Serbia and the Flames

Jasmina Tesanovic RSS / 24.07.2007. u 20:02

Today was the hottest day in Serbia ever since the temperature has been measured, 45 C.
If we we Serbs were truly interested in our survival as a nation, we'd be scrambling to get some modern hardware for dealing with ecological catastrophes. It's been ten years since Milosevic sold off our forest fire-fighting aircraft and pocketed the money. We would talk together seriously about last year's massive floods throughout the Danube basin, about this year's deadly heat wave in Serbia and throughout the Balkans, about the state of emergency in our neighbor Greece, about the electricity shortages and blackouts throughout the regions, about the woods of our homeland set on fire.
Even tidy Britain is being overwhelmed with their flood catastrophes, while here in Serbia we lack any organized emergency-response because the Serbian state is, by its nature, in an emergency situation all the time.
Instead, the Serbian Parliament spent this day discussing Kosovo: angling for Russian friendship to fend off the US demands, while dodging EU pressure to simply let go of that long-lost province. They have no air conditioning inside the Serbian Parliament, so delegates were comically fanning themselves with official papers while the presidents were sweating in their stuffy official suits.
The Russians promised us practical help for the smoldering forests of the border, but they have yet so send a single Russian helicopter. Meanwhile the firemen and local peasants are saving our burning forest heritage with raw courage and mostly hand-tools.
When will we overcome our local obsessions and realize we are part of a world in a general crisis? The climate crisis isn't for rich countries, it's for every country. Especially us. We had Floods in 2006, now Fires in 2007 -- the cause is in the Air, and we will end up with no Earth.
Global warming is invisible... it steals up on us like a slow fever, but our daily lives are being transformed by it. Kids can't get milk at school, eggs might be poisoned with salmonella, the crops are wilting in the fields.
My friend, a pianist, sews clothes by her air-conditioner instead of playing her piano.
I am singing after dark instead of writing at noon.
My friend is writing a book about the future but is not sure if it is the same book he started anymore.
My young friend, the web designer, had her computer collapse. So she went out to walk her three dogs and collapsed from the heat in two hours.
My friend activist from inner Serbia is sleeping in an office where there is an air conditioner. Two weeks ago before, she condemned air conditioners because they burn fossil fuels and make the global warming worse. She also has the very Serbian superstition that cold drafts of air are not good for your bones. Well, any hot draft of air over 40C does not cool your body -- it heats your body and can kill you from heatstroke.
My pregnant Albanian friend from Pristina sleeps heavily day and night while her friends in Kosovo demonstrate for some unilateral declaration of independence.
If there is any justice in this injustice, is that global warming has no borders or nationality, and yet it has guilty and victims. Guilty: all of us who ignored inconvenient truths and sacrificed the ecological conscience for other more or less legitimate priorities. Victims: everyone yet to be born on our damaged planet; when crops wilt and forests burn down to black stumps, does it matter if that wasteland is called Kosovo or Serbia?
Year by year, mankind is becoming justly afraid of our vengeful climate. I have an epiphany: our world in 1999 is becoming all the world. No electrical, no water, no business-as-usual: fear. I remember those bombing days of Serbia and Kosovo when everyone in this land, without exception, was a refugee under a scowling enemy sky.

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/07/24/jasmina_teanoviae_se.html 

http://www.mediahelpingmedia.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1 



Komentari (32)

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bganon bganon 20:45 24.07.2007

Bravo

'we we Serbs were truly interested in our survival as a nation, we'd be scrambling to get some modern hardware for dealing with ecological catastrophes'

You know Jasmina I was going to do a post on this but too exhausted to get it together. The fact that hardly one blogger seems to have mentioned the extraordinary weather and barely any media have discussed the issue of global warming leads me to believe that most of our fellow bloggers are living abroad (or have air conditioning) and that much of the media are staffed by the myopic who are more interested in reporting that most sexy of subjects in Serbia - politics. Maybe the sun has got to all of us.

There is little talk about the fact that areas of Serbia have been hit by drought even if the fires have made the news.
Amazingly enough to my knowledge we have had no fatalities as a result of this hottest of heat waves (excluding men from inner Serbia who appear to enjoy drunken nightswimming) whilst the Romanians appear to be dropping like flies.

I noticed that the hottest day in Belgrade in 100 years or so did not deter people from going to Ada Ciganlija to sunbathe today. The cold kills Serbs but the heat does not. :)
Jasmina Tesanovic Jasmina Tesanovic 20:47 24.07.2007

Re: Bravo

you know what i was told once as a compliment quote
it s hard to kill a hercegovinian viper
Srđan Fuchs Srđan Fuchs 22:59 24.07.2007

Re: factless :)

bganon
The fact that hardly one blogger seems to have mentioned the extraordinary weather


ekčli, Bi Dži, i wrote a topic on that matter, but it turned out to be a bit chaotique, since my lovable Srbz started to write all kind of stuff on it: some poetry, a bit of theology, some satirical stuff on their neighbors, and such.

we seem to be quite udri brigu na veselje people... :)
Atomski mrav Atomski mrav 06:51 25.07.2007

Re: factless :)

Napisala je i Vlasta post na tu temu, ali ona jadnica nije na glavnoj stranici pa se valjda to ne pika...
Inače, mislim da pisanije na blogu o vrućini i požarima ne znači puno npr. jadnim vatrogascima na Staroj planini...
Srđan Fuchs Srđan Fuchs 09:57 25.07.2007

Re: factless :)

Atomski mrav
Napisala je i Vlasta post na tu temu, ali ona jadnica nije na glavnoj stranici pa se valjda to ne pika...Inače, mislim da pisanije na blogu o vrućini i požarima ne znači puno npr. jadnim vatrogascima na Staroj planini...

fakat fakat. nisam skontao po naslovu šta je.

dakle, nije hardly one nego hardly three bloggers wrote on melting of serbia...
Jasmina Tesanovic Jasmina Tesanovic 10:11 25.07.2007

mislim da bi tu


temu trebalo neko ovde da drzi na blogu strucno i hronicno
jel je tema velika i nece je nasa tri bloga iscrpiti


bganon bganon 12:17 25.07.2007

Re: factless :)

Oh I missed it. There are always some cookies in the jar right? :)

Srdjane I think the usual explanation on this type of subject - that Serbs are more concerned with day-to-day issues, isnt the whole story. I think the media play a huge role in informing / influencing the thinking of the public. Yes, we get picture of forest fires in Serbia or statistics about how one woman died in Croatia, or a quick report on the floods in England. (that have caused an estimated 2 billion pounds of damage)
But we dont get a report tying the stories together in the global context or the context of global warming. Maybe I missed such a report as well.

For me this weather is THE story of the past week in Serbia, in Europe but also further afield. I have read reports in English about other parts of the world that are also experiencing similar extreme types of weather. There is a world pattern here and valjda smo mi part of the story too.



bganon bganon 12:26 25.07.2007

Re: Bravo

A strong constitution as Kostunica might say...

Whilst I was being roasted alive on public transport yesterday I was fascinated by an unsophisticated boy sitting by the sunny side of the window. I could see the pools of sweat forming on him which were dripping onto the seat. Neither did he move to another seat or even appear to notice the rainfall on his body.

Shumar Shumar 13:48 25.07.2007

Re: Warming


In a 'normal' summer, the Atlantic jetstream directs areas of low pressure, which bring cloud and rain, to the north of the UK. High pressure systems over Europe and the Atlantic bring warm, settled conditions.


This summer, the jetstream is flowing further south allowing low pressure systems to sweep straight over the centre of Britain. It is also pulling in warmer air from the sub-tropics and Africa which is sweeping over south-eastern Europe.

In Serbia, the agriculture ministry says 30% of the country's annual harvest has been destroyed because of the heat, with the wheat, soya and vegetable crops worst hit.

Up to 500 people have died in the past week from a heatwave in Hungary, a top health official has said.
Ford Perfekt! Ford Perfekt! 20:59 24.07.2007

ja izgleda nesto ne razumem...

a zasto ovo niste napisali na srpskom? kome se zapravo vi obracate ovde? toj pomenutoj srpskoj vladi koja ne obavlja svoj posao po vama, ili sta?
Jasmina Tesanovic Jasmina Tesanovic 21:04 24.07.2007

Izvinjavam se

upravo sam napisala tekst ne samo za ovaj blog
prevescu ga na srpski sutra, umorna sam
sada i imam druge obaveze
uvek mi je to problem da pisem i prevodim svoje pisanije

rivermerchant rivermerchant 22:16 24.07.2007

sideswipe

do you take edits to your english version? i guess it depends on who's asking. you should have used tabs. consistent spacing between words wouldn't hurt either. 'irregardless'... you got my thumbs up for the topic you chose.

i wonder if it's the blog though... that'll make impenitent difference. oprah, katie couric, tyra, dave letterman, they have a better shot from where they're standing. no more trash cans, even symbolic ones. same goes for james bond and flashy cars that run on gas. *green is in* should be the headline of every other bulletin board, and computer screen pop-up. and that's just getting started...
bganon bganon 12:34 25.07.2007

Re: sideswipe

Rivermerchant this is relatively tame compared to 100 word sentences seperated by a dozen or so commas,meaning, that one often forgets, what was written at the beginning of the sentence, by the time one reaches the end, or worse still entire blog entries in one paragraph... :)

rivermerchant rivermerchant 13:27 25.07.2007

Re: sideswipe

are you talking to me, bganon? :)

i agree, it's high time my 'pisi kao sto govoris' tiring style took a back seat to a more concise and to-the-point way of writing. testimonials of the type -- 'holy stack rapture during parsing batman!' are not uncommon in written communication between myself and an unassuming victim who 'actually had to remove giant clauses from the paragr^H^H^H^H^H^Hsentence in order to match up all the pieces' and make decent sense of it. and don't even get me started with the commas. i guess the rule there is -- every time you run out of breath, make sure to mark it with a comma. it scarcely helps that the comments on this blog have to be previewed before final submittal.

hope is on the way: as part of my BIG 30 resolution set, not only will i be letting my texts marinate till clearer head is in place, but i'll also be giving up the *all lowercase* style that has been boring me out of my mind lately.

ok, well, just thought you (all) should know...
bganon bganon 17:24 25.07.2007

Re: sideswipe joust

Heh, not you in particular - a general comment, honest guv.

I must admit to being constantly amazed by gargantuan paragraphs and never ending sentences. I seem to take some kind of delight counting the words of a ridiculously long sentence rather than actually bothering to read it.

Dont people understand that something is easier to read if it is spaced out (rather than making the reader feel spaced out). Dont people get it that truly, sometimes a person may forget what was at the beginning of the sentence - and how much fun is it to keep the same meandering sentence over and over?...

For me its a question of elementary logic rather than the way one has been taught.

Oh yeah, lowercase is acceptable - on a mobile. :)
Doctor Wu Doctor Wu 21:10 24.07.2007

'If we Serbs...'

signed by Jasmina Teshanovich!!!!!! Very hot day, indeed...
Jasmina Tesanovic Jasmina Tesanovic 21:23 24.07.2007

Re: 'If we Serbs...'

Jasmina Tesanovic please Dr Wu
aka aspirata kako kazu italijani, indeed
nsarski nsarski 12:39 25.07.2007

Re: 'If we Serbs...'

:))
I like the way you think, buddy!
skyspoter skyspoter 21:18 24.07.2007

ej prestanite

da se zanosite engleskom! neznaju ni oni kako da deluju na sve ove poplave. jedno je sigurno: porasce osiguranje na kuce koje su u riskantnom podrucju i pasce njihova vrednost.
sto se tice globalnog zagrevanja predlazem da pocnemo da disemo na CO2 umesto O2. face koje su dospele na evereest bez boca sa kiseonikom koriste co2. takozvani butejko efekat. mozda uspemo. ne vidim nekog iz unytrasnje srbije da radi risajkling.

Solomon Solomon 21:47 24.07.2007

The Future is Now

Postoje indikacije da se trenutno nalazimo na ivici samog vrha ljudske civilizacije, da vec za 30-50 godina stvari ce se drasticno pogorsati. Da cem ljudi, cak i u najrazvijenijim zemljama imati problema stici do osnovnih zaliha i usluga.
Pitanje je da li ce uopste biti moguce odrzavati ovakav globalan standard kada ova planeta primi jos 3-4 milijardi ljudi.
Da li ce biti dovoljno vode, malina, kafe i patika za sve ?
Da li cemo za 40 godina moci u bilo kom trenutku da nadjemo svez Ananas u prodavnici.
Kraj 20tog i pocetak 21vog veka najvise izgleda kao sam vrh Ljudske civilizacije.
U africi se vec planiraju (i to ozbiljno) i sklapaju savezi radi buducih ratova koje ce drzave voditi oko VODE za pice.
Danas ima dovoljno, ali je nepravilno distribuirana.
Sutra nece biti dovoljno ni za koga.

- Naravno moguce je da se ovakav standard zivota odrzi jos dugo ali mora da se desi jedna od dve stvari :
1. Pronalazenje novih tehnologija kojima bi se ovi problemi resili.
2. "Korigovanje Populacije" ili putem zabranjivanje oplodnje ili masovnog umiranja dela populacije.

P.S. - Ne brinite, svaka generacija ima svoj Armagedon. Uvek se nekako izvucemo.
Jasmina Tesanovic Jasmina Tesanovic 21:55 24.07.2007

Re: The Future is Now

uvek neki prezive
tacno
o tome cesto razmisljam
ima jedna epizoda u starom filmu brace taviani
san michele aveva un gallo
kako zastarevaju revolucionarne ideje i veliki strahovi
very edifying
Solomon Solomon 22:15 24.07.2007

Re: The Future is Now

Ali Jasmina ja sam prestravljen ne samom krizom globalne ekonomije i bezbednosti koja dolazi, vec sam prestravljen chinjenicom da cu verovatno postati jedan od onih matorih gundjala koji ce sve vreme ponavljati iritirajuce gluposti poput :
"U moje vreme si mogao i svakoj ulici za 1 dolar da kupis cistu hladnu vodu."
"U moje vreme smo mogli po ceo dan da sedimo na sunce bez skafandera."
"Eeee deco, deco, Crna Gora nije uvek bila ostrvo."
Jasmina Tesanovic Jasmina Tesanovic 22:44 24.07.2007

Pa Solomon

to i jeste tema pomenutog filma
kako zastarevamo
deadbeat deadbeat 23:06 24.07.2007

Ko je kriv?

Konačno da neko od blogera pokrene ovu temu. Ne mogu da verujem koliko ljudi mogu da budu ravnodušni na činjenicu da cela Stara Planina gori već nedelju dana; omamljenost na 43 stepena nije opravdanje. Možda baš zbog te omamljenosti ljudi ne primećuju šta je ovde glavni problem. Tačno, deo problema jeste nedostatak tehnike, nezabeleženi klimatski uslovi i, ever so popular, "ljudski faktor": odgovorni bi brže-bolje da okrive seljake koji "pale strnjiku". Ma hajde, pa nisu ti ljudi budale da dovode u opasnost svoje kuće i imanja. U svakom slučaju, razumniji su od Jočića koji, u karakterističnom nastupu vrhunskog bezobrazluka i arogancije, konstatuje da se lokalno stanovništvo nije dovoljno angažovalo - ljudi lopatama odbrane svoje kuće, ali ne može se od njih očekivati borba sa planinom u plamenu.

Najveća tragedija jeste u tome što se ovakva ekološka katastrofa može sprečiti pravovremenom i organizovanom reakcijom, dok su požari još u začetku. Bez aviona, bez mehanizacije, tehnikom "kontra paljenja" - kontrolisanim paljenjem oblasti do kojih požar još nije stigao. Kad stigne, nema ničega što bi više gorelo i požar se lokalizuje. Naravno, nije ovo tako jednostavno, a i vetar je otežavajući faktor - ali nepovoljan vetar sigurno nije duvao svih sedam dana. Problem je, kao i uvek, u organizaciji, odgovornosti i stručnosti. A o stručnosti ministra za životnu sredinu mogu da sudim na osnovu toga što u intervjuu za b92 rečenicu počinje sa "pretpostavljam da bi trebalo da postoji..." - vidi se da čovek nema pojma.

Dakle, traže se krivci. Požara je oduvek bilo i uvek će biti, zbog ljudskih ili drugih faktora. Posao države je da na velike probleme odgovori resursima, znanjem, autoritetom i organizacijom koja je samo državi dostupna. To što je požar počeo iz ovih ili onih razloga i što su i druge zemlje u istim problemima nije opravdanje. Naročito zato što su nesposobnost, nemar i potpuno odsustvo veze sa realnošću vlasti OVE države u OVOM slučaju toliko očigledni - ej bre, oni su i danas u skupštini raspravljali o Kosovu. Pa dooookle!!!?? Verovatno dok se i skupština ponovo ne zapali.

Ima i neke mučne simbolike u ovoj priči. Glavni razlog za lošu reakciju države je nepostojanje zakona koji bi regulisali postupanje u ovakvim situacijama - organizacija civilne odbrane, posebni organi i službe sa definisanim odgovornostima. Da su, dakle, politički špekulanti manje trgovali prošle zime, a više radili posao za koji su izabrani i za koji primaju plate debele kao njihove guzice, manje bi gorelo ovog leta. Kao kod cvrčka i mrava. Samo obrnuto.
Shumar Shumar 06:20 25.07.2007

weather modification research program


Playing God?

US Senate considers bill that would dole out federal money for weather modification research.

read: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,178183,00.html

After a brutal year of hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and droughts, lawmakers are looking for ways to beat Mother Nature.

And while it's still a bit of a long shot, Uncle Sam could be called in to sponsor research to find ways to blast dangerous storms out of the sky or put rain clouds over parched land.

"This is a fascinating subject to me, and the idea that we can actually impact weather is exciting, and I guess, frightening in some ways," Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said during a November hearing on a bill that could start up a federal weather modification research program.

"Consider the damage by Hurricane Katrina. ... They've got to invest some money," Machos told FOX News. "Time and time again, this stuff happens again. They real question is whether or not we're going to learn anything from what happened this year."

DeFelice told FOXNews.com this week that he's optimistic Congress will approve Hutchison's bill despite the removal of funding. He said researchers could easily use $50 million a year.

He added that restarting a federal weather modification research program could help solve some of the world's most pressing problems. In addition to trying to curb deadly storms, scientists hope one day to be able to control the weather so no one suffers from droughts.

"We don't want to play gods, but we do want to help nature," DeFelice said. "And because of pollution, we may need to help nature along a little more than we had in the past."

http://www.license.state.tx.us/weather/weathermod.htm

http://www.angelfire.com/al3/libertieswatch2000/WeatherModification.html

http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Nikola_Tesla

http://twm.co.nz/wxwar.html
Shumar Shumar 06:22 25.07.2007

Re: weather modification research program


ovo moze da bude inace VRLO RISKANTAN potez.
ali ako nema druge solucije ....

takodje valja napomenuti da su US i Rusija 1998 potpisale sporazum o zabrani korishcenja weather control sistema (HAARP) u vojne svrhe.


The Weather Modification Association
Dragan Pavlicevic Dragan Pavlicevic 08:31 25.07.2007

Epiphany

Down to the point: Nasa je proslost njihova buducnost


Kada naftni izvori presuse i nenormalna klima 'ubije' useve, snegovi na planinama se otope i reke presuse...
Struja i voda na kasicicu, hrana skupa, nema benzina ni letovanja, vanredno stanje militaristi na vlasti koji u ime opstanka nacije....,ratovi svuda okolo.

A nasa Srbijica, taman na putu oporavka,opet se zajedno sa ostatkom sveta surva u haos.

Moguce i najverovatnije za 10tak godina... Katastrofa!
Cyber Domacica Cyber Domacica 09:51 25.07.2007

Kazu na RTS

da ce Rusi da nam pomognu i oko pozara... AKO posalju neki avion od nekud... nisam bas pazljvo slusala sta su rekli, ali zvucalo je kao da polazu velike nade u to "resenje". Prazne price...
Jasmina Tesanovic Jasmina Tesanovic 10:13 25.07.2007

Re: Kazu na RTS

ma i da stigne ( trebalo bi od jutros da je tu)
to je tipicno za RTS i serbiju, sve sto je rusko je veliko i vazno
nema veze s mozgom
Cyber Domacica Cyber Domacica 10:28 25.07.2007

Re: Kazu na RTS

Pa na tu vezu sa mozgom sam i ja mislila. :)
Lilu Lilu 10:49 25.07.2007

uh, i to vreme

zar nije moglo biti prijatnije?
NIKO NIJE KRIV ZBOG LOSE ODBRANE OD POZARA
kriv je pozar sto je izbio!
dunjica dunjica 14:29 25.07.2007

Sexy Topic

Dirljivo je promatrati kako globalno zagrijavanje svuda postaje sve vise sexy tema, sto je nesretni zavrsetak izvjesniji. Nekako je "dotjeralo cara do duvara" i bojim se da su grozomorni scenariji buducnosti sasvim realisticni i gotovo nezaobilazni.

Do nedavno su ozbiljnija razmisljanja i govor o klimatskim promjenama bili cesto proglasavani paranoicnima.

Arhiva

   

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