isso. O senhor acha que existe esse sentimento?
Sim, algo assim pode acontecer. Eu acredito que é resultado dos inevitáveis flertes nacionalistas que existem por todas as partes. A atitude imperial do Brasil pode ter sido consequência de sua história, é um país que teve um imperador que declarou a independência, que herdou a tradição da Casa de Bragança. E teve um Estado constituído muito cedo, de forma um pouco europeia. Que teve uma longa discussão de fronteiras, muito inteligente para os interesses do Brasil. Certamente, formou uma visão cultural desse tipo. Mas o Brasil de hoje encontra-se imerso em uma época diferente. Todos chegamos atrasados, o mundo está desenvolvido. Ou, pelo menos, uma parte importante dele. E o mais inteligente do Brasil é que percebe que, embora seja grande, precisa de um todo para acompanhá-lo na tentativa de fazer algo na negociação mundial. E, aqueles que não somos o Brasil, estamos conscientes de que precisamos do Brasil para cumprir esse papel. Mas o problema está dentro do Brasil. Por quê? Porque há uma corrente de pensamento válida que diz que “o Brasil é muito grande e ainda temos de integrarmo-nos como país.” E talvez tenham razão, mas já é tarde.

*Com relação ao Uruguai, o Uruguai hoje está satisfeito com a relação geral que tem com o Brasil, sobretudo no aspecto econômico? *
Sim, sempre encontramos vontade política para superar as dificuldades em um país grande, com organização federal, onde às vezes surgem curtos-circuitos com os Estados e o governo central. Sempre com paciência, tenta diminuir o nível das contradições. Por exemplo, quando há a colheita do arroz no Uruguai, os caminhões começam a passar. Há uma parte do Rio Grande do Sul que não gosta. Naturalmente, eles querem vender o arroz em primeiro lugar, e eles estão certos. Pois bem, depois, sempre se consegue resolver.

Em que medida o Mercosul tem ajudado a melhorar essas relações todas?
O Mercosul não anda muito bem.

Por quê?
Porque existem diferentes visões. Às vezes há uma espécie de protecionismo para dentro em alguns países. E a tentativa de criar um espaço comum enfrenta dificuldade. Os organismos de arbitragem, de decisão, a institucionalidade real do Mercosul não funciona. Funcionam as chancelarias presidenciais. Como é o nosso caso com o Brasil. Resolvemos tudo tentando….

… diretamente com o Brasil.
Sim. Há visões que são diferentes. A Argentina tem outra visão. Tem o seu problema.

Como resolver esse impasse no Mercosul para melhorá-lo institucionalmente? Ou não é possível?
Vai ter que ser possível, porque tudo tem um limite e estamos, por exemplo, tentando negociar um acordo com a Europa. Todos precisamos disso. Por quê? Porque a presença da China na região está cada vez mais forte. E não podemos fugir disso porque é o principal comprador que temos. Se assim for, é bom ter a outra parte da balança para que nos ajude na compensação porque para ninguém é conveniente depender de um único polo econômico.

A impressão que se tem é que o Mercosul avançou muito pouco desde a sua criação. Os críticos do Mercosul dizem isso. O senhor concorda?
Sim, acho que está estagnado.

Foi uma ideia errada, na sua concepção, o Mercosul, talvez?
Acredito que os interesses empresariais nacionais são muito fortes e não priorizam a busca da integração. Vamos ver se consigo explicar. O que existe de mais forte economicamente é a burguesia paulista. Mas já não estamos na época de colonização. O papel da burguesia paulista deveria ser unir aliados, tentar construir um sistema de empresas transnacionais latino-americanas. Pelo seu tamanho, tem a responsabilidade de conduzir. Mas comete um erro se quiser fagocitar porque, em vez de ganhar aliados, ganha inimigos que se opõem à integração.

Mas, nesse caso, esperar que a burguesia paulista, como o senhor diz, tome a iniciativa de liderar o processo, não seria o caso de esperar que os políticos dos países, sobretudo do Brasil, que é o sócio mais rico do Mercosul, liderasse o processo?
O que acontece é que o mundo atravessa uma crise na política. Não é um problema do Brasil, é um problema global. A política não governa. O processo de globalização anda solto, sem governança. E aqui, as forças da economia e da política estão um pouco divorciadas. É hora de pensar a longo prazo, olhar mais longe. Eu entendo os empresários. Eles têm que se preocupar com todo fim de mês porque, senão… Mas há necessidade de ir construindo coisas complementares. Por exemplo, o Uruguai não precisa ter uma indústria automobilística, pelas suas dimensões. Mas é preciso se especializar em fazer alguma coisa, alguma autopeça que sirva para o mercado brasileiro. E assim, sucessivamente. O mesmo acontece na infraestrutura. Portugal fundou a colônia de Sacramento porque percebeu que o centro-sul do Brasil tinha que sair pelo Paraguai-Paraná. E já percebiam que para retirar carga o mais barato é transportar navegando águas abaixo. O Brasil tem que entender isso e deve ter uma política direcionada. A infraestrutura também tem que acompanhar. E essas coisas têm custo e levam tempo.

Por exemplo, há o Porto de Rocha no Uruguai, que será financiado, em parte, pelo Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Brasileiro. A oposição no Brasil faz críticas. Como o senhor responde a essas críticas?
Que olhem o mapa. E que voltem a olhar o mapa. Devem olhar o mapa, por favor. Não há transporte mais barato que navegar águas abaixo. Esse também tem que ser um porto brasileiro, mas também não se deve ter medo de que os outros portos vão funcionar. O desenvolvimento central do Brasil, da Bolívia, do Paraguai, exige muito mais de logística. Nós, na América, temos a síndrome de armazenador que somente quer estar no bairro onde não há concorrência.

O senhor acha que a presidente Dilma Rousseff pensa dessa forma que o senhor descreve a necessidade de integração?
Por exemplo, nós fizemos um acordo elétrico importante. Que permitirá que o sul do Brasil nos venda energia elétrica ou nós vendermos ao Brasil, dependendo das chuvas, onde esteja mais barato. Esse é o caminho certo. Temos que conectar as ferrovias. Temos que fazer muita coisa em comum. Também com a Argentina. Acredito que há um ponto-chave aqui.

Qual é?
A relação Argentina-Brasil. Eu acho que a Argentina se fecha demais. Se fecha para nós. E o Brasil tem paciência estratégica. Mas tudo tem o seu limite.

Estamos perto do limite? Estamos muito perto já desse limite que o senhor disse?
Eu não sei, mas teremos eleições nos dois lados. E pode ser que surja daí alguma variante. A Argentina é um país fundamental e é uma espécie de parceiro natural. Mas essa velha rivalidade histórica tem que ser transformada em uma aliança estratégica, e isso custa. Custa mais para Argentina do que para o Brasil.

A propósito da Argentina, a presidente Cristina Kirchner tem feito muitas críticas em relação aos credores internacionais da Argentina. O senhor concorda com as críticas que a presidente Kirchner tem feito a seus credores?
Sim, existe uma especulação financeira com uma dívida. Comprar papéis muito baratos em tempos de crise e depois pedir… é um absurdo. Provavelmente, essas coisas deveriam ter sido discutidas melhor há muito tempo.

Mas agora chegou numa situação
Agora…

…crítica.
Agora temos uma situação muito explosiva, muito pública.

Como resolver?
Terá que aguentar uns cinco ou seis meses. Se aguentar cinco ou seis meses, tudo vai se ajustar porque as obrigações legais vencem agora, no tempo devido.

Sim.
É um problema difícil. O que acontece é que somos obrigados a defender a Argentina. Por quê?

Mas houve um erro estratégico…
Porque se a Argentina entra em crise, todos vamos sentir. E, sobretudo, nós. Temos uma história: Quando a Argentinta vai bem, nós também. Quando a Argentina vai mal, nós…

Então, o apoio à posição da Argentina agora é mais estratégico do que propriamente por convicção sobre o que deve ser feito.
Sim, sim, sim.

Entendi…
É uma questão estratégica. Porque, além de precisarmos nos cuidar diante do mundo, a questão financeira não pode sepultar o econômico. O econômico deve estar acima do financeiro. Temos os papeis trocados neste mundo. E isso faz parte das contradições da época que nos tocou viver. Algumas coisas são inexplicáveis: a crise dos Estados Unidos, a crise em partes da Europa. Tudo vem do financeiro. E você tem que aprender. Temos que aprender com a realidade.

Qual foi o resultado prático da reunião da Unasul?
A de ontem?

Sim.
Do ponto de vista prático, o mais importante foi a decisão da criação do banco. É expressão de um certo grau de vontade que uma alternativa sobreviva no tempo. Mas, quando estamos negociando com a Europa, com forte resistência dentro da Europa, quando temos sérias dificuldades de consideração com os Estados Unidos, é bom que a outra parte do mundo se preocupe por nós. Para que fique mais claro. Temos uma melhor cotação internacional. E nós pensamos que não devemos depender 100% de um. Temos que ter a inteligência para estar abertos para o resto de mundo. Isso não significa vender a alma, nem vender a economia. E sim uma maneira inteligente de enfrentar a incerteza.

Agora o banco que foi anunciado pelos BRICs – Brasil, Rússia, Índia, China e África do Sul – tem duas mensagens. A primeira, é geopolítica, política. A outra, econômica-financeira, só terá efeitos no futuro. Agora, para a região aqui na América do Sul, pro Uruguai, pro Brasil, qual o efeito teria além dessa mensagem política? Ou essa, ou esse é o único efeito no momento?
Não, eu acho que é a construção de uma alternativa, de uma variável a mais. Nós não temos que brigar com o Banco Mundial, nem com o Fundo Monetário, mas, quanto mais disponibilidade tenhamos no horizonte, melhor será. Além disso, devemos pensar, estrategicamente, em formas de intercâmbio que nos permitam compensar moedas. Outra forma comercial. Parece-me que é uma necessidade do mundo vindouro. Porque nós estamos vinculados a uma moeda, o dólar, que é como medir com uma cinta métrica de borracha. Ampliam, reduzem e não temos nada a fazer. Devemos pensar em outras coisas, porque é muito contraditório. Mas essa é a realidade que vivemos.

Sobre a Unasul, la Unasur, há uma especulação sobre o senhor, depois que deixar a presidência do Uruguai, no ano que vem, passar a comandar a Unasur. O senhor tem interesse em fazer esse tipo de atividade
Eu pedi muitas vezes ao Lula, que devia ceder.

Ah, sim?
Sim…

E ele?
“Você tem que ceder.” E o Lula, que é muito astuto e inteligente, dizia-me, mais ou menos: “Olhe, Pepe, se eu for, eles vão dizer… o imperialismo brasileiro”. É, talvez. A Unasul é importante como organismo político. Mas devemos ter a inteligência para respeitar as nuances políticas que há na América. Eu, daqui, vou ao Paraguai. Provavelmente, eles têm uma maneira de pensar independente, mas eu tenho um enorme respeito pelo Paraguai. Pela Colômbia! Tenho tentado fazer tudo ao meu alcance para que a Colômbia tenha paz.

Lula fez uma sugestão ao senhor para que fosse pra Unasul depois de deixar a Presidência do Uruguai?
Como?

Lula fez uma sugestão para que o senhor fosse…
Sim, sim, ele fez sim. Lula é um ativista da integração, para unir. Ele faz tudo o que pode.

Mas, o senhor tem interesse em fazer isso no ano que vem?
O Senhor está no céu. Olhe, você sabe o que é envelhecer? É não querer sair de casa. Mas é possível que tente ajudar um pouco, por um tempo. Com muito respeito, mas estou com quase oitenta anos.

Eu ouvi que o senhor tem interesse em fazer um projeto social na sua fazenda no Uruguai, depois de deixar a presidência.
Sim, sim.

Como é esse projeto?
É uma ideia de fazer uma espécie de fazenda-escola, com trabalho de horticultura. E para aproveitar uma série de coisas que tenho. Eu sou um campesino frustrado. Eu amo a terra, eu gosto. E acredito que há muitas coisas para mostrar aos meninos, aos que virão. Tenho uma fazenda que está um pouco abandonada, mas tenho os meios. E, como comecei a consertar o mundo há muitos anos, quando era jovem, não tive filhos. É o que eu tenho e vou deixá-lo para os jovens que virão.

Voltando à geopolítica, esse grupo novo, BRICs, os países não tem muita afinidade entre si…
Nenhuma.

Qual a chance de dar tudo errado?
A afinidade é que eles têm problemas comuns. Trata-se de potências emergentes que estão procurando seu lugar sob o sol. Precisam disso. Essa é a parte que tem em comum. Depois, a China tornou-se a oficina do mundo. E os outros são os fornecedores de matérias-primas, de commodities. Mas, não nos esqueçamos disto: todos temos entrado aceleradamente em uma época diferente. Temos que começar a pensar a Terra por inteiro e temos culturas nacionais. Devemos que cuidar do planeta. Temos que tomar decisões para o mundo inteiro para defender o planeta. Essa responsabilidade, em primeiro lugar, é dos países maiores. Pensar dessa forma significa sacrificar parte da soberania para garantir a vida do planeta. Começam a surgir no horizonte problemas que não víamos, mas precisam de respostas globais. O mundo do futuro precisa de governança também. Isso não fará com que o Estado nacional desapareça. Isto significa que há problemas que nenhum país pode solucionar sozinho.

A propósito, o senhor, presidente, foi aos Estados Unidos, esteve com o presidente dos Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, e eu me recordo que houve uma conversa sobre o Uruguai receber, eventualmente, presos de Guantánamo. Como está essa oferta neste momento?
Nós dissemos que nos pareceu uma causa justa, porque sempre criticamos os Estados Unidos pela prisão de Guantánamo. Não se pode defender a democracia, o Estado de direito, e depois ter prisioneiros e juízes sem julgamento, sem tribunais. É uma contradição. Este presidente americano fez campanha e disse isso. Mas ele não é um monarca, não é um rei, é apenas um presidente. Portanto, não conseguiu.

Foi feita a oferta?
Sim, acho que tínhamos que ajudá-lo.

E como ele respondeu?
Ele depende de uma autorização do Congresso e teve muitas dificuldades.

E neste momento, está parado?
Está parado. Acho que haverá alguma decisão e o Congresso terá 30 ou 60 dias para fazer as objeções e depois…

E como funcionaria? O Uruguai receberia uma quantidade de presos de Guantánamo…
Não, quantidade não. Cinco ou seis.

Cinco ou seis.
E nós queremos que outros países da América entendam isso. Porque também devemos ajudar a Cuba. Não podemos falar todos os dias sobre direitos humanos e proferir lindos discursos e não ter compromisso.

Esses presos de Guantánamo, se fossem transferidos para o Uruguai, seriam julgados no Uruguai?
Não.

Seriam…
Seriam refugiados.

Refugiados.
Refugiados, ou seja, como homens livres. E, se quiserem ir embora, irão. Legalmente. Nós não seremos carcereiros dos Estados Unidos.

Entendi.
No Uruguai há cerca de 250 colombianos. Que vieram devido aos problemas na Colômbia. O Uruguai é um país de pessoas refugiadas que chegaram de todos os lados. Do Brasil.

Sim.
E fomos para outros lugares também.

O senhor mencionou Cuba. O senhor acredita que hoje Cuba pode ser descrita, considerada uma democracia?
Com as definições do Ocidente e da democracia representativa, não é. Com as definições marxistas e leninistas de democracia popular, certamente o é. Mas não me preocupa tanto. De qualquer forma, o que se possa negar de Cuba, ao lado da China, parece-me ridículo. E ninguém tem problemas com a China. Isto significa que criamos muito problema com Cuba porque é pequena. E, com a China, como precisamos dela, vendemos para ela e compramos dela, fazemo-nos de distraídos. Cuba tem o sonho de se tornar uma democracia sem classes sociais. Já paga um preço alto. Mas Cuba, e qualquer outro país, deve ser respeitado. E para conviver neste mundo há uma regra de ouro: aprender a respeitar aquele com o qual estamos em desacordo. O mundo é diferente. As culturas árabes, as culturas muçulmanas têm diferentes valores e pontos de vista divergentes aos nossos. Devemos respeitar, pois, caso contrário, as contradições são explosivas. A democracia tem uma grande virtude e muitos defeitos. A grande virtude é que nunca é perfeita e nem concluída. Sempre apostamos para melhorar. Aqueles que acreditam que tocaram o céu com a mão e não há mais evolução, pois bem, isso é absolutismo.

O senhor mencionou o fato de o Uruguai recebido muitos refugiados. A presidente Dilma Rousseff do Brasil relatou uma vez que, quando estava na guerrilha no Brasil, fez um treinamento na fronteira do Rio Grande do Sul com o Uruguai, mas já em território uruguaio. Isso quando ela era muito jovem. Ela já contou esse episódio para o senhor?
Não, não me contou, mas quando houve golpe de estado no Brasil.

Sim.
Militar.

64.
Eu era jovem. Muitas vezes, servi de correio para imigrantes brasileiros que estavam no Uruguai, para trazer correspondência do Rio Grande do Sul e levar. Em solidariedade aos refugiados brasileiros. Anos depois, muitos dos meus compatriotas estavam refugiados no Brasil. O Brasil foi e é o país ideal para pessoas clandestinas.

Por quê?
Porque é tão grande que as pessoas mudam de Estado e pronto, resolvido. E muitas pessoas não tinham documentos naquela época.

A presidente Dilma nunca compartilhou com o senhor as memórias desse período em que ela ficou lá próxima do Uruguai?
Não, não porque nunca temos tempo, sempre falamos sobre as urgências do Estado.

O Brasil está vivendo uma democracia já há algum tempo. Dos presidentes recentes brasileiros, Fernando Henrique, Lula e Dilma, que foram eleitos pelo voto direto, qual deles trabalhou mais pela integração do continente?
Lula.

Lula.
E Lula projetou o Brasil para fora.

Que avaliação senhor faz desse período, Fernando Henrique, Lula e agora Dilma?
Fernando Henrique, há dois Fernando Henrique. Um que foi governante e há um anterior, o pensador.

Sim.
Ele nos ajudou a pensar muito na economia, etc. Ele é uma figura importante no pensamento da América. Na verdade, todos os três, cada um de sua própria maneira, contribuíram muito. Mas devemos ter presente que Lula é um personagem que quebrou o molde. Ele tem algo muito difícil de definir, mas que o faz muito bem, que é a arte da negociação. De juntar as pessoas, aproximar os extremos, encontrar soluções para os problemas que não têm solução.

E Dilma?
Parece-me que Dilma é uma mulher muito trabalhadora, tenaz. Muito preocupada e, provavelmente, uma boa administradora.

Menos política.
Não tem a personalidade política do Lula. Talvez seja uma mulher de Estado, do funcionamento da máquina do Estado. Essa é a minha impressão. E por algum motivo foi eleita pelo Lula, por algo foi eleita.

O Brasil tem eleições este ano. O senhor tem acompanhado o processo?
Há eleições, sim.

O senhor tem um palpite, uma idéia, uma… sobre como será a eleição no Brasil? A presidente Dilma disputa mais um mandato, a reeleição.
Sim.

E, a oposição, representada pelo partido de Fernando Henrique, Sociais Democratas. O senhor acredita que, para a relação do continente, é melhor a reeleição da presidente Dilma ou uma troca, uma alternância de partidos?
Eu não acredito em qualquer cataclismo da política externa. Embora não haja reconhecimento, parece-me que a política exterior do Brasil, em termos gerais, é compartilhada. As diferenças estão em outras coisas. Uma mudança na direção do Brasil, não acredito que signifique jogar fora todo o processo de integração. Sempre tenho visto atrás do Lula, da Dilma e do Fernando Henrique, a figura do Itamaraty.

E no Uruguai, como está a sua sucessão?
Estamos em plena discussão eleitoral.

E como está o quadro?
Está igual, os números estão iguais a quando sai como candidato.

Sim?
Não sabemos se será definido no primeiro turno. E o segundo turno é muito exigente no Uruguai. Mas tenho confiança que será mantida no governo a força política com o equilíbrio justo.

Os candidatos principais são quais, no momento?
Tabaré Vázquez, que já foi presidente.

Que é o seu candidato.
Sim, um médico, Lacalle Pou, filho de um ex-presidente. Outro médico, Bordaberry, candidato pelo Partido Colorado. Acho que são os três candidatos principais. As pesquisas mostram nosso candidato com 43-44%, 30% para o Partido Nacional e cerca de 15% para o Partido Colorado. Mas, no segundo turno, a soma não é automática.

Por quê?
Porque as pessoas fazem de seu voto o que acharem melhor. Por exemplo, eu, no primeiro turno, tive cerca de 44% dos votos e, no segundo turno, tive 55-56%. Isto significa que houve pessoas de outros partidos que votaram em mim.

O senhor falou sobre uma eventual mudança de governo no Brasil: não acha que seria um cataclismo, não teríamos um problema. Como avaliar o desempenho das esquerdas, em geral, no mundo atual? Porque na Europa vemos um avanço de partidos de direita, não acha?
Sim, notório.

Como isso funciona na América Latina?
Na América Latina parece que acontece o contrário da Europa.

Exato. Por quê?
Primeiramente, tampouco é esquerda… ma non troppo. (risos)

Acredita que o Brasil é assim, por exemplo?
É uma esquerda moderada que procura que o sistema funcione e que luta para distribuir um pouco melhor.

Isto é aplicado a tudo por aqui.
Às vezes, os discursos são mais radicais, os discursos.

Mas a prática?
Veja bem, veja bem o Evo. Ele tem um discurso muito radical.

Evo Morales?
Sim. Veja a situação fiscal da Bolívia. Acredito que é a primeira vez, na história da Bolívia, que há superávit fiscal longo. Tem demonstrado ser um bom administrador e com Correa passa algo semelhante. É como se os latino-americanos tivéssemos aprendido como a dor.

Sim.
E aprendemos uma espécie de lição meio genérica que não é nem da esquerda, nem da direita. Há coisas com as quais não se brincam.

E isto é aplicável a quase tudo, certo?
Sim, com uma diferença, que é meio genérico.

E assim está o contexto da declaração quando o senhor disse que, se houver uma mudança no Brasil, não será um cataclismo porque está tudo… a política externa desenhada já…
Sim.

É assim que devo entender?
Sim, sim.

Vamos falar um pouco de futebol agora. O time de futebol do Uruguai estava indo muito bem na Copa do Mundo, mas um jogador, Luis Suárez, acabou sendo suspenso por morder um jogador da Itália, não? Como o senhor avalia essas coisas? O que aconteceu?
Esse menino tem algum problema aqui. Porque

O senhor conversou com ele?
Sim Eu fui recebê-lo.

Sim, eu vi.
Ele vem de um lar muito pobre e tem a inteligência nas canelas. É brilhante nas pernas.

Ele contou ao senhor por que mordeu?
Não, talvez tivesse vergonha. Eu acho que a raiva o enfurece e ele não se domina. Mas era o caso, na verdade, de levá-lo a um hospital. Para tratá-lo daqui, com psiquiatra. É um problema que não se soluciona com sanções. Mas eu não discuto a sanção desportiva, está bem. O que discuto são algumas coisas que não têm nada a ver com a sanção. Não pode entrar no campo, não pode estar com os colegas na concentração, quatro meses sem poder ir a uma campo de futebol, não pode ir sequer a uma cerimônia de apoio, a qualquer evento público desportivo com fins de beneficência. Por exemplo, ir a um colégio do bairro estamos loucos! Nenhum governo pode proibir que alguém entre em um campo de futebol se não tiver a assinatura de um juiz. E, vem a Fifa e “não pode entrar em um campo por quatro meses, nem na arquibancada”.

O senhor fez muitas críticas à Fifa
Ah, sim!

com palavras muito fortes.
Por isso! Por tudo isso que acabei de dizer. Não pela sanção.

Por que acha que a FIFA aplicou essa sanção ao Suárez?
Porque tem uma mentalidade de velhos que querem resolver as coisas castigando e, ao castigar, a única coisa que se gera é ódio e ressentimento. Esse menino precisa de uma ajuda aqui.

O senhor falou com ele sobre isto?
É um mundo de loucos! Porque agora pagam 100 milhões! O Barcelona vai comprá-lo por 100 milhões! Veja só, a Fifa aplica uma sanção duríssima! E o Barça paga quase 100 milhões, vai pagar 10 milhões por ano! Estamos todos loucos, estamos!

E o rapaz, o jogador, como reagiu quando o senhor falou com ele?
Ele tem que… comigo não, eu sou presidente. Ele tem que pedir perdão ao seu povo. Não tem que pedir perdão à Fifa, nem a ninguém, mas ao seu povo.

E por que
Ele era uma carta de esperança. É desses caras geniais que, de repente, não jogam durante todo o jogo, mas, de repente, entram e fazem dois gols. Como fez na Inglaterra. E, bem, vamos vê-lo com o Neymar e com o Messi, à frente do Barça. Não sei como vão fazer.

Sobre o tema da legalização da maconha, a comercialização foi adiada, não? O que aconteceu e por quê?
É necessário plantá-la e produzi-la e, do ponto de vista agrícola. As plantas não funcionam para o que nós queremos, têm o seu próprio ciclo e isso leva um tempo. Além disso, é necessário fazer estufas.

Mas, já estão em produção?
Estamos fazendo as mudas. Fazendo a reprodução vegetativa.

E, como não havia tempo, a venda então foi adiada para o ano que vem?
Sim, poderão começar a florescer em janeiro, fevereiro.

E o senhor não acha que, se não obtiver êxito na eleição do Tabaré Vázquez, e a oposição ganhar, podem mudar todo programa e anular a lei?
A oposição é meio trapaceira.

Por quê?
Porque a própria oposição apresentou um projeto no qual permite que se tenha em casa até seis plantas de maconha.

Então?
Então, se você autorizar que todo mundo tenha seis plantas de maconha, adeus.

Então o senhor não acha que mesmo com a oposição se
Eu acho que a oposição daria outra forma, tiraria do Estado. Tiraria do Estado, mas deixaria a porta aberta para o autocultivo. O que seria uma garantia, de saber de onde sai, mas não se sabe aonde vai terminar. Nos Estados Unidos, o uso está se massificando.

O senhor conversou com o Obama sobre este tema?
Não, não, não conversei. Falei com outras pessoas.

E se o Tabaré Vázquez ganhar, o programa seguirá tal como está?
Sempre haverá alguma modificação. Os programas mudam.

Há algum risco, comenta-se muito no Brasil, de que o Uruguai se converta em um país de turismo para os que querem consumir.
Não, não, não. Com o método que nós adotamos, nenhum estrangeiro pode consumir. Na realidade, o problema é ao contrário. Toda a droga que nos entra, entra pela fronteira. Vem em aviões pequenos. Todos nós sabemos que vem do coração da América. E é distribuída, e jogam pacotes

O que dizem é que a solução seria uma política conjunta de todo o continente.
Sim.

O senhor acha que esta é a saída? Porque um país tão grande como o Brasil diz que não tem condição. O que pensa?
Eu entendo, eu entendo. Já levamos quase oitenta anos reprimindo. E não conseguimos deter o avanço da droga. A via repressiva única demonstrou que é impotente em todos os lados. Como dizem, se você quer mudar, não pode continuar fazendo a mesma coisa. Tem que fazer outra coisa. Nós não afirmamos ter a solução ideal. O que dizemos é que, por ser um país pequeno, institucionalizado, com forte presença do Estado em todas partes, nós temos condição de fazer um experimento para encará-lo como enfermidade. Mas, não estamos aqui para difundir o avanço do uso de drogas. Pelo contrário, queremos identificar os consumidores para poder avisar a tempo: “Veja o que está acontecendo com você”. Se eu tomar um ou dois copos de uísque por dia, talvez até não me faça bem, mas é suportável. Agora, se eu tomar uma garrafa todos os dias, você tem que me levar para o hospital. Bom, com a droga acontece o mesmo. Se fumar um cigarro de maconha, é uma coisa. Se virar dependente, tenho que ter o indivíduo identificado porque é um caso hospitalar. Tenho que prestar auxílio. Mas, se eu o tiver no mundo clandestino, quando for prestar auxílio, desastres já aconteceram. Se multiplicaram os delitos, os roubos, já pode ter acontecido qualquer coisa.

Entendo
Essa é a questão. Mas, nós estamos preocupados com a fronteira.

Presidente José Mujica, muito obrigado pela sua entrevista à Folha de São Paulo e ao UOL.
Com muito prazer.

É um prazer e obrigado.

RoboCup: the World Championship on robotics!

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21 July 2014

www.robocup.org

RoboCup was founded in 1997 with the main goal of “developing by 2050 a Robot Soccer team capable of winning against the human team champion of the FIFA World Cup”. In the next years, RoboCup proposed several soccer platforms that have been established as standard platforms for robotics research. This domain demonstrated the capability of capturing key aspects of complex real world problems, stimulating the development of a wide range of technologies, including the design of electrical-mechanical-computational integrated techniques for autonomous robots. After more than 15 years of RoboCup, nowadays robot soccer represents only a part of the available platforms. RoboCup encompasses other leagues that, in addition to Soccer, cover Rescue (Robots and Simulation), @Home (assistive robots in home environments), Sponsored and @Work (Industrial environments), as well as RoboCupJunior leagues for young students. These domains offer a wide range of platforms for researchers with the potential to speed up the developments in the mobile robotics field.

RoboCup has already grown into a project which gets worldwide attention. Every year, multiple tournaments are organized in different countries all over the world, where teams from all over the world participate in various disciplines. There are tournaments in Germany, Portugal, China, Brazil, etc.  In 2014, RoboCup will be hosted for the 1st time in South America, in Brazil.

‘Livro da cura’ reúne conhecimento sobre plantas medicinais da tribo Huni Kuin, do Acre (O Globo)

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Parque Lage, no Rio, recebe este fim de semana evento para divulgar a obra

POR FLÁVIA MILHORANCE

18/07/2014 6:00 / ATUALIZADO 18/07/2014 8:03

Chegada. Canto e prece para agradecer a vinda ao Rio e pedir proteção dos espíritos na oca montada no Parque Lage Foto: Agência O Globo
Chegada. Canto e prece para agradecer a vinda ao Rio e pedir proteção dos espíritos na oca montada no Parque Lage – Agência O Globo

RIO – Na entrada da oca de dez metros de altura feita de madeira e palha, uma placa tem os dizeres hanlishli kayanai. É um “espaço de cura” esse lugar erguido em pleno Parque Lage, no Jardim Botânico, Zona Sul do Rio, para abrigar uma série de eventos que começa hoje e gira em torno do lançamento de “Una Isi Kayawa — Livro da cura” (Dantes Editora), uma publicação que apresenta informações detalhadas sobre o poder medicinal de plantas usadas há gerações pelo povo indígena Huni Kuin, do Acre.

São 32 tribos com cerca de 7.500 pessoas da etnia em torno do rio Jordão. Ontem, chegaram alguns de seus representantes e integrantes do projeto. Com rostos pintados, colares de miçangas e trajes de linhas coloridas, eles se reuniram para um canto de chegada. De mãos dadas, o pajé José Matus Itsairu puxava um rito, seguido pelos demais.

— É um canto para agradecer pela nossa vinda, além de chamar as forças dos espíritos para proteger esse lugar — explicou.

Itsairu é filho do pajé Agostinho Ïka Muru, o idealizador do projeto, que morreu em 2011 ainda durante a fase de pesquisa. Ele tinha cadernos de anotações cheios de desenhos de plantas, e seu sonho, conta Itsairu, era sistematizar e difundir o conhecimento ancestral não só para seus pares, mas abri-lo à sociedade.

— Agostinho era um cientista da floresta. Ele vinha há mais de 30 anos registrando informações e tinha medo de que o saber fosse perdido — comentou o taxonomista Alexandre Quinet, que se incumbiu da difícil tarefa de fazer a ponte entre o conhecimento indígena oral e a ciência tradicional. — São lógicas diferentes, por isso o que fizemos foram transcrições literais das palestras gravadas. Até porque o livro também é para eles.

Pintura. O casal Maria e Adelino Kaxinawá se prepara para o início dos eventos. Eles estão pela primeira vez no Rio e aproveitaram para conhecer o mar, – Agência O Globo

Não à toa, os primeiros mil exemplares foram produzidos com papel feito de garrafas PET para resistir à umidade das florestas. Foram necessárias várias viagens e oficinas, além de registros fotográficos e audiovisuais. Das 351 amostras dos cadernos do pajé, 109 estão descritas no livro, com informações catalogadas por taxonomistas do Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico.

REGISTRO DA TRADIÇÃO MILENAR

Há um mês, a presidente Dilma Rousseff encaminhou ao Congresso um anteprojeto de lei obrigando empresas interessadas nos conhecimentos de povos indígenas a obter a autorização deles. Esse livro, diz Quinet, dá poder às etnias e registra oficialmente sua sabedoria.

A programação intensa se estende de hoje ao dia 27 e inclui conversas, cantos, exposição fotográfica e exibição de vídeos de Zezinho Yube, ativista indígena:

— Eles contam a história do nosso povo, que vivia em malocas, teve contato com seringueiros no início do século XX, começou a trabalhar com isso e, depois, recuperou seu território e está revitalizando sua cultura.

Até o final da estada, o grupo aproveitará para conhecer o Rio. A primeira atividade do casal Adelino e Maria Kaxinawá (outro nome dado à tribo) foi ver o mar pela primeira vez:

— Era exatamente o que imaginava: o som, o movimento. Ficamos gratos com a experiência.

Read more: http://oglobo.globo.com/sociedade/saude/livro-da-cura-reune-conhecimento-sobre-plantas-medicinais-da-tribo-huni-kuin-do-acre-13294753#ixzz37ql7zqpF

VEJA TAMBÉM

Map reveals worldwide impacts of climate change (Science Daily)

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Date: July 17, 2014

Source: University of Southampton

Summary: A new map, which shows the impact climate change could have on the whole planet by the end of the century if carbon emissions continue to increase, has been developed by scientists. Temperatures on the warmest days of the year are rising by 6°C or more across Europe, parts of Asia and part of North America, it shows. Also an increase in risk of flooding across 70 per cent of Asia, and the number of days of drought increasing in parts of South America, Australia and Southern Africa are illuminated by the new map.

Scientists from the University of Southampton have helped to create a new map, which shows the impact climate change could have on the whole planet by the end of the century, if carbon emissions continue to increase.

The Human Dynamics of Climate Change map, launched at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was developed by the Met Office Hadley Centre with specific contributions from universities, Government and science organisations.

The map shows a range of potential impacts:

  • Temperatures on the warmest days of the year rising by 6°C or more across Europe, parts of Asia and part of North America
  • An increase in risk of flooding across 70 per cent of Asia
  • The number of days of drought going up by more than 20 per cent in parts of South America, Australia and Southern Africa
  • Maize yields falling by up to 12 per cent in Central America
  • Sea temperatures rising by up to 4°C in some parts of the world
  • Millions of people flooded due to sea level rise, particularly in East, Southeast and South Asia

The map illustrates how climate change could affect the global economy as regions connected by trade are affected by changes in crop yield, droughts, flooding and high temperatures. It also shows how many already water-stressed regions of the world could face an increase in the frequency and duration of droughts, at the same time as an increase in demand for water for agriculture and for the consumption of a growing population.

Professor Robert Nicholls and Dr Sally Brown, from Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton, contributed data and research which shows the number of people in coastal regions around the world that could potentially be flooded in the future as sea levels rise.

Dr Brown says: “We know that rising sea levels are already having profound impacts in many parts of the world. We hope that this tool will help scientists, policy makers and governments better understand the threat that climate change poses to our collective future prosperity and security and what actions are needed.”

Foreign Office Minister, Mark Simmonds said: “This map shows how the impacts of climate change on one part of the world will affect countries in other parts of the world, particularly through the global trade in food. This reinforces the point that climate change is a global problem: no country is immune, and we all need to work together to reduce the risks to our shared prosperity and security.”

Dame Julia Slingo, the Met Office Chief Scientist, said: “We’ve used the latest science to assess how potential changes in our climate will impact people around the world. This map presents that information together for the first time. While we see both positive and negative impacts, the risks vastly outweigh any potential opportunities.”

The map can be viewed at: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/human-dynamics

Is the universe a bubble? Let’s check: Making the multiverse hypothesis testable (Science Daily)

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Date: July 17, 2014

Source: Perimeter Institute

Summary: Scientists are working to bring the multiverse hypothesis, which to some sounds like a fanciful tale, firmly into the realm of testable science. Never mind the Big Bang; in the beginning was the vacuum. The vacuum simmered with energy (variously called dark energy, vacuum energy, the inflation field, or the Higgs field). Like water in a pot, this high energy began to evaporate — bubbles formed.

Screenshot from a video of Matthew Johnson explaining the related concepts of inflation, eternal inflation, and the multiverse (see http://youtu.be/w0uyR6JPkz4). Credit: Image courtesy of Perimeter Institute

Perimeter Associate Faculty member Matthew Johnson and his colleagues are working to bring the multiverse hypothesis, which to some sounds like a fanciful tale, firmly into the realm of testable science.

Never mind the big bang; in the beginning was the vacuum. The vacuum simmered with energy (variously called dark energy, vacuum energy, the inflation field, or the Higgs field). Like water in a pot, this high energy began to evaporate — bubbles formed.

Each bubble contained another vacuum, whose energy was lower, but still not nothing. This energy drove the bubbles to expand. Inevitably, some bubbles bumped into each other. It’s possible some produced secondary bubbles. Maybe the bubbles were rare and far apart; maybe they were packed close as foam.

But here’s the thing: each of these bubbles was a universe. In this picture, our universe is one bubble in a frothy sea of bubble universes.

That’s the multiverse hypothesis in a bubbly nutshell.

It’s not a bad story. It is, as scientists say, physically motivated — not just made up, but rather arising from what we think we know about cosmic inflation.

Cosmic inflation isn’t universally accepted — most cyclical models of the universe reject the idea. Nevertheless, inflation is a leading theory of the universe’s very early development, and there is some observational evidence to support it.

Inflation holds that in the instant after the big bang, the universe expanded rapidly — so rapidly that an area of space once a nanometer square ended up more than a quarter-billion light years across in just a trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second. It’s an amazing idea, but it would explain some otherwise puzzling astrophysical observations.

Inflation is thought to have been driven by an inflation field — which is vacuum energy by another name. Once you postulate that the inflation field exists, it’s hard to avoid an “in the beginning was the vacuum” kind of story. This is where the theory of inflation becomes controversial — when it starts to postulate multiple universes.

Proponents of the multiverse theory argue that it’s the next logical step in the inflation story. Detractors argue that it is not physics, but metaphysics — that it is not science because it cannot be tested. After all, physics lives or dies by data that can be gathered and predictions that can be checked.

That’s where Perimeter Associate Faculty member Matthew Johnson comes in. Working with a small team that also includes Perimeter Faculty member Luis Lehner, Johnson is working to bring the multiverse hypothesis firmly into the realm of testable science.

“That’s what this research program is all about,” he says. “We’re trying to find out what the testable predictions of this picture would be, and then going out and looking for them.”

Specifically, Johnson has been considering the rare cases in which our bubble universe might collide with another bubble universe. He lays out the steps: “We simulate the whole universe. We start with a multiverse that has two bubbles in it, we collide the bubbles on a computer to figure out what happens, and then we stick a virtual observer in various places and ask what that observer would see from there.”

Simulating the whole universe — or more than one — seems like a tall order, but apparently that’s not so.

“Simulating the universe is easy,” says Johnson. Simulations, he explains, are not accounting for every atom, every star, or every galaxy — in fact, they account for none of them.

“We’re simulating things only on the largest scales,” he says. “All I need is gravity and the stuff that makes these bubbles up. We’re now at the point where if you have a favourite model of the multiverse, I can stick it on a computer and tell you what you should see.”

That’s a small step for a computer simulation program, but a giant leap for the field of multiverse cosmology. By producing testable predictions, the multiverse model has crossed the line between appealing story and real science.

In fact, Johnson says, the program has reached the point where it can rule out certain models of the multiverse: “We’re now able to say that some models predict something that we should be able to see, and since we don’t in fact see it, we can rule those models out.”

For instance, collisions of one bubble universe with another would leave what Johnson calls “a disk on the sky” — a circular bruise in the cosmic microwave background. That the search for such a disk has so far come up empty makes certain collision-filled models less likely.

Meanwhile, the team is at work figuring out what other kinds of evidence a bubble collision might leave behind. It’s the first time, the team writes in their paper, that anyone has produced a direct quantitative set of predictions for the observable signatures of bubble collisions. And though none of those signatures has so far been found, some of them are possible to look for.

The real significance of this work is as a proof of principle: it shows that the multiverse can be testable. In other words, if we are living in a bubble universe, we might actually be able to tell.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0uyR6JPkz4

Journal References:

  1. Matthew C. Johnson, Hiranya V. Peiris, Luis Lehner. Determining the outcome of cosmic bubble collisions in full general relativity. Physical Review D, 2012; 85 (8) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.85.083516
  2. Carroll L. Wainwright, Matthew C. Johnson, Hiranya V. Peiris, Anthony Aguirre, Luis Lehner, Steven L. Liebling. Simulating the universe(s): from cosmic bubble collisions to cosmological observables with numerical relativity.Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2014; 2014 (03): 030 DOI:10.1088/1475-7516/2014/03/030
  3. Carroll L. Wainwright, Matthew C. Johnson, Anthony Aguirre, Hiranya V. Peiris.Simulating the universe(s) II: phenomenology of cosmic bubble collisions in full General Relativity. submitted to arXiv, 2014 [link]
  4. Stephen M. Feeney, Matthew C. Johnson, Jason D. McEwen, Daniel J. Mortlock, Hiranya V. Peiris. Hierarchical Bayesian detection algorithm for early-universe relics in the cosmic microwave background. Physical Review D, 2013; 88 (4) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.88.043012

Beyond the bones: The archaeology of human networks (New Scientist)

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21 July 2014 by Alun Anderson

Magazine issue 2978

Book information
Thinking Big: How the evolution of social life shaped the human mindby Clive Gamble, John Gowlett and Robin Dunbar
Published by: Thames & Hudson
Price: £18.95
Human Evolution: A Pelican introduction by Robin Dunbar
Published by: Pelican Books
Price: £5.99

Did a focus on local life leave Neanderthals perilously isolated? (Image: Elisabeth Daynes/SPL)

The idea of human as networker is fast replacing the idea of human as toolmaker in the story of the human brain, claim two new books on our evolution

“HELL is other people,” goes Jean-Paul Sartre’s famous line. It is a hell that may have created us and our culture, judging by two new books. They show that the idea that we are defined by our struggles to deal with our fellow humans is shaking up archaeology and how we think about the key force driving human evolution.

The first book is Thinking Big by archaeologists Clive Gamble and John Gowlett and evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar. It is the story of a seven-year project – From Lucy to Language – that confronted archaeologists with the social brain hypothesis of human evolution.

The result is a dramatic demolition of the “stones and bones” approach to archaeology, which keeps researchers firmly fixed only on the physical evidence they dig up, and a move towards a grand look at the evolving human mind. There is “more to humanity than the bits of chipped bone”, write the authors as they seek a framework for all human psychological traits, from kinship and laughter to language and ceremony. Old dogma is derided as never moving beyond “WYSWTW” (What You See is What There Was).

The second book is a solo effort by Dunbar, the key thinker behind the social brain hypothesis. In Human Evolution, he lays out the big ideas that the archaeologists later took up. At its heart is the observation that as brains grew bigger, so did the groups we live in: bigger brains were built for and by social life. Modern humans have a cognitive limit of about 150 friends and family (the well-known “Dunbar’s number”). Within that circle are an average of five “intimates”, 15 best friends and 50 good friends. Chimps have an average community size of 55.

Studies of living, non-human primates show why you might need bigger brains to live in bigger groups. The more others are around, the more likely you are to be bullied out of a juicy food patch or a safe sleeping site. Such stress can be hell, especially for low-ranking females, who can be driven into infertility. To cope, primates create cliques of allies which they sustain through the pleasurable endorphin rush induced by regular mutual grooming. This solution fails if groups grow bigger, for there is not enough time for one-on-one attention. Bigger brains are key to developing smarter ways of dealing with others, the theory goes.

For Dunbar, these included laughter and singing, both great endorphin-releasers within groups. There was also fire, which gave light so evenings could be used for cooking and more “social grooming”. Then came language, together with a growing ability to read others’ intentions, which ultimately made it possible to tell stories, maintain far-flung relationships and usereligion to bind communities.

The Thinking Big archaeologists take from Dunbar the grand hypothesis that social life drives human change, switching from a view of “man the toolmaker” to “man the networker”. Alongside that, the proven relationship between brain sizeMovie Camera, group size and mental skills makes it possible to estimate the size of groups our ancestors lived in and their capacity to interact with others.

A fresh look at the Neanderthals is telling. They dominated Europe for 250,000 years, much longer than modern humans. They were skilled hunters, toolmakers and had mastered fire. Their brain size suggests they lived in groups of about 110 and had the cognitive skills to understand the feelings of others. That fits well with archaeological evidence that older and disabled Neanderthals were cared for: they perhaps knew compassion.

So why did they vanish so fast during a time of changing climate, when modern humans prospered? It may be that their mental skills were not quite adequate to maintain relationships beyond immediate group members, something we can do easily. That may have been crucial to our success: in hard times, bigger networks can mean gaining help from distant friends who are still doing well, and who you’ll help in turn. Without that “social storage” of resources, local extinction may loom. Archaeological evidence again tallies with the social brain theory: one study shows that 70 per cent of the raw materials of Neanderthal tools travelled less than 25 kilometres, while 60 per cent of those of contemporaneous humans had travelled more than 25 kilometres.

The two books fit well together but are very different. Thinking Big inspires, but much wonderful research is passed over too briefly amid general argument. An exception is a story from Beeches Pit, a 400,000-year-old site in the east of England. Archaeologists there painstakingly reassembled the flint flakes struck from a rock in the process of making a hand axe. Two flakes were found burnt bright red; they had fallen into a fire just in front of the axe-maker. We can almost see our ancestors working around what must have been a communal fire, for no one person could have gathered enough wood to keep it burning.

Dunbar’s solo work, Human Evolution, however, is a must-read. It has the great strength of showing you the inner workings of an imaginative mind, while allowing you the freedom to think, and even to disagree about whether that hellish social pressure really has given us our distinct cognitive design, along with science and the arts.

This article appeared in print under the headline “Beyond bones and stones”

Alun Anderson is a consultant for New Scientist

Meet Jibo, the cute social robot that knows the family (New Scientist)

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14:00 16 July 2014 by Hal Hodson

Video: A robotic home companion

It doesn’t just recognise you – it can field your phone calls and chat to you at dinner

IN SUITE 712 of the Eventi Hotel, high above the sticky June bustle of Midtown Manhattan, New York, one of the world’s most advanced consumer robots awaits command.

“Wake up, Jibo,” says Cynthia Breazeal, his creator. The robot’s round head shakes awake. He lets out a tinkling noise, then a yawn. Jibo’s two-part body twists and stretches and his face, with a single digital eye, switches on and turns to look at us. He looks like a Pixar character come to life.

Jibo is the first robot designed to be used by the whole family. He’s not a niche robot with a single purpose, like a Roomba, nor is he a toy. Available for $499 through an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign that starts this week, Jibo is designed to tap into the social fabric of a household and help out. The first model, which will ship in 2015, will perform simple tasks like taking voice reminders, fielding phone calls and messages – connecting to the family’s phones through Wi-Fi. He will also act as the heart of the home connecting to iPads, TVs and games consoles. More complex skills include automatically identifying the faces in a room and taking pictures on request and reading a story to a child.

Breazeal chats casually to the robot: “How are you doing, Jibo?”

“I’m great, thanks for asking,” he says, cocking his head slightly as his digital eye curves into a grin. Jibo explains all the different things he can do, after a quick dance to Simon and Garfunkel’s 59th Street Bridge Song.

“I would say this is the first social, personal robot,” says Illah Nourbakhsh, a roboticist at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Jibo’s body language and expressions are designed to convey emotional states in the same way humans do, while his sensors and programming are tuned to our presence. Jibo knows when someone enters a room, and can identify who it is if he can see their face or hear their voice. The idea is that Jibo’s social skills help him to fit seamlessly into the household.

Jibo’s body and head movements are complex and smooth enough to convey convincing human-like body language but he cannot move around. For that, he relies on the humans in the household to pick him up – he weighs a mere 2.7 kilos – and move him from place to place. Jibo charges up via wireless pads plugged in around the house, or he can run on batteries for about 30 minutes away from a power source. When he joins the family at the dinner table, for instance.

Jibo turns to face whoever is talking, so an absent family member can use him to video chat as the rest of the family sit around the table. “With Jibo, you feel like you’re really part of the group dynamic,” says Breazeal.

“I think that’s enormous, I love it,” says Ken Goldberg, a roboticist from the University of California in Berkeley. Goldberg works on robots that can move around their environment and manipulate it, more in line with the traditional notion of the home robot. But such tasks are difficult to perfect: the dream of the robot butler is a long way off. “Right now, the most state-of-the-art robot still takes a good 20 minutes to fold a small towel,” Goldberg says.

Breazeal’s research at the MIT Media Lab, along with that of Bilge Mutlu at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has shown how important it is for robot-human communication that robots can express emotion. “The ability to turn your head around and pay attention to something else has been taken for granted, but it’s huge,” says Mutlu.

Breazeal is also opening Jibo up to developers as a platform on which to build new kinds of apps, such as ones that let the robot place takeaway orders for “the usual” on request, or that control the lighting and heating in a home, or even keep an eye on activity patterns to make sure that senior household members are moving enough.

But socially aware robots raise new ethical questions. Would it be appropriate, for instance, for Jibo to announce that the senior family member he has been watching has fallen down and cannot get up? “We’re going to have a really interesting dilemma about when a robot can violate privacy to save a life,” Nourbakhsh says.

“The big deal with this is its optimisation for sociality,” says Nourbakhsh. “For the first time in history, we humans are going to have complex interactions with machines.”

This article appeared in print under the headline “The first family robot”

Animals and Cultural Diplomacy (Huff Post)

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Posted: 07/09/2014 4:22 pm EDT Updated: 07/09/2014 4:59 pm EDT

It was almost a decade after the Puritan government of England had executed King Charles I, and the country had begun to descend into chaos. Oliver Cromwell, who ruled as Lord Protector silenced criticism by banning newspapers, intercepting letters, and employing a network of secret police. In his History of Four-Footed Beasts, Serpents and Insects, Reverend Edward Topsell wrote, “Would it not make all men reverence a good king set over them by God, seeing the bees seek out their king if he lose himself, and by a most sagacious smelling sense, never cease till he be found out and then bear him upon their bodies if he be not able to fly. . . .” Topsell then tried to add a bit of balance by continuing, “And what king is not invited to clemency and deterred from tyranny, seeing the king of bees hath a sting but never uses the same.” We have no reason to think Topsell was a political dissident, in fact he may really have believed that he was simply recording the ways of bees. Consciously intended or not, a subtext comes through, and the English Parliament apparently agreed with it, since, two years later in 1660, it invited Charles II, son of the beheaded king, back to rule, requiring, however, that he not use his office for revenge against the regicides. Simply by speaking of animals, one participates in an ongoing process of cultural, and often political, negotiation.

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J. J. Grandville, “Beehive,” 1842

The world of animals here appears parallel to that of human beings, and differences of species may stand in for those of tribe, gender, class, profession and so on. This is a sort of vision that we associate with “totemism,” which the anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss explained in the mid-twentieth century as the application of structures initially found in the natural world, especially among animals, to human culture, as a means of representing social distinctions among indigenous peoples. Apart from the vastness of their scale and the complexity of their organization, nations are essentially tribes, and the relations between them follow many of the same dynamics. Animal symbolism is so deeply embedded in human culture that it is almost impossible to talk about animals without, simultaneously, speaking indirectly about human beings.

Levi-Strauss’ notion of totemism has been qualified, challenged and refined by subsequent thinkers, but, without trying to tease out all possible implications, it still serves as a rough working model for understanding how animals and nature may contribute to cultural diplomacy. This is apparent in the beast fables from the tradition of Aesop, a half-legendary storyteller from the Greek isle of Samos in the seventh century BCE. Several of the stories commonly attributed to him such as “The Tortoise and the Hare” or “The Fox and the Grapes” are still familiar to contemporary people from childhood. Behind the moralistic tales of talking lions and foxes, we can discern a tribal religion, with its animal totems, deities, sages and tricksters, largely deprived of their numinous qualities yet, nevertheless, in ways not terribly different from those of many indigenous peoples of Africa or the Americas.
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Richard Heighway, illustration to Aesop’s “The Fox and the Grapes,” 1910

From very early times, the fable has been primarily, though by no means exclusively, a form associated with slaves. Aesop, Phaedrus and Babrius – the three most celebrated fabulists of the ancient world, were all slaves, as was Uncle Remus, the mouthpiece for Afro-Indian tales in the Aesopian tradition, collected by Joel Chandler Harris in the deep south of the United States just after the Civil War. The fable enabled slaves, as well as people of other social orders, to indirectly express things which might otherwise be sensitive or forbidden.

Totemism became even more overt in the High Middle Ages, with the development of heraldry. This was initially a system of emblems painted on shields to identify knights in jousts, when their faces and bodies were completely covered by armor. In the most literal way, heraldic symbols were a substitute for the human face. Heraldry was gradually extended to feudal families, and then to states, businesses, clubs and almost all other institutions. These symbols were by no means confined to animals and vegetation, but creatures such as boars, wolves, bears, lions and eagles figured very prominently. Heraldry represented identity in terms of abstract relationships among symbolic objects, which are joined in fantastic patterns with no regard for common sense. They are deliberately esoteric, pointing to the mystery which is ultimately at the core of identity.
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Crest of Britain with the Lion of England and the Unicorn of Scotland

In some contexts at least, modern societies have identified with animals with constancy comparable to that of tribal peoples. These creatures need not necessarily be indigenous, wild, contemporary, or even real. England is represented by the lion, which is not indigenous, or the bulldog, which is a domestic breed. The animal representing Mauritius is the extinct dodo, while Scotland is represented by the mythical unicorn. Those are simply animals that ─ whether for historical, folkloric, commercial or geographic reasons ─ seem to embody a nation’s uniqueness. Underlying this totemic practice is an implicit analogy between the diversity of human cultures and that of all living things.

The animals in fables of the Renaissance, such as those of La Fontaine, and of political cartoons, are essentially those of heraldry. The totemic notion that animals constitute a world parallel to that of people was also responsible for the practice of physiognomy, which held that the character of a person could be read by the resemblance of his features to certain animals, so there would be wolf people, pig people, bat people and so on. That tradition, without the theoretical underpinnings, continues in caricatures and, most especially, political cartoons up through the present day, as well as in literary works such as Orwell’s Animal Farm.

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Illustration by Wilhelm Kaulbach’s to Goethe’s “Reineke Fox,” c. 1830

One might perhaps think that the stylized animals of literary fables, heraldry and editorial cartoons are too detached from their original models for their representation to have much impact on relationships between human beings and the natural world; experience suggests otherwise. White-tailed deer, turkeys and Canada geese, though on the brink of extinction in the early twentieth century, may now be more common in the United States and Canada than they were in preColumbian times. Bald eagles, moose, beaver, buffalo, and coyotes are making significant comebacks as well. These resurgent animals are precisely those that have great iconic importance in both Amerindian and immigrant cultures. The bald eagle is the national animal of the United States, and the beaver of Canada. The turkey is an old symbol of the New World, the buffalo of the Great Plains, and moose of the far North. All of the others as well are closely identified with certain regions, landscapes or peoples.

To be sure, iconic status in human culture can often endanger animals. In the United States immediately following the Civil War, the American buffalo were deliberately hunted almost to extinction, in order to dishearten the Plains Indians, in whose lives they had a central role. In Asia today, the South China tiger is being hunted to extinction in large part because of the central role that its body parts play in folk medicine. But such events simply show another aspect of the way cultural and natural concerns are inextricably bound together.

The United States Bureau of Fish and Wildlife currently lists about 500 species as “endangered” and about another 200 as “threatened.” The many thousand additional species have been proposed for these lists. Having a local species listed can bring publicity and status as well as money for conservation, as well as less-tangible psychological satisfactions, but there is no clear criterion for either categorization. Inclusion is, therefore, a subject of continual lobbying, in which it is not always easy to tell cultural or economic motives from environmental ones.

The mediation performed by animals in human affairs is continuous, if seldom noticed, like the sound of crickets on an autumn day. In the past, this process has occasionally emerged from the background, as when Harun al Rashid gifted two leopards to Charlemagne or, in 1972, when the government of China presented a mated pair of pandas to the National Zoo in Washington, D. C. It is hard to say how much ecological awareness, if any, is reflected by either of these gifts. But the presents were at the least a reminder to the recipient that the distant land contained not only wealth and people but also natural wonders.

My broader point is that environmental problems are also cultural, in fact one cannot address one apart from the other. In general, we can say that the representation of people in terms of animals and nature, an essentially totemic tradition, can place human concerns in a broader perspective, diffusing tensions and helping us to:
• Look beyond immediate personal or collective interests;
• Comment indirectly on subjects that might otherwise be too sensitive;
• Eliminate evasive political rhetoric;
• Unite people around shared concerns such as conservation and sustainability.
Like other forms of cultural diplomacy, this may remain primarily beneath the threshold of awareness, but can be made more effective through conscious appreciation.

The borders between nations are mapped out with great precision, but boundaries among cultures are fundamentally poetic. Literary, artistic and architectural accomplishments help to distinguish human cultures from one another. Interaction with the natural world, also embodied in customs from funerals to foodways, further differentiates them from domains that are still largely beyond human understanding or control. These frontiers, in turn, are constantly in flux, a bit like wetlands that shift with the weather, season and tide. Like the elements, cultures are engaged in a perpetual negotiation. Cultural diplomacy is essentially a natural process, which requires only a hospitable environment.

Topsell was not the only person who used bees to comment on human institutions. Socrates, in Plato’s dialogue “Phaedo,” suggested that people who lived as good citizens might be reincarnated as bees. Virgil upheld the bees to his fellow Romans as models of austere living and martial valor, especially because they would sting intruders at the cost of their own lives. In the Middle Ages, people thought of the hive as a sort of monastery, but, in the early modern period, Bernard de Mandeville satirized it as an imperiled feudal state that had failed to adapt to the ways of commerce, an idea that eerily anticipates the way honey bees are dying out today. Napoleon chose bees as his emblem, because of their association with industry but also with the early medieval rulers of France. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Maurice Maeterlink stated that bees were the most intelligent animals after man, and thought of them as socialists. On learning that the so-called “king” was actually a queen, some feminists have upheld the hive as a model of matriarchal society. These various philosophies and social systems might seem to have little in common, yet they are based on essentially the same imagery.

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Standard of Napoleon III

Suppose, then, that one were to hold a conference on the current dying out of bees ─ together with its agrarian, cultural, spiritual and economic implications ─ and invite representatives of groups with radically opposing social, religious and political views, from the tea party to the communists. I cannot predict what the various factions might say or what the final outcome would be, but that is precisely why such a meeting might be beneficial. You would likely to encounter some surprising coalitions and novel initiatives. All would be compelled to think beyond their accustomed rhetoric, and probably to articulate some of their core values, thus extending the mediation to other problems.

(A version of this essay was read by the author on June 27 at the Symposium on Cultural Diplomacy in the USA at the Czech Embassy in New York City.)

Ciência Hoje On-line: Pelas abelhas

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JC e-mail 4991, de 17 de julho de 2014

Campanha internacional criada por brasileiros chama atenção para o desaparecimento de colmeias e seu impacto sobre o ambiente e a segurança alimentar dos humanos

A notícia de que a população mundial de abelhas tem se reduzido pode até ser novidade para alguns, mas não aqui na CH On-line. Esses insetos vêm desaparecendo nos últimos 60 anos e 13 espécies foram extintas do planeta – das cerca de 20 mil existentes. O que parece uma boa notícia para os alérgicos é, no entanto, preocupante para o futuro da humanidade. Por isso, pesquisadores brasileiros lançaram uma campanha global para divulgar o sumiço de abelhas batizada de Bee or not to be? – um trocadilho em inglês com o verbo ‘ser’ (to be) e a palavra ‘abelha’ (bee) baseado na famosa frase de William Shakespeare: “Ser ou não ser, eis a questão.”

Os pesquisadores chamam a atenção para um fenômeno mundial denominado ‘síndrome do desaparecimento das abelhas’, decorrente de um problema no sistema nervoso desses insetos que faz com que eles ‘esqueçam’ o caminho de volta para sua colmeia e morram ao relento. Essa alteração está relacionada principalmente ao uso na agricultura de uma classe de pesticidas à base de nicotina, os neonicotinoides. Ao tentar polinizar os vegetais tratados com esses pesticidas, as abelhas se contaminam e desenvolvem o problema.

Leia o post completo na CH On-line, que tem conteúdo exclusivo atualizado diariamente: http://cienciahoje.uol.com.br/blogues/bussola/2014/07/pelas-abelhas

Cientistas pedem limite à criação de vírus mortais em laboratório (O Globo)

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JC e-mail 4991, de 17 de julho de 2014

Falhas em unidades americanas elevam riscos de surtos

Um grupo multidisciplinar de cientistas de importantes universidades em diferentes países publicou ontem um alerta sobre a manipulação, em laboratórios norte-americanos, de vírus que podem se espalhar e infectar homens e outros mamíferos. A preocupação vem na esteira de seguidas notícias sobre falhas de envolvendo micro-organismos potencialmente perigosos.

“Incidentes recentes com varíola, antraz e gripe aviária em alguns dos mais importantes laboratórios dos EUA nos faz lembrar da falibilidade até das unidades mais seguras, reforçando a necessidade urgente de uma reavaliação completa de biossegurança”, escreveu o autodenominado “Grupo de Trabalho de Cambridge”, composto de pesquisadores das universidades de Harvard, Yale, Ottawa, entre outras.

No alerta, eles relatam que incidentes com patógenos têm aumentado e ocorrido em média duas vezes por semana em laboratórios privados e públicos do país. A informação é de um estudo de 2012 do periódico “Applied Biosafety”.

– Quando vemos algum caso na imprensa, dá a impressão de que são episódios raros, mas não são – comentou Amir Attaran, da Universidade de Ottawa, um dos cientistas que assinou o documento. – Estamos preocupados com as experiências perigosas que estão sendo feitas para projetar os mais infecciosos e mortais vírus da gripe e da síndrome respiratória aguda grave (Sars). Achamos que essa ciência imprudente e insensata pode ferir ou matar um grande número de pessoas. O Centro de Controle de Prevenção de Doenças, na semana passada, admitiu que laboratórios de alta segurança perderam o controle com algumas amostras.

No último caso, frascos de varíola foram encontrados por acaso num depósito inutilizado de um laboratório federal em Washington. Estima-se que eles estivessem ali há mais de 50 anos.

Attaran comparou o pronunciamento do grupo ao que cientistas fizeram em 1943, antes dos bombardeios de Hiroshima, na Segunda Guerra Mundial. E disse que o risco dessas experiências são maiores do que os possíveis benefícios dessas pesquisas, citando a recriação in vitro do vírus da gripe espanhola, de 1918, que matou 40 milhões de pessoas. Em 2006, cientistas fizeram a experiência num laboratório americano.

– Não é para ficarmos alarmados aqui – garante Volnei Garrafa, coordenador do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Bioética da UnB e membro do Comitê Internacional de Bioética da Unesco. – Mas a preocupação deles é válida, sempre há riscos, e o governo precisaria se posicionar.

LEIA O DOCUMENTO NA ÍNTEGRA:
Incidentes recentes envolvendo varíola, antraz e gripe aviária em alguns dos mais importantes laboratórios dos Estados Unidos nos faz lembrar da falibilidade até das unidades mais seguras, reforçando a necessidade urgente de uma reavaliação completa de biossegurança. Tais incidentes têm aumentado e ocorrido em média duas vezes por semana com patógenos regulados em laboratórios privados e públicos do país. Uma infecção acidental com qualquer patógeno é preocupante. Mas riscos de acidente com os recém-criados ‘patógenos potencialmente pandêmicos’ levanta novas graves preocupações.

A criação em laboratório de novas cepas de vírus perigosos e altamente transmissíveis, especialmente de gripe, mas não apenas dela, apresenta riscos substancialmente maiores. Uma infecção acidental em tal situação poderia desencadear surtos que poderiam ser difíceis ou impossíveis de controlar. Historicamente, novas cepas de gripe, uma vez que comecem a transmissão na população humana, infectaram um quarto ou mais da população mundial em dois anos.

Para qualquer experimento, os benefícios esperados deveriam superar os riscos. Experiências envolvendo a criação de patógenos potencialmente pandêmicos deveria ser limitada até que haja uma avaliação quantitativa, objetiva e confiável, dos possíveis benefícios e oportunidades de mitigação de riscos, assim como a comparação contra abordagens experimentais mais seguras.

Uma versão moderna do processo Asilomar, que define regras para pesquisas com DNA recombinante, poderia ser um ponto de partida para identificar as melhores medidas para se atingir os objetivos de saúde pública global no combate a doenças pandêmicas e assegurar os mais altos níveis de segurança. Sempre que possível, a segurança deve ser prioridade em detrimento a ações que tenham risco de pandemia acidental.

(Flávia Milhorance / O Globo)
http://oglobo.globo.com/sociedade/saude/cientistas-pedem-limite-criacao-de-virus-mortais-em-laboratorio-13281731#ixzz37jNAiHZI

Brasil vacila em ratificar protocolo sobre biodiversidade (Greenpeace)

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16/7/2014 – 12h07

por Redação do Greenpeace

indigenas Brasil vacila em ratificar protocolo sobre biodiversidade

 

A demora do Congresso Nacional em votar a ratificação do Protocolo de Nagoya, assinado pelo País em 2010, pode custar a cadeira brasileira na mesa de discussões da COP-12

O Brasil foi um dos primeiros países a assinar o Protocolo de Nagoya, proposto na 10ª Conferência das Partes da Convenção das Nações Unidas sobre Biodiversidade (COP-10), em 2010, como alternativa para regulamentação do uso de recursos da biodiversidade do planeta.

Depois de quatro anos, no entanto, o País acaba de perder a chance de participar ativamente da discussão sobre o assunto. As propostas contidas no protocolo não foram ratificadas pelo Congresso Nacional. Para entrar em vigor, 50 dos 92 signatários da Convenção sobre a Diversidade Biológica (CDB) precisavam confirmar sua validade, incorporando-o a legislação, até junho deste ano. O que aconteceu nesta segunda-feira 11, sem a participação do Brasil.

“O Brasil perdeu uma grande chance deixando de votar este projeto, uma vez que o País foi protagonista da proposta, junto com o próprio Japão. Mas se em casa a gente não consegue aprovar o que sugerimos internacionalmente, isso mostra que fomos muito bons de papo e pouco eficientes na ação”, avalia Marcio Astrini, coordenador da Campanha da Amazônia do Greenpeace Brasil. “De certa maneira isso é um reflexo da visão ambiental do atual governo, que ao invés de ver no Meio Ambiente uma oportunidade, vê nele um empecilho”, completa Astrini.

Parado desde 2012 no Congresso Nacional, o projeto foi designado para uma comissão especial, que nunca foi criada. O assunto sofre forte resistência por parte da bancada ruralista, que acredita que a ratificação da proposta poderia aumentar os custos do agronegócio no Brasil.

Um dos pontos mais polêmicos refere-se ao pagamento de royalties a países pela repartição de benefícios aos detentores de conhecimentos tradicionais associado ao uso de recursos genéticos oriundos da biodiversidade, como povos indígenas e comunidades tradicionais. “O objetivo central do protocolo é aumentar a proteção sobre as reservas naturais do planeta e, para isso, deve criar uma série de regras para controlar a utilização dos recursos, estabelecendo, inclusive regras econômicas. Isso vai no caminho do que precisa ser feito no mundo todo e precisamos participar desta discussão”, observa Astrini.

O Brasil concentra aproximadamente 20% de toda a biodiversidade do planeta. A regulação contribuiria para o combate a biopirataria, com ganhos no campo da ciência e também para as populações tradicionais, que teriam seus saberes reconhecidos e valorizados.

Outro ponto importante do protocolo é o plano estratégico de preservação, que aumenta as áreas terrestres e marítimas a serem protegidas no planeta. As regiões terrestres protegidas passariam de 10% para 17% e as zonas marítimas de proteção ambiental passaria de 1% para 10% de seu total. O próximo encontro dos signatários da CDB será na 12ª Conferência das Partes (COP-12) da CDB, em Pyeongchang, República da Coréia, de 6 a 17 de outubro deste ano.

* Publicado originalmente no site Greenpeace.

Telescópios investigam relação entre ciclo do Sol e clima (Fapesp)

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Equipamentos serão sincronizados para monitorar a atividade solar de forma ininterrupta e registrar informações que podem ser associadas à variação climática (foto:divulgação)
17/07/2014

Por Diego Freire

Agência FAPESP – Pesquisadores da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp) e da Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF) construíram dois telescópios que vão funcionar de forma sincronizada na detecção contínua de partículas derivadas da radiação do Sol para investigar possíveis relações entre os ciclos solares e as variações climáticas da Terra.

O trabalho é resultado da pesquisa “Detecção e estudo de eventos solares transientes e variação climática”, realizada no âmbito de um acordo de cooperação entre a FAPESP e a Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Faperj) que tem como objetivo apoiar projetos cooperativos e intercâmbio de pesquisadores e estudantes em áreas ligadas às mudanças climáticas globais.

De acordo com o coordenador da pesquisa na Unicamp, Anderson Campos Fauth, professor associado do Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin, já se sabe que os ciclos solares e suas flutuações apresentam alguma relação com a intensidade com que os raios cósmicos atingem a Terra, apesar de não serem considerados uma das principais causas das mudanças climáticas globais.

“Não existe um consenso sobre o mecanismo que relaciona a atividade solar e as mudanças climáticas. Há uma hipótese de que o aumento do fluxo de raios cósmicos pode estar associado ao surgimento de nuvens baixas, que globalmente exercem um efeito de resfriamento e, nas regiões polares, onde a incidência da radiação solar é baixa, têm impacto contrário, provocando aquecimento”, disse.

Fauth explica que cientistas têm observado que certos fenômenos climáticos – oceanos mais quentes, maior quantidade de chuvas tropicais, menos nuvens subtropicais, circulação mais intensa de ventos – parecem estar em parte associados ao ciclo de atividade solar, que dura em média 11 anos.

“Entretanto, esses estudos estão em fase inicial e é necessário fazer novas observações das radiações emitidas pelo Sol, principalmente quando surgem atividades como as explosões solares, e monitorar suas variações sazonais”, ponderou.

Diante disso, o trabalho da Unicamp e da UFF com os telescópios foca em um dos sinais do ciclo solar: a presença e o comportamento das partículas múons na atmosfera terrestre.

O múon é a mais abundante partícula com carga elétrica presente na superfície da Terra, representando cerca de 80% dos raios cósmicos com carga elétrica em altitudes próximas ao nível do mar. A cada segundo surgem, aproximadamente, 140 múons por metro quadrado.

O fato de a partícula quase sempre possuir trajetória retilínea facilita sua detecção com um arranjo de poucos detectores. “Essas partículas permitem estudar os eventos solares em uma região de energia que os satélites e os monitores de nêutrons posicionados na superfície terrestre não observam”, explicou Fauth.

O ano de 2014 é propício à detecção de múons pelos telescópios da Unicamp e da UFF. Ao longo deste período, o ciclo atual do Sol atinge sua máxima atividade: o número de manchas solares observadas aumenta consideravelmente e os flares – explosões que ocorrem na superfície do Sol – irrompem com grande intensidade, libertando milhões de toneladas de gás magnetizado.

Além disso, Campinas e Niterói, onde os telescópios estão instalados, têm localização privilegiada para a detecção de partículas derivadas da radiação solar, pois estão próximas à região central da Anomalia Magnética do Atlântico Sul (SAA, da sigla em inglês), onde a resistência magnética para entrada de partículas carregadas vindas do espaço é muito baixa.

A maioria dos detectores de partículas solares energéticas está instalada próximo às regiões dos polos porque, nas outras regiões, o campo magnético da Terra desvia as partículas carregadas. Mas na região da SAA há uma intensidade magnética muito inferior, uma espécie de buraco na magnetosfera que se comporta como um funil.

Muonca

O telescópio construído na Unicamp, que recebeu o nome Muonca, iniciou em abril a tomada de dados contínua, utilizando quatro detectores de partículas. Os detectores da UFF entraram em funcionamento em junho, no modo monitor – quando se realiza a contagem dos múons, sem determinar ainda sua direção de chegada.

O Muonca utiliza quatro detectores de partículas idênticos. A partícula múon, ao atravessar o cintilador do detector, produz uma luz que permite o registro de sua passagem. Um computador é utilizado no sistema de aquisição de dados, e as informações brutas são registradas em arquivos diários.

O telescópio da Unicamp foi construído em dois anos, incluindo o tempo para os processos de importação, realização dos projetos, desenhos técnicos das peças, execução por técnicos da universidade e de empresas privadas, montagem por membros do grupo de pesquisa, desenvolvimento do software de aquisição de dados e calibração dos detectores, além da programação dos códigos de análise dos dados.

O experimento opera continuamente, 24 horas por dia, e os pesquisadores desenvolvem agora um sistema que alerte por e-mail e SMS quando ocorrer algum problema ou possível evento solar na aquisição dos dados.

Recentemente, os detectores instalados em Campinas e Niterói registraram simultaneamente uma tempestade geomagnética. De acordo com Fauth, os dados estão sendo avaliados para publicação e os primeiros resultados conjuntos dos dois telescópios serão apresentados em setembro no 34º Encontro Nacional de Física de Partículas e Campos, organizado pela Sociedade Brasileira de Física em Caxambu (MG).

The fight to reform Econ 101 (Al Jazeera)

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Economics is a dismal nonscience, but it need not remain that way

July 16, 2014 6:00AM ET

by Philip Pilkington

During the last weekend of June, hundreds of students, university lecturers, professors and interested members of the public descended on the halls of University College London to attend the Rethinking Economics conference. They all shared a similar belief: that economics education in most universities had become narrow, insular and detached from the real world.

For a brief period after the financial crisis of 2008, the shortcomings of the economics profession and the way it is taught were recognized. Many economists offered up mea culpas of various kinds and conceded that since they did not foresee the biggest economic event since the Great Depression, there was probably something seriously wrong with the discipline. But as time passed and many economies began to experience gradual, somewhat muted recoveries, the profession regained its confidence.

When I was completing my master’s degree at Kingston University last year, I experienced this firsthand from the more mainstream faculty there. Lecturers offered potted explanations of the crisis using old analytical tools such as supply and demand graphs that cannot incorporate expectations to explain asset price bubbles. The same economists who, just a few years ago, told us that financial markets were the conduits of perfect information began to introduce doublethink phrases in the media such as “rational bubble” (in which investors allegedly act irrationally by bidding up asset prices in full knowledge that prices are heavily inflated but think they can bail out of the market before prices fall) to explain the events of the past few years. There is nothing rational about investors’ acting this way, because they cannot know when the bubble will burst and so cannot time their exit from the market. They cannot know when the herd movement that they are part of will come to an end, so any action that they take to ride the wave will be just as irrational as those of people unaware of the bubble. The entire exercise appeared to be an ad hoc attempt to reinterpret the facts to fit the pet theory — economic agents aware of relevant information act rationally — rather than to alter the theory in light of the facts.

It was difficult not to sense the Soviet-style revisionism that had occurred within the halls of learning: The party had tossed history down the memory hole and introduced a strange, seemingly self-contradictory language that they were busy foisting upon an unwitting public. One Chicago school economist, Ray Ball, argues that the now notorious efficient market hypothesis (EMH), which states that financial markets price in all relevant information, is actually supported by the recent crisis. He argues that the capital flight that led to the bank meltdowns lends support to the EMH because it shows how rapidly financial markets react to new information. But as many will remember, investigations clearly showed that information was not being processed efficiently by market participants in the run-up to the crisis. The most colorful example of this was the Standard & Poor’s employee who, responding to a colleague who said that they should not be rating a mortgage-backed security deal because the estimations of risk were incorrect, said that cows could be estimating the risk of a product and S&P would still rate it.

Shine a light

Despite such attempts to shore up the orthodoxy, students have sensed that something is wrong: Over the past two years, they have been organizing across more than 60 countries with the aim of forcing the vampire that is the economics profession into the light of day. While the students in the movement have a diversity of opinions on various issues, they have all come to believe that the best way to reform economics is to demand that a plurality of approaches be taught. They have rightly identified the key fault with contemporary economics teaching: the monoculture it engenders. Currently only one approach to economics is taught in the vast majority of departments in the U.S. and Europe: what is usually called neoclassical or marginalist economics, epitomized by Harvard’s Gregory Mankiw — a former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush — and Chicago’s Gary Becker, a Nobel laureate. This is the economics of the rational, atomized individual purged of all social context, whose only goal is to maximize a mysterious, effervescent quantity called utility. In this view, the economy tends toward an equilibrium end point, at which everyone has a job and wages and profits are set in line with what each individual contributes to society.

Donald Gillies, a former president of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science, told a stunned audience that he had examined three well-known Nobel Prize–winning papers in economics and could find nothing in them that he could call scientific.

When I spoke with the students, they were struck by how even those who dissented from contemporary economic policies like austerity shared this overarching vision. Paul Krugman, for example, to whom many turned after the crisis to provide context — including many of the students I met — also accepted the orthodox view (although he has not embraced some of the worst excesses echoed by his peers).

True dissenters

The students at the June conference also said that there were true dissenters in the discipline who found that economics was a highly contested field. Cambridge University’s Ha-Joon Chang pointed out that there are any number of schools of economic thought, each with their own approaches and insights. Their opinions range from the Austrians, who believe that government interference in the economy leads to wasted resources, to post-Keynesians, who believe that capitalist economies are inherently unstable and require government intervention to stave off collapse and stagnation, to Marxians, institutionalists, Schumpeterians, neo-Ricardians and so on. Chang argued that none of these schools of thought were inherently right or wrong; they all had insights into the working of the economy, and every one of them had a right to be taught to students as a competing point of view. It was up to the students, he said, to find what they found interesting, useful and credible.

One of the conference speakers pointed out that this is required in all the other disciplines that study people and society. He told an anecdote about being in the psychology department of his university when an inspector from a psychological association turned up to ensure that there was an adequately pluralist approach being undertaken. The speaker quipped that it would be far more likely that an inspector from an economics association would turn up to ensure that the current doctrine was being firmly adhered to.

But what, exactly, constitutes this dogmatic thinking? For starters, the firm belief that economics is a science on par with physics and chemistry. After all, these economists say, only a crank would demand that a plurality of approaches to physics and chemistry should be taught in universities. But the truth of the matter is that economics is not a science on par with physics and chemistry and it never will be. Donald Gillies, a former president of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science, told a stunned audience that he had examined three well-known Nobel Prize–winning papers in economics and could find nothing in them that he could call scientific. Rather, he said, they utilized sophisticated mathematics to hide the fact that they were not saying anything remotely relevant about the real world that could be proved or disproved.

The dirty little secret about economics is that it cannot, like other sciences, undertake proper laboratory experiments. Even the experiments of the behaviorist economists are open to doubt in that it seems unlikely that the manner in which people act in a lab while under observation is identical to how they act day to day. Economics is therefore ill equipped to make claims with the same confidence as bona fide sciences. What economists offer are instead interpretations of the world around them. Once this is understood, it becomes very difficult to argue against a plurality of opinions in the discipline. This was what the students sensed, and this is why their clarion call became one for pluralism.

New curriculum

These students are well organized, and their numbers are growing; their commitment is unlikely to go away anytime soon. They are focused in a manner that is impressive for a protest movement, willing to transcend their political differences in order to fight for a common goal. Every week a new group springs up. At the conference I attended, organizers went around with pads and pens collecting the contact details of sympathetic faculty members and other students in countries where the movement was only partially developed.

Even institutions are hopping on board. Many employers complain that the mainstream departments are churning out employees with mathematical skills completely out of proportion to the jobs they do but who seem unable to undertake basic economic analysis. Often these employees have to be retrained on the job in order to function at their institutions. The chief economist of the Bank of England, Andy Haldane, wrote in the foreword to the students’ international manifesto that “employers of economists, like the Bank of England, stand to benefit from such an evolution in the economics curriculum.” Given that mainstream economists often claim that the consumer is king and competition is sacrosanct, it is increasingly difficult to see how they make a case for their current monopoly over the educational process.

In September another conference will take place in New York, and rumor has it that an enormous international meeting will soon be organized too. If and when the movement reaches that level of international organization, it could start putting real pressure on companies, governments and economics departments to rethink their models and their ways. If the profession wishes to uphold what is left of its credibility, it would do well to pay attention.

Philip Pilkington is a London-based economist and member of the Political Economy Research Group at Kingston University. He runs the blog Fixing the Economists.

O manguezal avança (Fapesp)

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01.07.2014

O manguezal da Reserva Biológica de Guaratiba, no Rio de Janeiro, parece estar em migração continente adentro. O movimento é uma resposta à elevação no nível do mar, que pesquisadores do Núcleo de Estudos do Manguezal (Nema), da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Uerj), atribuem a mudanças globais no clima.

O oceanógrafo Gustavo Duque Estrada, do Nema, foi a campo com a equipe de vídeo de Pesquisa FAPESP para mostrar como o grupo vem monitorando essa floresta costeira desde os anos 1990. Na universidade, o coordenador do grupo, Mário Soares, explica o significado dos resultados de pesquisa para entender os manguezais, suas respostas às mudanças ambientais e sua influência sobre o ambiente, incluindo por meio da capacidade de armazenar carbono. “Áreas que antes eram planícies hipersalinas, lá no início da década de 1990, hoje já são florestas de mangue”, conta.

Sem chuva, vale até reciclar esgoto (Página 22)

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14 JULHO 2014

Na capital do oeste australiano, nem só de dessalinização vive a gestão da água. No lugar onde a seca é realidade há décadas, a reciclagem tornou-se essencial

Por Flavia Pardini na Página 22

A seca no Sudeste brasileiro pegou muita gente de calça curta no país da enxurrada. Mas no continente mais seco do mundo, a noção de que é preciso gerir a água para o futuro é realidade há décadas.

Na cidade australiana de Perth – onde a vazão para os reservatórios caiu pela metade desde os anos 1970 –, o pilar de longo prazo da política hídrica é a dessalinização, que responde por metade do consumo de 1,8 milhão de habitantes. O outro grande esforço em marcha é o de reciclar.

Um programa de tratamento de “águas residuais” – que vão pelo ralo após o uso em chuveiros, pias e máquinas de lavar – e sua reintrodução no aquífero recebeu luz verde em 2013. No início de março passado, a Water Corporation, empresa que abastece Perth, informou que 3,5 bilhões de litros de água altamente tratada e purificada foram reinjetados nos aquíferos mais profundos da região, onde ficará estocada para uso futuro. O plano é reciclar e reinjetar 7 bilhões de litros por ano, com possibilidade de expansão para 28 bilhões de litros.

O processo envolve ultrafiltragem, osmose reversa e exposição a raios ultravioleta. A reinjeção é necessária para que a população, que prefere um processo “natural” de filtragem, aceite beber água que já foi usada e descartada.

Um porta-voz da Water Corporation informou que a expectativa é de que 1 litro de água reciclada custe “um pouco menos” do que 1 litro de água dessalinizada. Ambientalistas aguerridos contestam as boas intenções da empresa – segundo eles, seria mais barato tornar obrigatório que novas residências captem água da chuva e disponham de seu próprio sistema de reciclagem.

A reciclagem, segundo a Water Corp, tem potencial para responder por até 20% do consumo de Perth em 2060.

Fonte: Página 22.

Precipitation, not warming temperatures, may be key in bird adaptation to climate change (Science Daily)

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Date: July 11, 2014

Source: Oregon State University

Summary: A new model analyzing how birds in western North America will respond to climate change suggests that for most species, regional warming is not as likely to influence population trends as will precipitation changes. “In general, our study suggests that if climate change results in winters with less precipitation, we likely will see a spring drying effect,” one researcher said. “This means that populations of drought-tolerant species will expand and birds that rely heavily on moisture should decline.”

Rufous hummingbird. Credit: Image courtesy of Oregon State University

A new model analyzing how birds in western North America will respond to climate change suggests that for most species, regional warming is not as likely to influence population trends as will precipitation changes.

Several past studies have found that temperature increases can push some animal species — including birds — into higher latitudes or higher elevations. Few studies, however, have tackled the role that changes in precipitation may cause, according to Matthew Betts, an Oregon State University ecologist and a principal investigator on the study.

“When we think of climate change, we automatically think warmer temperatures,” said Betts, an associate professor in Oregon State’s College of Forestry. “But our analysis found that for many species, it is precipitation that most affects the long-term survival of many bird species.

“It makes sense when you think about it,” Betts added. “Changes in precipitation can affect plant growth, soil moisture, water storage and insect abundance and distributions.”

Results of the study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation with support from the U.S. Geological Survey and others, are being published in the journalGlobal Change Biology.

The researchers examined long-term data on bird distributions and abundance covering five states in the western United States, and in the Canadian province of British Columbia, testing statistical models to predict temporal changes in population of 132 bird species over a 32-year period. They analyzed the impacts of temperature and precipitation on bird distributions at the beginning of the study period (the 1970s) and then tested how well the predictions performed against actual population trends over the ensuing 30 years.

The scientists keyed in on several variables, including possible changes during the wettest month in each region, the breeding season of different species, and the driest month by area. Their model found that models including precipitation were most successful at predicting bird population trends.

“For some species, the model can predict about 80 percent of variation,” Betts said, “and for some species, it’s just a flip of the coin. But the strongest message is that precipitation is an important factor and we should pay more attention to the implications of this moving forward.”

The study incorporated a lot of complex variables into the model, including micro-climatic changes that are present in mountainous environments. The research area encompassed California to northern British Columbia and the mountain systems drive much of the changes in both temperature and precipitation.

The researchers chose December precipitation as one variable and found it to be influential in affecting bird populations.

“Someone might ask why December, since half of the bird species usually present in the Pacific Northwest, for instance, might not even be here since they’re migratory,” Betts noted. “But much of the critical precipitation is snow that falls in the winter and has a carryover effect for months later — and the runoff is what affects stream flows, plant growth and insect abundance well down the road.”

The rufous hummingbird is one species that appeared affected by changes in December precipitation, the researchers say. The species is declining across western North America at a rate of about 3 percent a year, and the model suggest it is linked to an overall drying trend in the Northwest. The evening grosbeak is similarly affected the authors say.

On the other hand, the California towhee shows a negative association with December precipitation, appears to be drought-tolerant — and its populations remain stable.

“We cannot say for certain that a change in December precipitation caused declines in evening grosbeaks or rufous hummingbirds,” said Javier Gutiérrez Illán, a former postdoctoral researcher at Oregon State and lead author on the study. “Our model shows, however, a strong association between the birds’ decline and precipitation changes and the fact that this variable pointed to actual past changes in populations gives it validity.”

“The study shows that models can predict the direction and magnitude of population changes,” he added. “This is of fundamental importance considering predictions were successful even in new locations.”

The next phase of the research is to use the model to determine if there are patterns in the sorts of species affected — for instance, birds that are migratory or non-migratory, or short- or long-lived. They also hope to test additional variables, including land use changes, wildfire impacts, competition between species and other factors.

“In general, our study suggests that if climate change results in winters with less precipitation, we likely will see a spring drying effect,” Betts said. “This means that populations of drought-tolerant species will expand and birds that rely heavily on moisture should decline.”

Journal Reference:
  1. Javier Gutiérrez Illán, Chris D. Thomas, Julia A. Jones, Weng-Keen Wong, Susan M. Shirley, Matthew G. Betts. Precipitation and winter temperature predict long-term range-scale abundance changes in Western North American birds.Global Change Biology, 2014; DOI: 10.1111/gcb.12642

Pope Francis and the psychology of exorcism and possession (The Guardian)

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Endorsement of exorcism by the Vatican will do nothing to prevent future tragedies like the death of Victoria Climbié

Chris French

Wednesday 9 July 2014

Last week it was reported that Pope Francis had formally recognised the International Association of Exorcists, a group of 250 priests spread across 30 countries who supposedly cast out demons. The head of the association, Rev Francesco Bamonte, announced that this was a cause for joy because, “Exorcism is a form of charity that benefits those who suffer.” While Pope Francis, who frequently mentions Satan, no doubt agrees with this sentiment, this granting of legal recognition to the concepts of possession and exorcism has come as something of a shock to those who do not share this world view.

Belief in possession is widespread both geographically and historically and is far from rare in modern western societies. A YouGov poll of 1,000 US adults last year found that over half of the respondents endorsed belief in possession and 20% remained unsure. Only 11% said categorically that they did not believe people could be “possessed by the devil”.

Is it possible that the pope is right and demons can sometimes take control of their victims’ behaviour? Are exorcists really bravely battling against the most powerful, evil forces imaginable? Or are possession and exorcism best explained in terms of psychological factors without any need to postulate the existence of incorporeal spiritual entities? I would argue that the available evidence strongly supports the latter interpretation.

There can be no doubt that some forms of behaviour that would once have been seen as evidence for possession by demons or evil spirits would now be recognised as being caused by neuropathology. Hippocrates, in The Sacred Disease, declared that epileptic convulsions were caused by brain malfunction, not evil spirits. Belief in possession was still widespread some 400 years later, however, when Jesus encountered an individual believed to be possessed but who was, in fact, clearly suffering from epilepsy.

Another condition that would often have been interpreted in a similar manner is Tourette’s syndrome. Interestingly, the first recorded description of a case of Tourette’s may be in Malleus Maleficarum (or Witch’s Hammer) published in the 15th century by Jakob Sprenger and Heinrich Kraemer. This notorious book served as a guide for identifying witches and the possessed and included a description of a priest whose tics were thought to be a result of possession by the devil. Although the symptom that people most readily associate with Tourette’s syndrome is vocal outbursts of foul language, this symptom is in fact quite rare, affecting only around 10% of sufferers. Having said that, this is probably the main symptom that, in times gone by, would have led to suspicion of possession.

There are several other neuropathologies (eg certain forms of schizophrenia) that might also have been interpreted as possession in less enlightened times (and sadly sometimes still are) but it is not plausible to explain all cases of apparent possession in neuropathological terms. It should also be borne in mind that the type of phenomenon that would be the main focus for the International Association of Exorcists is but one example of situations where an individual appears to have been taken over by some agent, resulting in a dramatic change in behaviour, mannerisms, voice and even, allegedly, memories.

Other examples would include mediums “channelling” communications from the dead; shamans inviting possession by the gods, ancestors or animal spirits; individuals apparently reliving past-lives, having gone through a process of hypnotic regression; and volunteers during hypnosis stage shows apparently taking on the identities of celebrities, animals or even aliens.

The controversial diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder (formerly known as multiple personality disorder) is yet another example of this phenomenon, though many commentators, myself included, believe that it is not in fact a genuine psychiatric disorder but is instead a product of dubious forms of therapy.

The sociocognitive approach, as outlined by Nick Spanos in his posthumously published book, Multiple Identities and False Memories, has the potential to explain all the phenomena listed in the previous two paragraphs without the need to invoke disembodied spiritual entities. Essentially, this approach argues that all of these phenomena reflect learned patterns of behaviour that constitute particular recognised roles within specific cultural contexts.

Although it may not always be immediately obvious, there are often benefits to enacting the role of being possessed. Indeed, in many societies, certain forms of possession are welcomed. For example, glossolalia, or “speaking in tongues”, is encouraged in many western Christian societies and is interpreted as possession by the Holy Spirit. During glossolalia, the individual produces vocalisations of meaningless syllables. Although these may sound superficially like a foreign language, analysis shows them to have no true linguistic structure whatsoever. Glossolalia can sometimes involve dramatic behaviour such as convulsions, sweating and rolling eyes but can also be much more subdued. The actual form the glossolalia takes is entirely determined by the expectations of the particular religious community involved.

For less positive forms of possession, the benefits of taking on this role may be harder to identify but they still exist. As Michael Cuneo describes in his excellent book, American Exorcism, the phenomena of alleged possession and exorcism are much more widespread in the US than is officially recognised. For many people, the idea that all of their previous socially and morally unacceptable behaviour was not in fact their fault but due to possession by demons is appealing. Furthermore, once those demons have been exorcised, the repentant sinner is now welcomed back into the loving arms of his or her community.

Anthropologists have pointed out that in some cultures, those with little or no social influence can let off steam and vent their true feelings towards the more powerful members of their society while “possessed” without having to face any repercussions. They are not held to be responsible for their actions, the possessing spirit is. It is notable that historically in Europe, it was women who were much more likely to be “possessed” than men.

Of course, we must not forget that the outcome for the person who is labelled as “possessed” can sometimes be far from positive. To give one notorious example, the parents of 23-year-old Anneliese Michel and two West German priests were convicted in 1978 of causing her death (they received suspended sentences). They had starved the young epileptic as part of a horrendous 11-month exorcism. She weighed just 68 pounds (5 stone or 30 kilograms) at the time of her death. The Guardian has noted that belief in possession has been a factor in several child abuse cases in the UK, including the tragic death of Victoria Climbié in 2000.

The official recognition of such pre-Enlightenment beliefs by the Vatican will do nothing to prevent future tragedies of this kind.

guardian.co.uk Copyright (c) Guardian News and Media Limited. 2014 Registered in England and Wales No. 908396 Registered office: PO Box 68164, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1P 2AP

Miami, the great world city, is drowning while the powers that be look away (The Observer)

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Low-lying south Florida, at the front line of climate change in the US, will be swallowed as sea levels rise. Astonishingly, the population is growing, house prices are rising and building goes on. The problem is the city is run by climate change deniers

, science editor, in Miami

The Observer, Friday 11 July 2014 08.59 BST

Miami coastline

The Miami coastline: there are fears that even a 30cm rise in the sea level could be catastrophic. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty

A drive through the sticky Florida heat into Alton Road in Miami Beach can be an unexpectedly awkward business. Most of the boulevard, which runs north through the heart of the resort’s most opulent palm-fringed real estate, has been reduced to a single lane that is hemmed in by bollards, road-closed signs, diggers, trucks, workmen, stacks of giant concrete cylinders and mounds of grey, foul-smelling earth.

It is an unedifying experience but an illuminating one – for this once glamorous thoroughfare, a few blocks from Miami Beach’s art deco waterfront and its white beaches, has taken on an unexpected role. It now lies on the front line of America’s battle against climate change and the rise in sea levels that it has triggered.

“Climate change is no longer viewed as a future threat round here,” says atmosphere expert Professor Ben Kirtman, of the University of Miami. “It is something that we are having to deal with today.”

Every year, with the coming of high spring and autumn tides, the sea surges up the Florida coast and hits the west side of Miami Beach, which lies on a long, thin island that runs north and south across the water from the city of Miami. The problem is particularly severe in autumn when winds often reach hurricane levels. Tidal surges are turned into walls of seawater that batter Miami Beach’s west coast and sweep into the resort’s storm drains, reversing the flow of water that normally comes down from the streets above. Instead seawater floods up into the gutters of Alton Road, the first main thoroughfare on the western side of Miami Beach, and pours into the street. Then the water surges across the rest of the island.

The effect is calamitous. Shops and houses are inundated; city life is paralysed; cars are ruined by the corrosive seawater that immerses them. During one recent high spring tide, laundromat owner Eliseo Toussaint watched as slimy green saltwater bubbled up from the gutters. It rapidly filled the street and then blocked his front door. “This never used to happen,” Toussaint told reporters. “I’ve owned this place eight years and now it’s all the time.”

Today, shop owners keep plastic bags and rubber bands handy to wrap around their feet when they have to get to their cars through rising waters, while householders have found that ground-floor spaces in garages are no longer safe to keep their cars. Only those on higher floors can hope to protect their cars from surging sea waters that corrode and rot the innards of their vehicles.

Hence the construction work at Alton Road, where $400m is now being spent in an attempt to halt these devastating floods – by improving Miami Beach’s stricken system of drains and sewers. In total, around $1.5bn is to be invested in projects aimed at holding back the rising waters. Few scientists believe the works will have a long-term effect.

lowlying houses miami

Low-lying houses in Miami Beach are especially vulnerable. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

“There has been a rise of about 10 inches in sea levels since the 19th century – brought about by humanity’s heating of the planet through its industrial practices – and that is now bringing chaos to Miami Beach by regularly flooding places like Alton Road,” says Harold Wanless, a geology professor at the University of Miami. “And it is going to get worse. By the end of this century we could easily have a rise of six feet, possibly 10 feet. Nothing much will survive that. Most of the land here is less than 10 feet above sea level.”

What makes Miami exceptionally vulnerable to climate change is its unique geology. The city – and its satellite towns and resorts – is built on a dome of porous limestone which is soaking up the rising seawater, slowly filling up the city’s foundations and then bubbling up through drains and pipes. Sewage is being forced upwards and fresh water polluted. Miami’s low topography only adds to these problems. There is little land out here that rises more than six feet above sea level. Many condos and apartment blocks open straight on the edge of the sea. Of the total of 4.2 million US citizens who live at an elevation of four feet or less, 2.4 million of them live in south Florida.

At Florida International University, geologist Peter Harlem has created a series of maps that chart what will happen as the sea continues to rise. These show that by the time oceans have risen by four feet – a fairly conservative forecast – most of Miami Beach, Key Biscayne, Virginia Key and all the area’s other pieces of prime real estate, will be bathtubs. At six feet, Miami city’s waterfront and the Florida Keys will have disappeared. The world’s busiest cruise ship port, which handles four million passengers, will disappear beneath the waves. “This is the fact of life about the ocean: it is very, very powerful,” says Harlem.

Miami and its surroundings are facing a calamity worthy of the Old Testament. It is an astonishing story. Despite its vast wealth, the city might soon be consumed by the waves, for even if all emissions of carbon dioxide were halted tomorrow – a very unlikely event given their consistent rise over the decades – there is probably enough of the gas in the atmosphere to continue to warm our planet, heat and expand our seas, and melt polar ice. In short, there seems there is nothing that can stop the waters washing over Miami completely.

It a devastating scenario. But what really surprises visitors and observers is the city’s response, or to be more accurate, its almost total lack of reaction. The local population is steadily increasing; land prices continue to surge; and building is progressing at a generous pace. During my visit last month, signs of construction – new shopping malls, cranes towering over new condominiums and scaffolding enclosing freshly built apartment blocks – could be seen across the city, its backers apparently oblivious of scientists’ warnings that the foundations of their buildings may be awash very soon.

Activists Demonstrate Against Sen. Rubio's Miami Office

Protesters gather near the office of Senator Marco Rubio to ask him to take action to address climate change. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Not that they are alone. Most of Florida’s senior politicians – in particular, Senator Marco Rubio, former governor Jeb Bush and current governor Rick Scott, all Republican climate-change deniers – have refused to act or respond to warnings of people like Wanless or Harlem or to give media interviews to explain their stance, though Rubio, a Republican party star and a possible 2016 presidential contender, has made his views clear in speeches. “I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it. I do not believe that the laws that they propose we pass will do anything about it, except it will destroy our economy,” he said recently. Miami is in denial in every sense, it would seem. Or as Wanless puts it: “People are simply sticking their heads in the sand. It is mind-boggling.”

Not surprisingly, Rubio’s insistence that his state is no danger from climate change has brought him into conflict with local people. Philip Stoddard, the mayor of South Miami, has a particularly succinct view of the man and his stance. “Rubio is an idiot,” says Stoddard. “He says he is not a scientist so he doesn’t have a view about climate change and sea-level rise and so won’t do anything about it. Yet Florida’s other senator, Democrat Bill Nelson, is holding field hearings where scientists can tell people what the data means. Unfortunately, not enough people follow his example. And all the time, the waters are rising.”

Philip Stoddard is particularly well-placed to judge what is happening to Miami. Tall, thin, with a dry sense of humour, he is a politician, having won two successive elections to be mayor of South Miami, and a scientist, a biology professor at Florida International University. The backyard of the home that he shares with his architect wife, Grey Reid, reflects his passion for the living world. While most other South Miami residences sport bright blue swimming pools and barbecues, Stoddard has created a small lake, fringed with palms and ferns, that would do justice to the swampy Everglades near his home. Bass, koi and mosquito fish swim here, while bright dragonflies and zebra lapwing butterflies flit overhead. It is a naturalists’ haven but Stoddard is under no illusions about the risks facing his home. Although several miles inland, the house is certainly not immune to the changes that threaten to engulf south Florida.

“The thing about Miami is that when it goes, it will all be gone,” says Stoddard. “I used to work at Cornell University and every morning, when I went to work, I climbed more elevation than exists in the entire state of Florida. Our living-room floor here in south Miami is at an elevation of 10 feet above sea level at present. There are significant parts of south Florida that are less than six feet above sea level and which are now under serious threat of inundation.”

Nor will south Florida have to wait that long for the devastation to come. Long before the seas have risen a further three or four feet, there will be irreversible breakdowns in society, he says. “Another foot of sea-level rise will be enough to bring salt water into our fresh water supplies and our sewage system. Those services will be lost when that happens,” says Stoddard.

“You won’t be able to flush away your sewage and taps will no longer provide homes with fresh water. Then you will find you will no longer be able to get flood insurance for your home. Land and property values will plummet and people will start to leave. Places like South Miami will no longer be able to raise enough taxes to run our neighbourhoods. Where will we find the money to fund police to protect us or fire services to tackle house fires? Will there even be enough water pressure for their fire hoses? It takes us into all sorts of post-apocalyptic scenarios. And that is only with a one-foot sea-level rise. It makes one thing clear though: mayhem is coming.”

Miami flooding

In November 2013, a full moon and high tides led to flooding in parts of the city, including here at Alton Road and 10th Street. Photograph: Corbis

And then there is the issue of Turkey Point nuclear plant, which lies 24 miles south of Miami. Its operators insist it can survive sea surges and hurricanes and point out that its reactor vessel has been built 20 feet above sea level. But critics who include Stoddard, Harlem and others argue that anciliary equipment – including emergency diesel generators that are crucial to keeping cooling waters circulating in the event of power failure – are not so well protected. In the event of sea rise and a major storm surge, a power supply disruption could cause a repeat of the Fukushima accident of 2011, they claim. In addition, inundation maps like those prepared by Harlem show that with a three-foot sea-level rise, Turkey Point will be cut off from the mainland and will become accessible only by boat or aircraft. And the higher the seas go, the deeper it will be submerged.

Turkey Point was built in the 1970s when sea level rises were not an issue, of course. But for scientists like Ben Kirtman, they are now a fact of life. The problem is that many planners and managers still do not take the threat into account when planning for the future, he argues. A classic example is provided by the state’s water management. South Florida, because it is so low-lying, is criss-crossed with canals that take away water when there is heavy rainfall and let it pour into the sea.

“But if you have sea level rises of much more than a foot in the near future, when you raise the canal gates to let the rain water out, you will find sea water rushing in instead,” Kirtman said. “The answer is to install massive pumps as they have done in New Orleans. Admittedly, these are expensive. They each cost millions of dollars. But we are going to need them and if we don’t act now we are going to get caught out. The trouble is that no one is thinking about climate change or sea-level rises at a senior management level.”

The problem stems from the top, Kirtman said, from the absolute insistence of influential climate change deniers that global warming is not happening. “When statesmen like Rubio say things like that, they make it very, very hard for anything to get done on a local level – for instance for Miami to raise the millions it needs to build new sewers and canals. If local people have been told by their leaders that global warming is not happening, they will simply assume you are wasting their money by building defences against it.

“But global warming is occurring. That is absolutely unequivocal. Since the 1950s, the climate system has warmed. That is an absolute fact. And we are now 95% sure that that warming is due to human activities. If I was 95% sure that my house was on fire, would I get out? Obviously I would. It is straightforward.”

This point is backed by Harold Wanless. “Every day we continue to pump uncontrolled amounts of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, we strengthen the monster that is going to consume us. We are heating up the atmosphere and then we are heating up the oceans so that they expand and rise. There doesn’t look as if anything is going to stop that. People are starting to plan in Miami but really they just don’t see where it is all going.”

Thus one of the great cities of the world faces obliteration in the coming decades. “It is over for south Florida. It is as simple as that. Nor is it on its own,” Wanless admits.

“The next two or three feet of sea-level rise that we get will do away with just about every barrier island we have across the planet. Then, when rises get to four-to-six feet, all the world’s great river deltas will disappear and with them the great stretches of agricultural land that surrounds them. People still have their heads in the sand about this but it is coming. Miami is just the start. It is worth watching just for that reason alone. It is a major US city and it is going to let itself drown.”

Other areas at risk

London

With eight power stations, 35 tube stations and all of Whitehall in the tidal Thames floodplain, the threat of floods has long loomed large, posing a risk to the economy, infrastructure and national heritage. With sea level rises and increased rainfall on the cards thanks to climate change, measures are being put in place to revamp and boost the ageing flood defences. Meanwhile, the south-east of England is sinking by around 1.5mm a year.

Amsterdam/Netherlands

The Dutch are often looked to as the masters of flood defence engineering with their impressive array of dams, dikes and barriers. It’s a skill they have had to acquire as almost half the population lives less than 3ft above sea level and many livelihoods depend on the country’s strong flood defences. They have adopted a “live with water, rather than fight it” attitude in recent years, with innovations including “floating homes” being built in Amsterdam.

New Orleans

Bearing in mind that roughly half of New Orleans is below sea level, its future in terms of coastal flooding does not look too bright. Indeed, according to the World Bank it is the fourth-most vulnerable city to future sea level rise in economic costs, with predicted average annual losses of $1.8bn in 2050. It is predicted that rising waters and subsiding land could result in relative sea level rises of up to 4.6ft by 2100, one of the highest rates in the US.

Maldives

The Maldives is generally thought of as an island paradise but is critically endangered by the rising ocean that both supports and surrounds it. Of its 1,192 islands, 80% are less than 3ft above sea level, with global warming putting the Maldives at risk of becoming the Atlantis of our time. So perhaps it is unsurprising that the Maldivian president is looking at the options of buying land should the country’s 200 densely inhabited islands need to be evacuated.There’s even a pot of money especially allocated for buying land overseas and moving the islands’s residents to safer ground.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a nation in which three majestic Himalayan rivers converge, before meandering their way to the sea via the Ganges delta: beautiful on a map, but not ideal in terms of river flooding, or tidal flooding for that matter. The country is basically a massive floodplain, with more than 20% of its land awash with water every year and around 70% experiencing severe flooding in extreme cases. As one of the world’s least developed countries, it cannot afford the technology others use to mitigate the effects of flooding and has to turn to more imaginative means, such as creating houses built on stilts in coastal areas.

Abigail Hayward

Pescadores que denunciaram Petrobrás se dizem exilados dentro do país (Congresso em Foco)

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Pescadores que denunciaram Petrobras se dizem exilados dentro do país

Retirados de Magé (RJ) depois de resistirem a megaprojeto da estatal na Baía da Guanabara, líderes de associação reclamam do tratamento do governo federal e pedem segurança para voltarem às suas casas

POR EDSON SARDINHA | 30/06/2014 17:47

Dois telefonemas disparados de Brasília atingiram em cheio três pescadores que desafiaram a Petrobras na Baía de Guanabara, no Rio de Janeiro. O primeiro acertou de uma só vez Alexandre Anderson de Souza e sua esposa, Daize Menezes de Souza, em novembro de 2012. O segundo chamado alcançou Maicon Alexandre Rodrigues, em setembro de 2013. Os três receberam ordens da Secretaria de Direitos Humanos da Presidência para se retirarem de Magé (RJ), onde viviam e resistiam aos projetos do Complexo Petroquímico do Rio de Janeiro (Comperj), o maior investimento da história da estatal. O recado era claro: se não saíssem, seriam mortos por grupos armados da região, dos quais já haviam sofrido ameaças e atentados.

Incluídos no Programa de Proteção aos Defensores de Direitos Humanos (PPDDH), coordenado pela secretaria, abandonaram a cidade com a promessa até hoje não concretizada de que voltariam dois meses depois com segurança. Desde então, vivem como clandestinos. Não sabem se um dia voltarão a Magé, sede da Associação dos Homens do Mar (Ahomar), da qual são dirigentes. A entidade está com as portas fechadas desde agosto de 2012.

Os pescadores acusam a Secretaria de Direitos Humanos de atuar em parceria com a Petrobras para mantê-los longe da região onde a empresa toca o maior investimento do Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento (PAC), avaliado em US$ 13,5 bilhões. O trio afirma que os telefonemas disparados pelo programa, ainda que eventualmente os tenham livrado da morte, mataram a resistência dos pescadores de sete municípios da Baía de Guanabara. De 2009 para cá, quatro dirigentes da Ahomar foram assassinados. Alexandre e Daize contam ter escapado de sete atentados.

Com manifestações no mar e ações na Justiça, a entidade virou obstáculo para a petroleira e seus fornecedores. Conseguiu paralisar trechos de obras por onde passariam dutos de gás. Desde que foi lançado, em 2006, o complexo petroquímico virou uma usina de problemas para o governo federal: o orçamento previsto dobrou e o início de sua operação está quatro anos atrasado.

“Para mim, quem mata não é só quem atira ou manda atirar. É também quem deixa atirar. Não tenho dúvida de que minha retirada foi determinada pela Petrobras. Houve um pedido político para eu deixar Magé”, acusa Alexandre, 43 anos, fundador e presidente da Ahomar. “Já são mais de 550 dias longe de casa. Tenho de voltar com escolta e ser protegido enquanto perdurarem as ameaças e os acusados não forem presos”, reivindica.E, para ele, as ameaças partem de empresas que prestam serviços à companhia.

Vice-presidente da associação, Maicon, 37 anos, relata viver os piores dias de sua vida. “O programa foi a pior coisa que me aconteceu. Se não nos matarem, vamos morrer de infarto ou depressão. Prefiro voltar para casa e morrer militando, como homem”, diz o pescador, também conhecido como Pelé.

Casada com Alexandre desde 2001, Daize, 47 anos, está arrependida de ter entrado para o programa. “A gente preferia ter morrido, levado um tiro na praia de Mauá, a sofrer o que fazem com a gente”, declara a diretora da Ahomar, pescadora desde os 14 anos.

O drama vivido pelos pescadores não expõe apenas a fragilidade do Programa de Proteção aos Defensores de Direitos Humanos, denunciada por outros militantes, mas também a prioridade dada pelo governo aos grandes empreendimentos que financia, avalia Renata Neder, assessora de Direitos Humanos da Anistia Internacional, ONG que monitora o caso. “A retirada é necessária em caso de risco extremo, mas em caráter temporário. Há quase dois anos, Alexandre e Daize não conseguem voltar para casa. O ingresso no programa não pode acabar com a luta do defensor, que precisa permanecer na sua comunidade”, adverte Renata.

O Ministério Público Federal (MPF) monitora a execução do programa. O caso está nas mãos da procuradora Gabriela Figueiredo. Por tramitar sob sigilo, os procuradores não quiseram dar entrevista sobre o assunto. Na última audiência mediada pelo MPF, em dezembro do ano passado, a coordenação do programa federal informou que estava trabalhando para que os pescadores voltassem a Magé com segurança e que pediria uma avaliação de risco para o retorno dos militantes. Os pescadores não receberam nenhum retorno do estudo até hoje. Na ocasião, a PM disse que não tinha policiais em número suficiente para garantir total proteção aos pescadores.

Questionada pela reportagem sobre a situação dos dirigentes da Ahomar, a Secretaria de Direitos Humanos não se manifestou. Em nota, a Petrobras negou qualquer envolvimento com o afastamento dos militantes e as ameaças. Disse que respeita os direitos humanos e dialoga com as comunidades do entorno do Comperj. “A Petrobras repudia quaisquer ameaças aos pescadores e entende que as investigações são de responsabilidade dos órgãos competentes”, afirma.

http://congressoemfoco.uol.com.br/noticias/pescadores-que-denunciaram-petrobras-se-dizem-exilados-dentro-do-pais/

The Whitening Of Neymar: How Color Is Lived In Brazil (Screamer)

Uncategorized, ,

June 8, 2014

Achal Prabhala

Original post by Achal Prabhala on SCREAMER

The Whitening Of Neymar: How Color Is Lived In Brazil

Originally published in Africa Is A Country.

By the time you read this, it’s possible that every single person on the planet will know who Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior is.

This is Neymar from last week:

The Whitening Of Neymar: How Color Is Lived In BrazilEXPAND

This is Neymar from one year ago:

The Whitening Of Neymar: How Color Is Lived In Brazil

This is Neymar from five years ago:

The Whitening Of Neymar: How Color Is Lived In Brazil

This is little Neymar with his family:

The Whitening Of Neymar: How Color Is Lived In Brazil

You could come to any number of conclusions from Neymar’s remarkable transformation. For instance, you could conclude that race doesn’t exist in Brazil, which is the favorite line of a specific tribe of Brazilians—impeccable liberals all, who just happen to be upper-class, white, and at the top of the heap.

Or you could conclude that everyone in Brazil is indeed mixed—which is, incidentally, the second-favorite line of the selfsame tribe.

Or you could wonder what happened to this boy.

It’s too easy to condemn Neymar for pretending to be white: Judging by the images, he is partly white. It’s silly to accuse him of denying his mixed-race ancestry, because the simplest search throws up hundreds of images of him as a child, none of which he seems to be ashamed of. There is this: When asked if he had ever been a victim of racism, he said, “Never. Neither inside nor outside the field. Because I’m not black, right?”

Actually, the word he used was preto, which is significant, since, in Brazil, when used as a color ascribed to people—rather than things, like rice or beans—it is the rough equivalent of the n-word, negro and negra being the acceptable ways of describing someone who is truly black (and moreno or morena being standard descriptors for someone dark-skinned, as well as, occasionally, euphemisms for blackness). Technically speaking, however, his logic was faultless—and even kind of interestingly honest: The Neymar who made that statement was an unworldly 18-year-old who had never lived outside Brazil. And in Brazil, Neymar is not black.

In 1976, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics ran a household survey that marked a crucial departure from other census exercises. The Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios (PNAD) did not ask Brazilians to choose a race category among pre-determined choices; instead, researchers went out and asked people to describe the color they thought they were.

This is what came back.

Acastanhada Somewhat chestnut-coloured
Agalegada Somewhat like a Galician
Alva Snowy white
Alva escura Dark snowy white
Alvarenta (not in dictionary; poss. dialect) Snowy white
Alvarinta Snowy white
Alva rosada Pinkish white
Alvinha Snowy white
Amarela Yellow
Amarelada Yellowish
Amarela-queimada Burnt yellow
Amarelosa Yellowy
Amorenada Somewhat dark-skinned
Avermelhada Reddish
Azul Blue
Azul-marinho Sea blue
Baiano From Bahia
Bem branca Very white
Bem clara Very pale
Bem morena Very dark-skinned
Branca White
Branca-avermelhada White going on for red
Branca-melada Honey-coloured white
Branca-morena White but dark-skinned
Branca-pálida Pale white
Branca-queimada Burnt white
Branca-sardenta Freckled white
Branca-suja Off-white
Branquiça Whitish
Branquinha Very white
Bronze Bronze-coloured
Bronzeada Sun-tanned
Bugrezinha-escura Dark-skinned India
Burro-quando-foge Disappearing donkey (i.e. nondescript) humorous
Cabocla Copper-coloured ( refers to civilized Indians)
Cabo-verde From Cabo Verde (Cape Verde)
Café Coffee-coloured
Café-com-leite Café au lait
Canela Cinnamon
Canelada Somewhat like cinnamon
Cardão Colour of the cardoon, or thistle (blue-violet)
Castanha Chestnut
Castanha-clara Light chestnut
Castanha-escura Dark chestnut
Chocolate Chocolate-coloured
Clara Light-coloured, pale
Clarinha Light-coloured, pale
Cobre Copper-coloured
Corada With a high colour
Cor-de-café Coffee-coloured
Cor-de-canela Cinnamon-coloured
Cor-de-cuia Gourd-coloured
Cor-de-leite Milk-coloured (i.e. milk-white)
Cor-de-ouro Gold-coloured (i.e. golden)
Cor-de-rosa Pink
Cor-firme Steady-coloured
Crioula Creole
Encerada Polished
Enxofrada Pallid
Esbranquecimento Whitening
Escura Dark
Escurinha Very dark
Fogoió Having fiery-coloured hair
Galega Galician or Portuguese
Galegada Somewhat like a Galician or Portuguese
Jambo Light-skinned (the colour of a type of apple)
Laranja Orange
Lilás Lilac
Loira Blonde
Loira-clara Light blonde
Loura Blonde
Lourinha Petite blonde
Malaia Malaysian woman
Marinheira Sailor-woman
Marrom Brown
Meio-amarela Half-yellow
Meio-branca Half-white
Meio-morena Half dark-skinned
Meio-preta Half-black
Melada Honey-coloured
Mestiça Half-caste/mestiza
Miscigenação Miscegenation
Mista Mixed
Morena Dark-skinned, brunette
Morena-bem-chegada Very nearly morena
Morena-bronzeada Sunburnt morena
Morena-canelada Somewhat cinnamon-coloured morena
Morena-castanha Chestnut-coloured morena
Morena-clara Light-skinned morena
Morena-cor-de-canela Cinnamon-coloured morena
Morena-jambo Light-skinned morena
Morenada Somewhat morena
Morena-escura Dark morena
Morena-fechada Dark morena
Morenão Dark-complexioned man
Morena-parda Dark morena
Morena-roxa Purplish morena
Morena-ruiva Red-headed morena
Morena-trigueira Swarthy, dusky morena
Moreninha Petite morena
Mulata Mulatto girl
Mulatinha Little mulatto girl
Negra Negress
Negrota Young negress
Pálida Pale
Paraíba From Paraíba
Parda Brown
Parda-clara Light brown
Parda-morena Brown morena
Parda-preta Black-brown
Polaca Polish woman
Pouco-clara Not very light
Pouco-morena Not very dark-complexioned
Pretinha Black – either young, or small
Puxa-para-branco Somewhat towards white
Quase-negra Almost negro
Queimada Sunburnt
Queimada-de-praia Beach sunburnt
Queimada-de-sol Sunburnt
Regular Regular, normal
Retinta Deep-dyed, very dark
Rosa Rose-coloured (or the rose itself)
Rosada Rosy
Rosa-queimada Sunburnt-rosy
Roxa Purple
Ruiva Redhead
Russo Russian
Sapecada Singed
Sarará Yellow-haired negro
Saraúba (poss. dialect) Untranslatable
Tostada Toasted
Trigo Wheat
Trigueira Brunette
Turva Murky
Verde Green
Vermelha Red

Lilia Moritz Schwarcz, an anthropologist at the University of São Paulo, has a range of astonishing insights around this historic survey; her paper, ” Not black, not white: just the opposite. Culture, race and national identity in Brazil,” from which the table above is reproduced, is a gem. (She also has a book that examines the early history of the subject: The Spectacle of the Races: Scientists, Institutions, and the Race Question in Brazil, 1870-1930.)

Schwarcz’s work is filled with thoughtful, original analysis, and is characterized by an unusual fearlessness. (Unusual, that is, for a subject so complicated). Reading her is a revelation; it turns out there is a real place hiding under that avalanche of clichés. If you’ve ever wondered how crushing racism can flourish in a country where, apparently, race itself has been crushed, consider that everything Brazil is defined by—from its “we are all mixed” anthem, to feijoada, capoeira, and candomblé, right down to samba and soccer—is the result of an insidious, revisionist, far-sighted political maneuver of the 1930s, courtesy the combined skills of popular intellectual Gilberto Freyre and populist dictator Getúlio Vargas. The battered body of slave culture was abducted by national culture in order to renew white culture.

Among the many eye-popping results reported in the PNAD survey, the one I am most drawn to is burro quando foge. You’ll find it up there in the table at No. 34. Google inexplicably translates the phrase as “saddle,” which is awesome, since it means that Lusofonia still keeps some secrets beyond the reach of the behemoth. Burro quando foge is translated by Schwarcz, within the constraints of a column slot, as “the disappearing donkey” and explained as a humorous phrase that denotes a nondescript color.

Which it is—and then some. The metaphor is unique to Brazil, and signifies a color. That color could be nondescript, ill-defined, elusive, or ugly—and, just to make things really clear, also fawn, beige, or a tricky shade of brown. The sentiment conveyed in the phrase is just as interesting. Used between friends, it could pass for a joke. Otherwise, it almost always denotes something unpleasant. It’s usually used an insult, although—oddly enough, given the colors and sentiments—it’s not specifically a racial insult.

Of all the 136 colors of race in Brazil, this is my favorite. It’s flippant and factual and fictional all at once, and as such, suits me perfectly. Race is not a term that has much currency in India, where I live. It is, however, a central feature of Johannesburg and São Paulo, the two cities I occasionally work in, and as much as I’m aware of how privileged I am not to be wholly subject to it, I feel curiously bereft of race in both places. Certainly, I grew up with color: Being a dark-skinned child in a uniformly light-skinned family meant that I had to regularly contend with well-meaning relatives who’d pinch my cheeks and chide me for “losing my color”—as though my skin tone was something I had brought upon myself in a fit of absent-mindedness. To choose a race then: Indian might work for some people, but it is both my passport and my residence, and that’s quite enough. Brown is too generic, and black, a bit too unbelievable, all things considered. Given that I spent my childhood reading Gerald Durrell and dreaming of donkeys, adopting their color seems right in so many ways.

And where does that leave our boy wonder? We might start with the Estado Novo, Vargas’s authoritarian reign between 1937 and 1945. Only a few years earlier, Freyre had published the crowning achievement of his career, Casa-Grande e Senzala (The Big House and the Slave Quarters, released in English as The Masters and the Slaves), and the book was catching fire. Freyre’s central theory was something he called Lusotropicalism. It told a soothing story of the past (by casting the Portuguese as a kinder, gentler breed of imperial slaver), offered a handy solution for the present (by turning the mixing of races into a virtue),and held out an appealing conclusion, namely, the idea that Brazil was a racial democracy.

Upon publication, Freyre’s work immediately attracted the ire of the Portuguese nation for suggesting her citizens were prone to miscegenation. At home, however, it became Vargas’s blueprint for the country he had seized—and his strategy for political survival. Three quarters of a century later, Freyre’s big think remains the enduring idea of Brazil, an idea whose appeal grows in leaps and bounds across the globe and, to be sure, often escapes the clutches of its creators to dazzling effect. Still, consider the irony: The country’s sense of itself as a racialdemocracy was smuggled in to its soul by an autocracy.

The term Estado Novo refers to a few different periods of dictatorship, and it literally translates as “new state,” which is prophetic, since the words also describe a peculiar duty that is incumbent upon at least half the Brazilian population. That duty, of course, is the business ofbranqueamento—of whitening—of transforming, quite literally, into a new physical state. (For all his pro-miscegenation advocacy, Schwarcz notes in The Spectacle of the Races, Freyre was as keen as his critics on keeping the structure of Brazil intact: as a hierarchy with whiteness on top). In that sense, Neymar is only the latest in a long line of celebrities and Brazilians of lesser value who get it. Who get the fine print on the contract; who understand that national identity rests on racial harmony, which, in turn, rests on a kind of potential access to opportunity. Not the opportunity to be equal, mind you, but the opportunity to be white. We may gawk at him all we like, but in straightening his hair, extending it out, and dyeing it blond, Neymar was fulfilling his patriotic destiny just as surely as he was confounding the Croats and leading his team to victory last month.

I’ll venture that the disappearing donkey colour fits Neymar to a T. After all, he is both undoubtedly and elusively brown. Yes, there is the matter of his blond ambition. O burro fugiu, we might well ask—has the donkey left the building? I’d really like to think not. For one thing, the boy’s only 22. He’s got a whole lifetime to change his mind—and his hair. For another, I’ve got a whole World Cup to watch. Have a heart. I spend hours every week learning Brazilian Portuguese; I’m devoted to the country; and I come from Bangalore, a city in which Pelé is god. I do not mean this metaphorically. In a neighborhood called Gowthampura, around the corner from where I live, residents have erected a lovely shrine to four local icons—the Buddha, Dr. Ambedkar, Mother Teresa, and the striker from Santos.

The Whitening Of Neymar: How Color Is Lived In Brazil

So you see, my hands are tied. I’ve got my own patriotic destiny to fulfill, and it involves rooting for Brazil, which means I’m going to need to love Neymar a lot.

I can do it.

Anyway, donkeys are famously stubborn animals. They’re good at waiting.

Achal Prabhala is a writer and researcher in Bangalore, India. Bottom photo via Flickr.Neymar game photos via Getty.

Screamer is Deadspin’s soccer site. We’re @ScreamerDS on Twitter. We’ll be partnering with our friends at Howler Magazine throughout the World Cup. Follow them on Twitter,@whatahowler.

Mudança climática ameaça estabilidade econômica de cidades (CarbonoBrasil)

Uncategorized, , , ,

11/7/2014 – 11h48

por Jéssica Lipinski, do CarbonoBrasil

bhcdp Mudança climática ameaça estabilidade econômica de cidades

Novo relatório mostra que 76% dos 207 municípios analisados creem que as alterações ambientais trazem riscos físicos a seus habitantes e empresas; documento identificou 757 atividades de adaptação e mitigação nas cidades avaliadas

Uma nova pesquisa do Carbon Diclosure Project (CDP), organização sem fins lucrativos que ajuda cidades e empresas e medirem, divulgarem, gerirem e compartilharem informações ambientais, revelou que os governos locais das principais cidades do mundo estão avançando com as ações para combater as mudanças climáticas, já que acreditam que o fenômeno coloca em perigo a estabilidade de suas economias.

O relatório, intitulado Protecting our Capital (Protegendo nosso Capital ou Protegendo nossa Capital),aponta que 76% dos 207 municípios analisados acreditam que os efeitos das mudanças climáticas possam trazer algum tipo de risco físico a seus habitantes e companhias.

Entre as cidades avaliadas pelo estudo estão Caracas (Venezuela), Hong Kong, Johanesburgo (África do Sul), Londres (Inglaterra), Nova Iorque (Estados Unidos), São Paulo, Tóquio (Japão), Wellington (Nova Zelândia) e Sidney (Austrália).

Alguns dos principais riscos identificados pelas cidades são: danos materiais e a bens de capital; destruição de meios de transporte e infraestrutura; e problemas relacionados ao bem-estar dos cidadãos.

“Os governos locais estão agindo à frente para protegerem seus cidadãos e empresas dos impactos das mudanças climáticas, porém é preciso mais colaboração com as empresas para aumentar a resiliência urbana. Através do fornecimento de informação, políticas e incentivos, as cidades podem ajudar a equipar as empresas para gerirem esses riscos e abraçarem as oportunidades”, observou Larissa Bulla, diretora do programa de cidades do CDP.

Na verdade, segundo o documento, os municípios estão muito alinhados com as companhias quando o assunto é identificação de riscos. Eles reconhecem 69% dos riscos físicos das mudanças climáticas que as empresas identificam nessas cidades, e estão procurando resolver cerca de 66% dos identificados pelas corporações.

Por exemplo, a cidade de Caracas relata: “a água potável e a geração de eletricidade podem ser interrompidas por causa das mudanças climáticas. Esses fatores podem afetar o setor privado. As enchentes podem interromper as operações e as companhias de seguros podem enfrentar reivindicações mais elevadas”.

Tal situação também ocorre no município de Pittsburgh, nos EUA, em que alguns proprietários de empresas estão abandonando seus investimentos porque não são mais capazes de buscar compensação pelas perdas ocorridas como resultado das mudanças climáticas. Tanto é que a indústria local de seguros recentemente apresentou ações contra as cidades devido ao fato de que elas não estavam buscando se adaptar às consequências das mudanças climáticas.

Felizmente, a situação crítica parece estar levando a mais ação por parte dos municípios e também das empresas. No total, o CDP identificou 757 atividades de adaptação aos efeitos das mudanças climáticas nas cidades avaliadas, como o reporte e redução de emissões de gases do efeito estufa (GEEs). O documento também aponta que 102 dos 207 municípios já têm planos de adaptação em vigor.

É o caso de Hong Kong, cuja fornecedora de energia CLP Holdings sofreu danos locais e interrupção das atividades como resultado do aumento do nível do mar. A empresa gastou US$ 193 mil elevando os níveis dos pisos de suas edificações, e investiu mais US$ 516 mil para aumentar a capacidade de drenagem.

Enquanto isso, o Departamento de Serviços de Drenagem de Hong Kong direcionou US$ 2,7 bilhões para infraestrutura contra enchentes, incluindo o alargamento de rios e o armazenamento subterrâneo de água.

Em Londres, para combater o aumento das temperaturas, a assessoria financeira Morgan Stanley gastou US$ 4,4 milhões aprimorando o sistema de condicionadores de ar em seu centro de dados. Além disso, a cidade está usando seu sistema de planejamento para uma maior eficiência nos sistemas energético e de resfriamento, garantindo mais contribuição para uma cidade mais resiliente.

spriscos 1 Mudança climática ameaça estabilidade econômica de cidadesDe acordo com o relatório, no Brasil também há bons exemplos de ações climáticas. Em Campinas, no estado de São Paulo, a indústria alimentícia e de bebidas exportou bens no valor de US$ 11 bilhões em 2013, mas a cidade informa que “as indústrias que exigem uso intenso de água, como as companhias de refrigerante, podem escolher outra região devido à escassez de água no estado de São Paulo”.

Por isso, algumas cidades do estado, como a capital e o município de Caieiras, estão desenvolvendo planos de adaptação climática. Caieiras criou uma parceria com o governo nacional em um projeto de US$ 5,3 milhões para aumentar a capacidade de fluxo do rio Juquery, que é responsável pelas enchentes locais, diminuindo o risco e intensidade das inundações.

Já o município de São Paulo está investindo US$ 22 bilhões para melhorar sua infraestrutura de transporte. Tal investimento tem o potencial de criar melhores condições para as empresas operarem, tais como aumentar a mobilidade dos funcionários e clientes, e gerar um movimento mais eficiente de insumos e produtos.

A cidade também está colaborando com grandes companhias para melhorar sua infraestrutura hídrica.A Sabesp, maior companhia de água do país, fez uma parceria com a capital paulista para criar o Programa Vida Nova, que investiu US$ 600 milhões em coordenação com o programa de urbanização de favelas da cidade para fornecer redes de esgoto para 43 favelas e regiões de pouco desenvolvimento na cidade.

“A colaboração entre as cidades e as empresas é essencial para reduzir os impactos às populações mais vulneráveis”, afirma o relatório.

“Três quartos das cidades que fizeram parte do programa de cidades do CDP neste ano identificaram benefícios substanciais que fluem para economias públicas e privadas a partir de iniciativas de adaptação climáticas. Esses benefícios podem ser ampliados através de colaborações mais estreitas e do compartilhamento de conhecimento e recursos técnicos” concluiu Gary Lawrence, diretor de sustentabilidade da firma de serviços de suporte e infraestrutura AECOM.

* Publicado originalmente no site CarbonoBrasil.

(CarbonoBrasil)