Head on Straight? Be Grateful
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on September 10th, 2014 11:08 pm by HL
Head on Straight? Be Grateful
A Brazilian man born with several severe disabilities, including an upside-down head and limited use of his arms and legs, has beaten the odds to become an inspirational public speaker. As a newborn, doctors told Claudio Vieira de Oliveira’s mother to stop feeding him because he would not be able to survive. “People started saying, ‘the baby is going to die’ because he could barely breathe when he was born,'” mother Maria Jose said. Instead, the family made adjustments to their home so Claudio, now 37, could maneuver around without getting hurt. “Throughout my life I was able to adapt my body to the world. Right now, I don’t see myself as being different. I am a normal person,” he said.
CO2 in Atmosphere at Record High 396 PPM
Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2013 of 396 parts per million last year, the biggest year-to-year change in three decades, according to the annual report of the World Meteorological Organization. That’s an increase of 2.9 ppm from the previous year — and is 42 percent higher than before the Industrial Age, when levels were about 280 parts per million. “We know without any doubt that our climate is changing and our weather is becoming more extreme due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels,” said WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud. “We must reverse this trend by cutting emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases across the board. We are running out of time.”
