2011年5月31日星期二

Two workers of Fukushima may have exceeded radiation limit (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) - two workers Central of the nuclear Japan crippled may have exceeded limit of exposure to radiation from the Government, said plant operator, adding to concerns about risks to the health of those who struggle against the worst disaster in the world in 25 years.

If confirmed, it would mark the first case of exposure to radiation excess among the hundreds of emergency workers who fought for the Tokyo Electric Power Co Fukushima Daiichi plant under control after it was destroyed by a huge earthquake and tsunami two and a half months ago.

The Government and the utility, Tepco, came under fire for not disclosing enough information about the risks and radiation doses. Some experts if workers were fully informed of potential hazards.

"The problem, it is that too policy has been focused on protecting Tepco and not enough on the public," said Kiyoshi Kurakawa, a physician who served as scientific advisor to the Government from 2006 to 2008"

Measurements of external exposure and radioactive iodine in their thyroid glands has suggested that the two male workers, one of its 30 years and the other in his forties, had exceeded the maximum set by the Government of 250 millisieverts for the duration of the project for cleaning and control.

250 Millisieverts of radiation exposure is equivalent to more than 400 stomach x-rays. It is under the level of acute irradiation. Experts are divided on the effect of long-term health but agree to higher levels of exposure correspond to higher risk of cancers.

The Government has relaxed its upper limit for the exhibition of the disaster in Fukushima, allowing 250 workers millisieverts of emergency compared with the maximum of classic 100 millisieverts for nuclear-related emergencies.

Health controls about a week ago has not revealed any anomalies in two workers. More detailed reviews are planned, said Tepco.

Regulatory body nuclear Tokyo Electric pressed Japan for more information and said it would monitor the situation to ensure compliance with government guidelines.

The two have worked in the central room for reactors No. 3 and no. 4 of the control and carried out inspections of the plant March 11 after an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 and tsunami off its cooling systems and triggered collapse of fuel in the three reactors. They had been stationed at the plant until recently.

(Statement by Kiyoshi Takenaka, Shinichi Saoshiro and Kevin Krolicki, mounting by Jonathan Thatcher)


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Trucks lose, victory of ships in the Arctic warmer (AFP)

PARIS (AFP) - global warming will have a devastating effect on the roads of the Arctic, but open routes up irresistible to the expedition, according to a study published Sunday in the journal of the Nature of the climate change specialist.

"As sea ice continues to melt, the accessibility by sea will increase, but the viability of an important network of roads that depend on freezing temperatures is threatened by climate change,"stated Scott Stephenson of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).""

Previous research have already identified the Arctic is a more sensitive to the climate of the planet.

Four consecutive years of sea ice shrinking fired summer talk links on Ocean new savings between Europe and Asia and the prospects of a rush to exploit the riches of the region of oil, gas and precious minerals.

The new study is the first to examine in detail the implications of these carriers.

Stephenson team has designed a model of computer on the accessibility of the Arctic and coupled climate simulations used by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

The simulations are based on expected 2-0-3, 4 degrees Celsius temperature increases (3, 6-6. 2 degrees Fahrenheit) overall in the Arctic by 2050, with an even greater increase in winter from 4-6 C (10.8 F - 7.2).

The big victim will be temporary roads that are built on the ice, they will become unstable or marshy as the mercury rises.

These roads play an essential role in access to remote areas in eight countries - Canada, Finland, Greenland, the Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and United States - that have land within the Arctic circle.

In the century, between 11% and 82% of areas that are currently accessible by roads in these countries will be out of reach, according to the study.

In winter, the Russia will lose the road access at level square kilometres (featuring square miles), a total greater than the area of the France, then the Canada could lose access to 400,000 square kilometers (154,000 square miles), which is greater that the area of the Germany.

The fall in both cases is approximately 13% over the Arctic regions which are today accessible to the roads.

Giving a comparison, the researchers said a trip to Yellowknife, the capital of the NWT of the Canada, in the remote community of Bathurst Inlet, which is 3.8 days today would need to 6.5 days in the century.

Winner of global warming, however, would be of maritime traffic.

The ships of Type so-called A - commercial vessels that have limited the ability of icebreaking - would be able to use three of the four major clickstream from July to September.

For example, ships could sail to Rotterdam Europe directly in Alaska; of Amderma in the Northwest of the Russia at the port of Provideniya from the Russian Far East; and since the Canadian port at Murmansk in Russia.

"This will be good news for global maritime interests, who stand to reap savings by movement of cargo by these passages rather than by the Panama Canal, Suez Canal or the Straits of Malacca," Stephenson was quoted in a UCLA press release said.

The exception would be the legendary Northwest Passage, which should not become fully practicable for all summer to this date.


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Angelman Syndrome: Close to a cure? (The Newsroom)

Rebecca Burdine knew that something was wrong the day that her daughter was born. ?Sophie was born without a natural sucking reflex, making it almost impossible to eat.? Later, it became clear that it had practically no strength at all.? As the months passed, Burdine, a biologist with the development of the University of Princeton, grows more concerned about the poor sleep habits of his daughter: short blocks of sleep interspersed with screaming intense fits.? When she turned four months, Sophie began having seizures, sometimes as much as three time.

The first time, Sophie suffered an Absence seizure, also known as the seizure "petit mal", Burdine had no idea what was going on: "it was like watching television when suddenly the screen turns into static, and then the canal comes back like nothing ever happened", she said.

A few months later, Sophie was diagnosed with the of Angelman Syndrome, a genetic disorder marked by often seized, sleep disorders, and severe developmental delays.? Actor Colin Farrell has recently attracted the interest of this relatively rare condition when he spoke publicly on the diagnosis of the his 7 year old son James on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.? The Irish actor discusses how his son behavior apparently always happy and intense fascination with water caused pediatrician James' test the him Angelman. ?Last week, research of Syndrome of Angelman made a peak on Yahoo!, at a given time, becoming his third most likely topic.

By Burdine, the newly renewed interest in the disease could not come at a better time, as researchers are about to find a cure.

"The dogma used to be that if you were born with disorder development... that was it,", said Dr. Paul Lombroso, Director of the laboratory of Neurobiology moléculaire at Yale University. ?"This has all changed."

Burdine adds: "we know now"maps"can be re-dealt."

Unlike other neurological disorders such as Autism and Alzheimer's disease, affecting many different genes, of Angelman Syndrome affects only one: the UBE3a gene.? Because researchers can determine what are the causes of the disorder - the absence of UBE3a - they were not only able to genetically modify mouse to mimic the symptoms of Angelman, but they were able to heal successfully.

Adapt this remedy for humans is the next logical step, but funding is still needed to move forward.

"Everybody talks to find a cure:"we are going to cure cancer, we will cure autism, diabetes, etc."but we are actually talking about a cure here,"Said Burdine.".""What is frustrating, is that the only thing the way is money."

BURDINE says that, although Angelman is a relatively rare disease - 1 to 15 000 and 20 000 births - hardening it would be a gateway to find a cure for other neurological disorders - such as disease of Alzheimer's and autism - and everything affecting learning and memory.

"It is an opportunity where the placement of a person can really pay off and they can see the results," she said.

Now five years, daughter of Burdine Sophie still cannot walk or even to sit on its own.? Without a reflex chewing, she is able to eat pureed baby food.? It is transported across where she is and still is layers.? It may also speak.

"As I like the smile of my daughter and her laughter, I want to get rid of the seizures;" I want him to eat real; I want to be able to talk: simplistic things which would be profoundly important to improve the quality of his life. ?

To learn more about AS and how you can help, visit CureAngelman.org.


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Obama reaffirms the commitment of Security U.S. ally Poland (Reuters)

By Steve Holland and Gabriela Baczynska Steve Holland and Gabriela Baczynska - Sat may 28, 1: 27 pm EST

Warsaw (Reuters) - President Barack Obama promised close cooperation with the Poland Saturday on missile defence, the modernization of its means of air defence and in the development of shale gas and nuclear energy to enhance its energy security.

In his first visit to Warsaw, Obama also defends his "reset" relations with the Russia, a policy which sometimes annoyed poles are suspicious of the resurgence of Moscow and its efforts to reduce Western influence in the former Soviet republics.

"Poland is one of our strongest and closest allies in the world and is a leader in Europe", Obama told a joint with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk press conference.

"We want to do is to create an environment in this region where peace and security are a given." This is not only good for this region. It's good for the United States of America. And we've always will be for the Poland. ?

Obama and Tusk finalized an agreement to establish an air detachment U.S. in Poland of 2013 which will help to train Polish pilots in the use of F-16 fighter planes and C-130 transport planes.

"Size (detachment) is not great, but it is a very significant gesture," said Tusk, alluding to the desire for a long time in Warsaw for "American boots on the ground."

"What I have heard today gives me the impression that we work together to improve the security of the Poland."

Obama reaffirmed the role of the Poland in plans for missile defense to counter the threat of ballistic missile in the short and medium term of countries such as the Iran. Plans include deploying SM - 3 interceptors in 2018 Poland.

RUSSIA LINKS "ZEROING."

Obama invited to take part in its plans for missile defence for Europe, the Russia, but Moscow is seeking a greater share in the development of them stir unease between the poles and others.

"We believe defence missile is something where we can cooperate with the Russia...". Will not be a threat to the strategic balance, "said Obama.

Warsaw has tried to repair his own long-cold ties with Moscow, but remain areas of friction, including an investigation into the causes of a plane crash in Russia last year which killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others.

Obama visited a monument for the victims of the accident Saturday.

On energy security, confirmed Obama interests of American companies in the development of the Poland shale gas – estimated by some experts to be the most important in Europe to 5.3 billion cubic metres - and by helping to build its first nuclear plant.

Warsaw hopes that the two projects will significantly reduce its heavy reliance on polluting coal and on imports of Russian natural gas.

Obama had words sharp for Belarus neighbors, which courts have sentenced opposition politicians to long prison sentences in these last days. He and the Poland urged the two President Alexander Lukashenko to release all and demonstrate respect for human rights.

"The kind of repressive measures, we are witnessing in Belarus may end up having a negative impact on the entire region and that makes us less safe and makes us less secure," said Obama.

He said the transition of the Poland of democracy over the past two decades has provided a model for the neighbours of the ex-Soviet as the Ukraine and the Belarus and to reform the Arab countries.

Promotion of democracy in the Arab world and Eastern Europe has been the theme of the Obama talks Friday night with about 20 of Central and Eastern leaders Europeans gathered in Warsaw.

Speaking in a room of the presidential palace where the discussions of the Round Table took place in 1989 which ended the Communist regime in the Poland, Obama said that Warsaw could provide some useful lessons in the construction of a democracy for reformers everywhere in the world.

In a gesture that delighted guests, Obama threw its weight behind the efforts in the Congress of United States to facilitate the visa regime for Poles travelling to the United States, a major irritant in bilateral ties.

(Written by Gareth Jones; editing by Mark Heinrich)


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Global record level of carbon emissions: IEA (AFP)

PARIS (AFP) - the carbon dioxide emissions reached a record level last year, the International Energy Agency said Monday, prospects to limit the global temperature increase to two degrees Celsius dimming.

"Related to (the energy-carbon dioxide CO2) emissions in 2010 have been the highest in history, according to the latest estimates," the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a statement.

After a decline in 2009 caused by the global financial crisis, the emissions are estimated to climbed to a record 30.6 gigatonnes (Gt), a jump of five per cent of the previous year in 2008, when achieved levels 29.3 Gt, I said it.

In addition, the unions IEA considers that 80% of projected emissions in the electricity sector by 2020 are already locked, as they will come from power plants that are currently in place or under construction today.

"This significant increase in CO2 emissions and future emissions due to investments in infrastructure lock represent a serious setback to our hopes of limiting global temperature increase, to not more than two degrees C," said Fatih Birol, Chief Economist of the IEA.

World leaders agreed a target of limiting the temperature increase to two degrees C (3.6 ° Fahrenheit) in discussions on climate change of the United Nations in Cancun, Mexico last year.

To achieve this goal, the concentration in the long term of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere must be limited to about 450 parts per million of CO2 equivalent, only an increase of five percent from an estimate millionièmes 430 million in 2000.

The IEA calculated that in order to achieve this level, based on country emissions targets agreed to achieve by 2020, that global emissions related to energy in 2020 should not be greater than 32 gt.

The increase in emissions during the next few years, therefore, must be less than between 2009 and 2010 if the target must be reached, said IEA.

"Our latest estimates are an another wake-up call," Birol said. "The world has edged incredibly close to the level of emissions should not be achieved until 2020, the target of two degrees c is to be achieved."

"In view of the decline of the margin of manoeuvre in 2020, unless bold and decisive decisions are taken soon, it will be extremely difficult to succeed in this global objective agreed in Cancun."

While the nations committed themselves to Cancun to limit global warming to two degrees C, they agree to details on how to get there and tear evil on the future of the Kyoto Protocol, whose first series of emission reduction commitments expire at the end of next year.

"The challenge to improve and maintain the quality of life for people in all countries while limiting emissions of CO2 was never plu," said IEA.

Emerging countries have affected emissions limits can stop their growth and development, with only advanced countries able to afford the type of green technology that can enable them to maintain their standard of living all reduction of emissions.

The IEA believes that 40% of global emissions came from the club OECD in advanced countries in 2010, although these countries represent 25% of growth in emissions compared to 2009.

Countries not members of the OECD - led by China and the India - saw much higher increases in emissions as economic growth accelerated, said IEA.

However, on a per capita basis, OECD countries collectively emitted 10 tonnes, compared with 5.8 for China and 1.5 tonnes in India, added the Agency, the arm of the energy policy of the OECD.


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Germany decides to abandon nuclear energy by 2022 (AP)

BERLIN - the Germany coalition Government agreed Monday to early to close nuclear plants by 2022, the country, said the Minister of the environment, making it the first major industrialized nation in the last quarter century to announce plans to go nuclear-free.

Older reactors seven of the country to the already off the grid pending safety inspections after the Central Fukushima disaster of nuclear Japan in March remain permanently offline, Norbert Roettgen added. The country a total 17 reactors.

Roettgen hailed the coalition agreement after negotiations through the night between the ruling parties.

"It's consistent." It is clear, he told journalists in Berlin. "This is why it is a good result."

Chancellor Angela Merkel has pushed through measures in 2010 to extend the life of the 17 reactors in the country, with the last scheduled to disconnect in 2036, but reversed its policy following the disaster of Japan.

"We want the future to be safe, reliable and economically viable electricity", Angela Merkel told journalists Monday.

The energy supply chain the Germany "need of a new architecture," requiring enormous efforts to stimulate renewable energy, gains efficiency and consolidation of the electricity grid, she added.

"We have to follow a new path," said Angela Merkel.

Germany, more great economy of Europe, is the only among the major industrialized countries of the world still using nuclear energy in its determination to be gradually replaced by renewable energy sources.

Italy decided to stop producing nuclear energy after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

Through March - until seven reactors have been taken off line - just under a quarter of the electricity of the Germany was produced by nuclear energy, on the same share as in the United States.

Wind, solar and hydroelectric power currently produces about 17% of the electricity in the country, but the Government aims to increase its share to approximately 50 per cent in the coming decades.

Many Germans were fiercely opposed to nuclear energy since sent Chernobyl radioactive fallout on the country. Tens of thousands had on several occasions to the street in the wake of Fukushima to urge the Government to close all the reactors.

A centre-left government there ten years first wrote a plan to abandon the technology for good due to its inherent risks in 2021. But Government Merkel last year amended to extend the life of plants by an average of 12 years.

But the conservative Chancellor reversed its worldwide position after the earthquake and tsunami that paralyzed the plant of Fukushima Dai-ichi on 11 March, triggering a nuclear crisis.

Cabinet Merkel ordered seven older reactors of the country, all built before 1980, closing four days after the incident of Fukushima. Plants accounted for about 40 percent of the capacity of nuclear power plants in the country.

Germany used to be a net exporter of energy, and the Agency to oversee its electrical network said Friday that the country is self-sufficient even without the seven reactors and another plant that has already been disconnected for more than a year for maintenance work.

The decision of the coalition Government largely follows the findings of a commission of Government intervened on the ethics of nuclear energy, delivered its recommendation for the abolition of the technology by 2022 Saturday. Details of the final report must be submitted no later than Monday.

Close the reactors still more, however, require billions of euros of investment in the more central of natural gas, renewable energies and an overhaul of the country's electricity network.

Also, the Government of the neighbours in Switzerland, where nuclear energy produces 40 percent of electricity in the country, announced last week it intends to close its reactors gradually once they reach their life expectancy of 50 years - which would be the last plant off the coast of the grid in 2034.


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China to intensify the fight against drug addiction in plastic (AFP)

BEIJING (AFP) - China will expand a ban on bags free supplies, State media, said, it tries to further curb his addiction to plastic to rid the country of the "white pollution" which obstructs the waterways, farms and fields.

Libraries and pharmacies across the country will soon be prohibited from giving free plastic bags, join the ranks of the supermarkets have been in charge for bags in shopping since June 1, 2008, the official news agency Xinhua reported.

That day, China also prohibited the production, sale and use of ultra-thin plastic bags, becoming one of only a few nations worldwide to take such measures difficult.

Citing Zhao Jiarong, Secretary General of the National development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Planner high economic of China, the report said that the Government would also intensify its crackdown on the illegal use of plastic bags.

But it did not say when the libraries and pharmacies would start charging for bags, they give to.

China - the most largest greenhouse gas emitter - has some of the worst water and air pollution in the world after rapid growth for more than 30 years has triggered environmental damage.

Nearly three billion plastic bags are used daily in China before the 2008 ban. Since then, according to the NDRC, people have used at least 24 billion plastic bags less each year, the report said late Saturday.

Dong Jinshi, vice President of the International Association of food packaging in Beijing, said the AFP late last year that plastic, up to 100 billion shopping bags have been kept out of landfills by law.


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Turtle haul prompt in the Philippines to the call to action (AFP)

The Philippine President, Manila (AFP) - Southeast Asian countries must act now to protect the biodiversity of the region from those who wish to plunder its resources for a quick profit, said Monday.

An example of the threat, President Benigno Aquino cited the discovery of this month of a huge cargo of corals illegally harvested and preserved marine turtles, seized at the port of Manila, until they could be smuggled abroad.

"This single act of environmental pillage is only symptomatic of a wider problem," Aquino said at an event for the launch of the Decade of the United Nations on biodiversity.

"Our region is about to lose a significant number of species endangered due to several cases of deforestation, hunting for wild animals, climate change, pollution and population growth," said the President.

Aquino, said the region's biodiversity should be considered as a competitive advantage that can be exploited in a sustainable manner.

"Unfortunately, there are those who still think that the environment is nothing more that a way to make a quick, and easy profit without regard for consequences in the long term," he said.

Although the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) occupy only three per cent of the surface of the planet, the region is home more than 18 per cent of all the known plant and animal species, which in fact that of the world richest and most diverse, said Aquino.

Anger has increased on the plundering of the Philippine environment from 124 000 pieces of sea fan corals and sea whip unlawfully harvested and 158 sea turtles plush were found at the port on 11 May.

The amount of recovered coral could mean that an area ranging from 7 to 21 000 hectares (17,290 51,870 acres) of the ocean floor had been looted, officials of the Bureau of fisheries and aquatic resources, said.


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Ejaculation ampio drug shows promise (Reuters)

EU trial

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Ampio Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced its drug to treat ejaculation showed statistically significant results in a late trial in Europe.

The drug, called Zertane, is regarded as needed before sexual activity and is not necessary to be taken on a daily basis.

Ampio said "the analysis of the results of the trial has exceeded our expectations." The company expects that the results of this test will allow the file to European regulatory approval for the drug. In his statement today, the company did not plans to market Zertane to the United States.

The active ingredient in Zertane is hydrocloride tramadol, which has been used to relieve the pain since the mid-1990s. Ampio specializes in "repositioning" drugs, i.e. testing of already approved drugs to find treatments for new indications.

Ampio said in a statement that ejaculation is the most common male sexual dysfunction, including about 23% of all men aged 18 to 75 years.


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Japanese atomic crisis response dissatisfied: poll (AFP)

TOKYO (AFP) - nearly three quarters of Japanese voters are unhappy with the handling of the Government of center-left of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, a newspaper poll said Monday.

The survey came days before Prime Minister Naoto Kan is facing a motion of no confidence threatened by the conservative opposition, which is unlikely to pass, but this nevertheless headache political fresh for him.

In its investigation, the Nikkei Financial daily said that 74% of respondents were dissatisfied with the Government Kan of the maximum of 70 per cent, nuclear crisis management in a survey in April.

Support of the public for the cabinet of the Kan amounted to 28%, compared to 27 percent in April, said the Nikkei.

The telephone survey was conducted from Friday to Sunday, covering the road voters, 59.4 percent gave valid answers, in the regions through the Japan other than the areas hit hardest by the earthquake on March 11 and the tsunami.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, operator of the nuclear power, has been struggling to tackle the crisis since the seismic disaster crippled of cooling systems to the onset of multiple collapses of reactor plant and radiation leaks.

Since the gauges were installed or repaired earlier this month, TEPCO has confirmed the fears of the experts that fuel in reactors of one, two and three bars have been exposed to air and partially melted.

TEPCO believes now that it will be impossible at the end of the crisis at the end of the year it earlier predicted, Kyodo News announced Monday, citing an official high society who said "there will be a delay of work".

TEPCO April 17 announced its roadmap to reach a stable state of "shutdown" cold in all reactors of six to nine months. The company said earlier this month that he was on the scheduled date.

But Kyodo quoted a top TEPCO official saying: "nine months is just a term target for which we make efforts".


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Activist shot dead Amazon, third murder in a week (AFP)

BRASILIA (AFP) - a leader of the community who had denounced illegal logging in the Brazilian Amazon was shot and killed Friday, a church Ministry said, making him the third ecologist killed this week.

Adelino Ramos, also known as Dinho, was shot dead by a motorist that he sold vegetables in the Northwest of the State of Rondonia, Amazon, said the Group of the Catholic Church land Pastoral Commission.

The group said that received death threats during his campaign against logging in the Amazon and the remote areas of border between the States of Acre, Amazon and Rondonia.

On Tuesday, a team of husband and wife of environmentalists, Jose Claudio Ribeiro da Silva and Maria do Espirito Santo da Silva, were killed by a State in the Amazon North of the Para Brazil, one of the most restive regions in the country due to land disputes.

The Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has ordered a federal investigation to find those responsible for the double murder.

According to the environmental group, they worked for, the pair had also received death threats on their work to preserve the rain forest in the State and prevent illegal deforestation for charcoal production and cleared pasture for cattle.

Brazil, the country's fifth largest by area, a 5.3 million square kilometres of jungle and forest - especially in the Amazon River basin - which only 1.7 million are under the protection of the State. The rest is in private hands, or of his right of property is not defined.


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Germans are missing with nuclear closing date: Sweden (Reuters)

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - fix a date to close nuclear power plants of the Germany is a bad solution for the country and it should rather focus on boosting the use of renewable energy, the Sweden said Monday.

The Germany coalition Government decided to maintain permanently closed eight oldest reactors in the country and the rest by 2022 in response to the disaster of Fukushima at the Japan. The decision was a dramatic policy reversal.

Group of State-owned Swedish Vattenfall operates two nuclear power plants, even if they are offline since 2007. He holds a minority in a third factory.

"The important thing is not the year nuclear power stops, the important thing is to build renewable energy so that a reduced reliance on nuclear energy and emissions", Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren said on public radio.

He said Germany had troll in the promotion of renewable energies and that such a position "to the hectic energy policy" which was not good for a country.

"In Sweden we have everything we can to prevent this," he said.

Germany will also have to import nuclear power plants of the France and boost his confidence in the power of fossil fuels, said he.

"They themselves at risk of not meeting the double challenge that we have to reduce the dependency on nuclear power and reduce emissions,", he added.

Carlgren said that he would not comment on whether Vattenfall to losses of the German decision and that it belonged to Vattenfall to make this first call.

Vattenfall said that he will not comment until the German Government takes the decision of official closure June 6.

(Reported by Patrick Lannin; editing by James Jukwey)


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To deal blow to fruits, nuts, climate change: study (AFP)

WASHINGTON (AFP) - climate change is expected to change the world industry in the fruit and nuts considerably as the tree as the pistachio and cherry crops are struggling in the rising temperatures, the researchers said.

A study says that even if polluters takes more action to reduce carbon emissions, the impact of climate change is likely be sufficiently serious for the industry of fruit and nuts of nearly 100 billion dollars annually must reassess planning.

Trees in temperate regions evolved in need of a cold period they can grow in the spring. The rising temperatures pose a special problem for temperate, but relatively warm areas where the winter cold is already in short supply.

The study, published in may by the journal PLoS One online, provides that fruit and nut trees to be very affected in the southeast of United States, of the Southern California and the southwest of the Australia and the province of Yunnan.

Areas which have already seen the worst of the losses from the winter chill include Israel, Morocco, Tunisia, and the region of Cape Town, South Africa, the study said.

Commune of fruits and nuts in warm temperate areas understand with pistachio nuts, which are popular in Iran and in California with nut Grenoble, cherries and peaches.

Co-author Eike Luedeling of the World Agroforestry Centre based in Nairobi, said that long-term investments necessary to reach farmers quickly that fruit and nuts is more vulnerable than many other crops.

"If I am growing wheat or corn, and then a year to year I can decide to plant a little later or earlier planting or plant a variety of different,"said Luedeling."

"But for trees, you can not." Once you have made the decision to plant a certain culture, you're locked in 30 years, "he says.

Luedeling, who observed the problem of the decline in yields while research on Oman trees, said that the economic impact of climate change for the fruit and nuts will depend on the decisions taken today.

"If farmers wake up to the reality of the climate change and begin to make these adjustments - switching of cultivars are appropriate in the future, but not necessarily yet - now and then the disturbance to the markets may be minimal," he said.

"But if this is not, if farmers believe that they can continue to do what makes their grandfathers, then we will see some serious problems", he said.

Forecasts, climate change have a lesser impact on the cool temperate and cold of winter may in fact increase in some colder regions, the study found.

Co-author Evan Girvetz, a Senior Climatologist at The Nature Conservancy, an American environmental group, said colder regions had a window larger to the temperature rise, as they began with more days of cold of winter.

But many warmer parts are "already on the edge of not having enough cold during the winter of fruits and the production of nuts", Girvetz said.

"They have years when you do not have enough full production and while we are moving into the future, we find that which will become more frequent," he said.

Even if the world reduces gas emissions to greenhouse effect, "we are projecting that the qualities of those cultures are likely to reduce", he said.

Intergovernmental Group of experts on the evolution of the climate in a major report in 2007, provides that the world would be heat 1.8 to 4.0 ° C (3.2 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100 compared to pre-industrial levels and that some damage was irreversible.

However, a political boost to fight against climate change has decreased since then, especially in the United States, with a number of conservative legislators raise doubts about science and say that the action is too expensive.


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Dams power in the largest US dam removal (AP)

PORT ANGELES, Wash. -the Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State once were full of legendary salmon before two large concrete dams built nearly a century ago close access to upstream habitat for fish, decreased their journeys and changed the ecosystem.

June 1, almost two decades after that Congress called for a full restoration of the river and its fish tracks, federal workers will disable the generators at the power plant dam in 1913 and put in motion the largest dam removal project in the history of the United States.

Contractors will begin to dismantle the dams of this fall, a project of 324.7 million that will take approximately three years and finally enable the Elwha 45 miles River to run freely as the course of the Olympic Mountains through old-growth forests in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

"We will let the River be wild again," said Amy Kober, a spokesman for the advocacy group American Rivers. "Generators can extinguish, but the River is subject to power up to."

105 Elwha dam feet came also on the line in 1913, followed by 14 years later by the 210 Glines Canyon Dam - walking eight kilometres upstream. For years, they provided electricity to a local pulp and stationery and the growing city of Port Angeles, wash., about 80 miles west of Seattle. Electricity from dams - enough to power about 1 700 homes - currently feeds regional power grid.

A law of the requested State fish passage facilities Washington, but none has been built. If all five native species of Pacific salmon and other anadromous fish arriving at maturity in the ocean and return to the rivers to spawn were confined to the lower five miles of the River. A hatchery was built, but only until 1922.

Fish are particularly important for the members of the lower Elwha Klallam tribe, whose ancestors occupied the Valley of the Elwha for future generations, and whose members recall the stories of 100-pound salmon so abundant Chinook you could cross the River on their backs.

"We have never been happy that salmon in the River have been cut," said Robert Elofson, Director of Elwha River restoration for the tribe, who, with environmental groups fought in the 1980s to bring down the dam. Land of the tribe now includes about 1,000 acres on and near the Elwha River. "It is difficult to have a pride when your main river of your tribe was blocked and the salmon runs almost totally destroyed."

In 1910, the Elwha has produced approximately 390 000 salmon and trout anadromous, including coho salmon, pink, red salmon, and steelhead trout and chinook salmon. The number of species of wild native anadromous fish is reduced to about 3,000 in 2005.

Brenda Francis, a spokesman for the tribal and Member, said his mother as a girl has recalled the meetings where tribal members to discuss dismantling dams. "The people never wanted the dams to go up in the first place," said.

Because most of the River lies within protected National Park of the Olympic Games, the scientists say that the Elwha River restoration project also presents a unique opportunity to study how a river covers dam-free once. Researchers will study how back to the River, how their return will benefit wildlife such as bears and eagles, and how the estuary will be reshaped when sediments trapped behind dams in salmon is out.

Most yards 24 million cubes of sediments occur behind dams in Mills Lake and Aldwell Lake, enough to fill a two kilometres high football stadium, said David Reynolds, a spokesman for the Olympic National Park. The National Park Service and the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe lead the project for the restoration of the River.

When the tanks are drain, 800 acres of arid land will be exposed. New greenhouse Park, volunteers and botanists of the Park are occupied transplanting and repotting salal, red currants, ocean spray and other plants to fill the exposed Earth. Crews have collected seeds, cones and the cuttings along the River since 2002.

The first 15,000 plants will be available this fall. In all plants more than 400 000 will serve to restore a forest ecosystem, prevent erosion and exotic species. "It is a great experience for other dam emissions," said Jill Zarzeczny, biological technician with the Elwha revegetation project.

On a recent day at the plant, the dams were running maximum of generations, fed by glaciers and weather patterns that make it a rich resource of water, said Kevin Yancy, foreman of the plant. He worked for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates dams since the Federal Government purchased their in 2000.

From June, workers will take electrical load off the coast of the generator, de-energize the lines coming into the plant, close the headgates and remove any dangerous energy entrepreneurs can start their work later this fall, said Yancy.

In the control room, original gauges, switches and other instruments are still in use, with more modern facilities, to measure the level of water reservoirs and the amount of energy produced. A window in the room offers a view of the glacial river Milky below where Yancy said that he will often see hundreds of fish jumping as they hit the walls of the Elwha dam.

"They want to go upstream," Yancy said. "Being a guy hydro that none of us want to see removed from power plants, but for this river and this story, it is time.

___

Online:

The Elwha River restoration: http://www.nps.gov/olym/naturescience/elwha-ecosystem-restoration.htm


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SC nuclear power, becoming the first to go digital (AP)

Seneca, s.c. - the digital revolution is finally reach of American nuclear power plants.

Some time in the coming weeks, technicians will finish installing digital controls for systems of operation and safety of a reactor of the nuclear power plant in Western South Carolina, a move being closely watched by the other nuclear complexes.

In a country where a digital mixer can be purchased for about $30 Wal-Mart, the Oconee nuclear power reactor will be the first 104 reactors in United States not controlled do not with the same analog technology introduced tapes of the world and the rules of the slide.

It took so long to go to Central nuclear digital because regulators wanted assurances the new control systems were as reliable as old and cannot be compromised by hackers.

"Systems in plants now, they do an excellent job." "Plants are very safe - they do the work for years," said Joe Naser, technical Direction with the Electric Power Research Institute.

Going digital is designed to save money. Most of the systems in a nuclear power plant are monitors with four sensors. If two of them were out-of-whack readings, engineers often have plant "voyage", or stop, until the problem is solved. If a nuclear power plant sits idle for a day, it can cost a company of public services more than 2 million of $. This is not detached change, even for a business as a plant operator based Duke Energy North Carolina, which earned 1.3 billion in 2010.

Unlike a human engineer, which can take only to the extent both a tool, the digital system supports thousands of readings at any time. The computer can understand instantly if a sensor is broken and ignore it.

"These utilities need to keep the plants running." Having unexpected outages of an analog system is not doing what we need to do - it is a financial risk, "said Jere Jenkins, Director of the laboratory of radiation at the University of Purdue."

While the digital control of nuclear power plants is widespread in Europe and in Asia, the United States has been on the sidelines the digital revolution has brought iPods Americans for their music, films on the Internet and tiny computers linked to satellites to help find the store that sells these things of streams to their cell phones.

The digital systems of nuclear power will provide operators with a lot more data on the activities of the plant and a level of precision impossible with an analog system, which often requires the movement of components to get things done.

Other utilities are closely watching. The nuclear power station early in the United States went online with the analog controls in 1996, the same year DVD have been introduced to the Japan. More than half of nuclear power plants of the nation are at less than 30 years, and only three have come since 1990.

"It's to the point where you cannot replace equipment anymore," Jenkins said.

Other nuclear power plants will be tempted to follow the lead of Oconee as soon as they can afford the conversion goes well, said David Lochbaum, nuclear safety of the Union of Concerned Scientists project Director.

"There are a lot of eyes on this.". If it goes well, you'll see probably many people in the queue of realization. If it is not well, they will wait for Duke Energy smooth out the kinks, "said Lochbaum.

The Oconee nuclear plant operators will probably meet some unexpected problems, as the new system is implemented, but they should all be minor because the tests in-depth, said Lochbaum.

In addition, Duke Energy said that he made so that its engineers can manually take on all digital process for problems.

One of the major concerns of regulators was the software used to run the new controls could be hackées of outside plant concerns. Documents submitted to the nuclear regulatory Commission showed Duke Energy software provider has designed a system with no external network connection. Any communication between the reactor operators and the system is highly restricted and must be authorized by the operators of the plant.

The new 1 engine control system is part of the $ 2 billion in modernization of Duke Energy to maintain its three reactors at the station, which opened in the early 1970s, run safely for the next 30 years. Control Panel installing coincides with an interruption of in-flight refueling provided. 2 Reactor will get its new digital Panel during the year next refueling fuel, and a reactor 3 upgrade is planned for 2013. All three reactors only new panels cost $ 250 million.

Oconee nuclear power reactor operators have spent the months of training on an exact replica of what the new control panel will look like. And it looks a lot like the old system.

"One of the objectives is to make the life of the operators, I say easy, but more focused on the main aspects of the work of the operators." As a pilot, you want him to focus on the aircraft of flight - you do not want him spending all day trying to get the cabin pressure to the right, "said Jeff Hekking, a reactor operator senior who helped test the new system.

In a recent simulation, Hekking and two other operators deal with a problem with the water that cools the reactor and maintains the nuclear reaction failed. Dinging bells, similar to what someone would use in old movies to assign a hotel Groom, mark when things are first going offside. The rear suspension engineers and let it get worse. Dozens of lights small red rectangle green as control bars fall back into the heart of the reactor to shut down the nuclear reaction. Warning sirens sound, but they are sieved wails, screaming not claxons.

Engineers then begin to control the situation, push buttons and pulling levers. Orders are entered and repeated to ensure that everyone is on the same page.

Reactor operators work on 12 hours straight. At least three are in each reactor control room at any time, even to eat their meals at the grey desks behind flat screen monitors. Others are the maintenance, control of components or other tasks, but may be introduced into the room if necessary.

Hekking, 40, is an operator of reactor for 19 years and is used for working with components manufactured at the time where he was born next to the latest technology, as implemented at Oconee control panels.

"Nuclear power is a really interesting world, said Hekking." "We have both the oldest and the newest and coolest".

___

Jeffrey Collins is available at http://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP


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2011年5月30日星期一

Greenpeace activists climbed the Greenland oil rig (AP)

STOCKHOLM - three activists of Greenpeace Sunday mounted a platform for oil drilling off the coast of Greenland to try to prevent a Scottish oil company to from drilling in deep water in Arctic waters, says environment group.

Greenpeace said activists scaled the platform of 53 000 tonne Leiv Eiriksson, led by Cairn Energy and are now suspended thereunder in a pod.

It is said that activists arrived at the rig in inflatable boats launched from the ship of Greenpeace Esperanza, which had avoided a Danish warship their observation of the day.

The Group has enough food and water to stay 10 days in the pod, clinging to a few metres of the forest which would serve as oil strike, said Greenpeace.

Cairn won this month permission to drill up to seven oil wells off the coast of the West coast of the island in the Arctic.

Greenpeace has criticized the Cairn, which is the only company from drilling in the region, not to take additional precautions to avoid accidents such as the Gulf of Mexico of 2010 oil spill.

Cairn confirmed activists tried to disrupt the rig to the offshore site exploration trip to Greenland.

The company says it "seeks to operate safe and prudent manner" and stressed that the authorities in Greenland have established stringent operating regulations similar to those applied in the Norwegian North Sea.

Greenpeace said it hopes that the action and dropping out of the plans of the Cairn to complete exploration before winter, forcing the company to abandon the search for oil for another year.

Cairn is currently the only company from drilling in the region, Greenpeace has warned that oil rush in the Arctic could trigger if the company strikes oil this summer.

"We are to prevent drilling because an oil spill here would be almost impossible to deal the freezing conditions and remote location," said Greenpeace activist Ben Ayliffe. "A blow off the coasts of Greenland BP-style render the Deepwater Horizon clean-up to look at simple."

Greenpeace activists climbed to rig Leiv Eiriksson edge when he left a port in Istanbul in April, but were forced to abandon the protest because of bad weather conditions.

Last year, militants also tried to stop drilling in the region to climb on the platform of Stena Don of the Cairn.

___

Malin Rising can be reached at http://twitter.com/malinrising


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APNewsBreak: Calif. could require condoms in porn (AP)

By SHAYA TAYEFE MOHAJER, Associated Press Shaya Tayefe Mohajer, Associated Press - Friday 27 May, 19 h 30 et

LOS ANGELES, California, workplace safety officials have developed rules to require performers to use condoms and other obstacles in sex scenes to prevent sexually transmitted diseases be porn.

CAL/OSHA official provided the 17-page project proposal to the Associated Press Friday, and it must be discussed at a public meeting in Los Angeles on June 7.

The project would then be the State Occupational Safety & health standards Board on the issue of whether if it becomes part of status code.

Some major porn producers are opposed to the use of condoms, in pornography in the past arguing that the State rule would bring the porn industry in California and that the public wants to watch of protected sex.


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Missouri tornado: how to help (media room)

A massive tornado struck the town of small Joplin Missouri, May 22 killing more than 100 people. Hundreds more were injured and rescue teams are still search the rubble for survivors.

The massive tornado destroyed about 30% of the city. all neighborhoods have been reduced to the huge pile of rubble. "It is like taking a mower through tall grass." What it looks like. The devastation is complete. It is towards the ground, said State Senator Ron Richard.

Below are organizations who work on repair and restoration in the region.

The American Red Cross: opening of the emergency shelters for families affected by severe storms. ?To designate your gift to the rescue of the Red Cross, select "National disaster Relief" in the designation field. Make a donation here.

AMERICARES: AmeriCares is working with the National Conference of community health centres to assess the needs and mobilize a response to communities hit by the deadliest tornadoes series in more than 40 years. To designate your gift to US disaster relief, write "US Fund relief" in the designation field. Make a donation here.

DIRECT relief INTERNATIONAL: help local clinics and providers of health care whose facilities have been destroyed or evacuated. To designate your gift for disaster relief, write "Emergency Preparedness & Response" in the designation field.? Make a donation here.


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"The Nepal super Sherpa" says farewell to Everest (AFP)

Kathmandu (AFP) - Apa Sherpa, the Nepalese climber who conquered Mount Everest a record 21 times, said Saturday his last ascent of the highest Summit of the world would last.

The father of 51 years three, nicknamed the "Super Sherpa" for the apparent ease with which it climbs, said that he wanted to give more young mountaineers a chance, but that it would not be dropped the sport in total.

"I decided to call it quits.". Whenever I monte Everest, my family worried about me, "Sherpa told AFP in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, after the extension of his own record with a 21st ascent of Mount Everest."

"I would like to give a chance for young mountaineers, but I will not abandon the mountains that I invested my life." I will train new climbers. ?

Sherpa, who was born in the Nepal, but now lives in the United States, first to the scale of the (29,028 feet) peak of 8, 848-metre in 1990.

He spoke to Everest dramatic changes over the past two decades, and after an expedition last year, said the higher temperatures were the mountain more in more dangerous for climbers.

"The snow slopes had melted, exposing bare rock below, which makes it very difficult for us to go up the slope as no there was no snow to dig our crampons in,"he told AFP in an interview."."

The climber has spent his last four ascents to the efforts to preserve the Everest, with Sherpa people consider sacred, and this year rise with a team of suppression of the tons of rubbish left by previous climbers.

Last year, Sherpa has created a foundation dedicated to the improvement of education in the remote Himalayan region where he grew up and on Saturday, he said, that it would now focus on the mobilization of funds for the charity.

About 3,000 people have it made at the Summit of Mount Everest since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first to conquer the mountain in 1953.

The season on Everest summit begins in late April and may, when a small window between the spring and the summer monsoon offers the best conditions for climbing.


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The Germany at the nuclear waste by 2022 (AFP)

BERLIN (AFP) - Germany Monday became the first great power industrialized to accept an end to nuclear energy following the disaster at the Japan, with a phase-out to be completed by 2022.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said the decision, hammered by its coalition of center-right from one day to the next day, marked the beginning of a "fundamental" consolidation of the energy policy in the economy of the world number four.

"We want the power of the future to be more secure and both reliable and affordable," Merkel told journalists that she accepted the findings of a commission of experts on nuclear power, that it has appointed in March in response to the crisis at the Fukushima plant to the Japan.

"This means that we must have a new approach for the network of supply, energy efficiency, also followed and renewable energies in the long term from the process," said Merkel, whose popularity has suffered in his previous position worldwide.

The commission considered that it would be viable in a decade in the Germany to suspend all 17 of its nuclear reactors, of which eight are currently off the coast of the electricity grid.

Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen announced the closure progressive early Monday after seven hours of negotiations at the offices of Merkel among partners in the ruling coalition. He said that the decision was "irreversible."

Seven reactors already are offline of the oldest country, whose Government has closed three months pending a probe of security after the urgency of Fukushima.

The eighth is the plant of United, in the North of the Germany, which has been offline for repeated years due to technical problems.

Six other reactors are shut down at the end of 2021 and more modern three would stop operating at 2022.

Decision Monday, which could meet the legal challenges of energy companies, means that Germany will find the 22 per cent of its electricity needs that have been covered by nuclear energy from other sources.

Roettgen insisted that no there was no danger of blackouts.

"Ensure us that the electricity supply will be ensured at all times and for all users", it is committed.

The Government must now determine how it can make the difference with the sources of renewable energy, natural gas and power plants to coal.

Merkel Steffen Seibert spokesman, said the plan would deliver four priorities: standing Germany: a world economy at the top of the page, an adequate and affordable energy supply, climate protection and independence of energy imports.

The decision is in fact a return to the schedule defined by a Green-Social Democrat coalition Government back ten years ago.

It is a lesson in humility u-turn for Merkel, who at the end of 2010, decided to extend the lifetime of the reactors by an average of 12 years, who have kept their open until the mid-1990s.

This decision was unpopular even before the earthquake and tsunami in March severely damaged the installation of Fukushima, creating antinuclear mass demonstrations in Germany.

Merkel zig-zaggant on what has been a very emotional issue in the country since the 1970s he cost in the last elections as the anti-nuclear Greens gained ground.

Nuclear opponents slammed the deal Monday and said they would stage fresh protests the month next call for a more rapid elimination.

During this time industrial giant Daimler warned that closure would undermine the competitiveness of the European economy the top of the page.

"Our backs on affordable energy supply is clearly a risk," Chief Executive Dieter Zetschke told the daily Bild, adding that he saw the decision as "strongly colored by emotions."

Fukushima accident sparked a new global debate on the safety of nuclear power plants, with opinions differ widely.

Minister of environment of Sweden criticized the decision of the Germany, saying it would lead to a disjointed energy policy which is not adequately fight against climate change.

The United States and Britain announced their intention to construct of harmful new reactors as an alternative to the production of greenhouse gas emissions while providing a relatively inexpensive supply of energy.

Italy demolished nuclear in 1987, a year after the Chernobyl disaster, while the Switzerland neighbour, said last week, and that it would gradually be atomic energy by 2034.


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Clinical sex worker Myanmar consolation against stigma (AFP)

YANGON (AFP) - when Thida Win contracted HIV after selling his body in the streets of Yangon, it was his sex workers classmates that she turned around, step of Myanmar croulant health service.

The high project, run almost entirely by those in the sex trade, gave his treatment, a place to be itself, the double stigma of HIV and prostitution - and ultimately a job.

"I am now a health care worker for my community and I can forget that I'm positive." I am proud to work for programs, I will work for them for all my life, "33-year-old told AFP."

Top of page similar projects are a vital resource in Myanmar dominated by the army, where a chronically underfunded health service, large populations travelling and fuel of bad education one of the worst epidemics of HIV of Asia.

"When I was diagnosed I was pregnant and told me how to find a safe way for the baby." "So that the child is negative and I am so happy," said Thida Win.

Almost one in five approximately 60,000 workers from Myanmar of sex have been infected with HIV in 2008.

A United Nations report August is year last legal constraints said and discrimination make it hard to reach those in trade, which is illegal. Police suggested even condoms used surveys as evidence of arrest.

Top founder and Director Habib Rahman said providing a free place of taboos and allow people to share their problems with his contemporaries is a key objective of the project.

"Even the cleaner comes from the community of sex workers, advisors are also sex workers. It is one of the reasons why I decided to recruit among the community - because there should be any stigma and discrimination, said.

Rahman said that many women enter sex work without knowing the risks.

"In General in Myanmar I do not think that there is any sex education at school," he said.

The project recruited current and former sex workers to help educate others about HIV, spreading the message of a position of trust in the community.

"We cannot tell anyone to stop selling sex, even if they are positive, but what we do is tell them how they can keep in good health and protect the customer by the use of condoms," said Rahman.

He said of the top part-time "peer educators", who chose to continue in the sex trade were encouraged to always use protection, whereas the full-time employees have received training to stop selling sex in total.

Myint Myint contracted HIV shortly after being recruited to work in a house close following the breakdown of his marriage. She said clients, mainly local bean and fish traders, had often been reluctant to use protection.

"I have the violence with customers who do not want to use condoms." It is a big problem. I think that customers are aware of condoms. "They think that they are plastic garbage,", said the top peer educator who continues to sell sex to some of his former clients.

Transmission of HIV in Myanmar produced "mainly by means of high risk sexual contact between sex workers and their clients", and the men who have sex with men and their partners, according to the United Nations report.

It said while injecting drug users have the highest HIV prevalence, at 36%, they are also likely to pay for sex, and "this interaction may repeat the conduct of work of sex epidemic".

Years of neglect by the generals in power - Myanmar passes just to 0.9% of its budget on health in 2007 - have left the country donors easy most of the treatment of HIV in the country.

A new Government, which took power after the November 2010 election controversial, gave rise to the hope of investment more donors overseas - but not the State, which should take approximately 20 per cent of expenditures on the army this year.

In 2009, the UN estimates 240,000 people in Myanmar living with the virus and while there has been improvements, the situation remains worrying, with prevalence rates, the third highest in Asia after the Thailand and Papua New Guinea.

"The epidemic of HIV in Myanmar is on a trend downward and among key population groups, it is also reduce - but it is still quite high, said Soe Naing of UNAIDS in Myanmar."

He said a provision of the State for the treatment of HIV are in the large cities, but of course standards and situations are not ideal. People are reluctant to go to them for the quality and privacy "."

To top clinical provide everything, testing and consultation for routine medical care.

Last year, it has treatment and consultation to 11,770 sex workers and men 10,727. It was also 40% and 82% of all HIV testing for these groups respectively in the country.

The program, which was formed by Population Services International (PSI), seven years employs now 350 people - with 95% of the community of sex workers and men who have sex with men - in 19 cities.

In Myanmar, where U.S. estimates about a third of individuals were below the threshold of poverty in 2007, money worries are likely to continue to drive people in sex work.

Thida Win, which was still a student at the University when it sold first sex, said the financial burden of marriage and children only pushed further in trade.

"I got my degree with sex work, I have supported my family very well with sex work," said the Chemistry graduate, who said its income still help seven members of the family.


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S & P degrades the Japan TEPCO (AFP)

TOKYO (AFP)-l' rating Standard and Poor Monday agency downgraded TEPCO, the operator of Central Fukushima sinistrée of the nuclear Japan, in the light of worsening of the business credit profile.

S & P said in a news release that it lowered the long-term corporate credit rating Tokyo Electric Power Co. has to B + from BBB and its credit rating corporate short term b from A - 2.

He said that the move, with a fall of five-notch in the notation in the long term, has been done "reflecting our view that there is a growing likelihood that the lender banks could undertake a form any restructuring of the borrowings of the TEPCO, on TEPCO worsening stand-alone credit profile".

The statement also noted "uncertainty on the provision of Government support to ensure the payment of the debt in a timely manner under the current political climate in the Japan extraordinary."

A poll in the Nikkei business daily Monday showed that nearly three quarters of Japanese voters are unhappy with the handling of the Government of center-left of the nuclear disaster.

The survey came days before Prime Minister Naoto Kan is facing a motion of no confidence threatened by the conservative opposition, which is unlikely to pass, but he nevertheless presents with fresh political headache.

Earlier this month following the troubled utility revealed the largest ever loss for a Japanese company outside the financial sector after being hit by huge costs of the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.

The firm posted a net annual loss of 1.25 billion yen ($15 billion) and its President that Masataka Shimizu would resign over the crisis in the nuclear power plant of his reversed, said.

The assessor said risk that it had lowered its assessment of the likelihood that TEPCO will receive government extraordinary support to "high" of "very high".

"Standard and Poor still sees a high probability that the Government will legislate and implement the plan it announced May 13, 2011, to help offset TEPCO finance for damages related to the nuclear crisis," said the statement.

On 13 may, the Government has proposed for the first time that banks may have to waive certain terms of pre-quake ready to TEPCO before it gets assistance to pay allowances.

"However, in our view, remains the announcement is not clear if the framework for the scheme is subject to the cooperation of lender banks, and, if this is the case, which formed the Bank cooperation will take," said the statement.

She added "some politicians think that banks should share the workload in some form, which may fall within our definition of the default value". "We believe now that such a scenario is more likely that we previously thought.".

The electricity company faces the prospect of payment compensation worth tens of billions of dollars to the victims of the Atomic crisis.

TEPCO and the Government have not yet release estimates for bill payment, but analysts say it could vary from four billion yen (50 billion dollars) to 10 billion yen according to how long the hard nuclear crisis.

The utility said it had decided scrap plant reactors after the earthquake on 11 March and abandoned plans to build two more.

Fukushima, sitting on the northeast coast to Pacific, plant has been paralysed by the earthquake and tsunami and spread radiation in air, soil and sea in the worst nuclear crisis of the world since Chernobyl 25 years ago.

It is the fourth time this standard and poor has downgraded long-term ratings of the TEPCO since March 18.

Rival agency ratings Moody has also downgraded the operator three times and warned that its rating remains on review for possible more action.


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Climbing Greenpeace occupied the Arctic oil rig (AFP)

Copenhagen (AFP) - two Greenpeace activists occupied a drilling platform in the southwest of Greenland to protest oil exploration in the Arctic, causing the Government to a reaction of anger.

The activists, who arrived in rubber dinghy, climbed the 53,000 tons "leif eiriksson", an apparatus for drilling by first drilling for oil for the Scottish company Cairn Energy.

They are placed in a survival pod which is suspended 30 metres platform above the water ice below, said Greenpeace.

"The two men are in this capsule with enough supplies for 10 days,", said Birgitte Lesanner, spokesman for Greenpeace in the Denmark.

The event took place Sunday morning, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) off the coast of the capital of the coast of Greenland, Nuuk.

The platform went to its area of operations where two explorations of drilling separated are to take place before December, when water Arctic begins icing.

One of the activists, Luke, is calling himself said he was "proud to have managed to attach my pod over the water" and "contribute to stop this madness."

"Cairn Energy plays dangerously with the nature of Greenland," said Greenpeace in a statement, deploring that the Scottish oil company suspended "deaf to calls by environmental organisations, fishermen and warnings by the Canada and the United Kingdom against drilling in the Arctic."

The Greenland authorities condemned the action "vigorously", calling it illegal and a "flagrant violation of international law".

Industry "Greenpeace is acting cynically, against the legitimate rights for those less advanced is to develop economically," Minister Ove Karl Berthelsen in a statement, labelling action Sunday a stunt "draw the attention of the media."

In Greenland, a foreign territory of the Denmark, is seeking oil exploration as a means of ensuring its economic independence.

Cairn Energy informed the authorities of Greenland that it will continue to move the point of agreed drilling platform, and he did not exclude police seeking to expel the two activists.


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Off close to the melting of ice, Arctic inland resources: study (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - global warming will probably open coastal areas of the Arctic development but close vast areas of the Northern Interior the logging and mining operation in the century as ice and melt the frozen soil under temporary roads in winter, the researchers said.

Higher temperatures have already resulted in decline of levels in the Arctic sea ice and melting has the potential to increase access for fishermen, tourists and developers of oil and natural gas in coastal regions in the coming decades.

Melting has also led to hopes to open shorter shipping routes in the Arctic between China and Europe.

The Arctic is more a region of deep strategic importance for the United States, the Russia and China for its wealth of undiscovered resources and the potential of new waterways. The U.S. Geological Survey says 25 percent of the unknowns of oil and natural gas of the world is located in the Arctic.

But the global warming also probably melt so-called "roads of ice", temporary winter roads developers for the now use to access the resources of Northern far inland as timber, diamonds and minerals, according to a study published Sunday in the journal Nature of climate change.

"This is a frontier of resources where we don't even know what everything is there and I am beginning to think we will ever be" Lawrence Smith, Professor of geography at the University of California at Los Angeles and co-author of the study, said the Interior of the Arctic.

"These places will become wilder and land will be abandoned and return to the wild."

Ice roads, made famous by the History Channel "Ice road truckers" series, are built on the frozen ground, rivers, lakes and wetland areas, with ice and compacted snow. They cost only two to four per cent of permanent land roads would cost, making it the most profitable resource extraction in these remote areas.

Iron roads, indigenous peoples may well also to insulation increased and higher that certain goods could reach them only via aircraft.

All eight countries bordering the Arctic - Canada, Finland, Greenland, the Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and United States - expected to decrease the accessibility of the lands of the winter road.

Russia will lose the most of land suitable for road construction in winter by region, followed by the Canada and United States, as the modelling in the study, which was supported by the NASA cryosphere program and the National Science Foundation.

DIAMOND ROAD

In the North of the Tibbitt-Contwoyto Canada "diamond road", a winter road was first built in 1982 and would be more lucrative ice road in the world that it serves several diamond mines, is should be among the roads that suffer, according to researchers. A large part of the road about 300 miles runs at the top of the frozen lakes.

By 2020, the road is projected to lose 17 percent of its 10 weeks operating season.

Oil and natural gas developers could lose access to some domestic drilling, but the industry would have access to a coastal drilling and could take advantage of easier navigation routes.

Work wood and metal mines, however, much more would suffer because it would be cost prohibitive to build permanent roads leading to these resources.

A study more is needed to determine the potential economic losses of the melt regions and how they would compare on occasion, the authors say.

(Reported by Timothy Gardner.) (Editing by David Lawder)


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Porn trade group a plan of health actor (AP)

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Fund of BP spill to an end after $ 4 billion paid: report (Reuters)

London (Reuters) - BP (BP) Fund(L) put in place to deal with compensation claims after the Gulf of the Mexico of the the 2010 oil spill begins to slow down after paying about $ 4 billion to 20 billion dollars set aside by the oil firm, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

The newspaper said that Ken Feinberg, the lawyer in charge of the Fund, had treated more than 80 per cent of the claims made by those who have suffered economically after the accident of Deepwater Horizon and until now used a little more than $ 4 billion.

"I don't envision a flood of new claims," the document CITES said Feinberg. Eight regional offices had been closed, it added.

Oil major has established the Fund in June last for victims as fishermen and property owners.

Feinberg said in an interview with Reuters in April, the Fund "worked as expected," Although some advocacy groups and local officials argued that the money was distributed slowly and unfairly.

BP (BP).(N) has estimated that the total of the costs of recovery of the well, clean up the damage caused by the largest oil spill ever off the coasts of America and to compensate those affected will be more than 41 billion dollars, including fines.

(Reported by Rosalba O'Brien.) (Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)


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2011年5月23日星期一

Braces country Cajun of Louisiana for historic flooding (The Christian Science Monitor)

Morgan City, Louisiana) - ravaged by the recent hurricanes and last year's BP oil spill in the Gulf of the Mexico country Cajun of Louisiana residents are now preparing for the largest flood of the River area has seen in more than 80 years.

A week ago, the US Army Corps of Engineers opened the North Baton Rouge Morganza spillway, sending torrents of water of the flood of the Mississippi into the Atchafalaya River basin.

Designed to save Baton Rouge and New Orleans to serious flooding, the diversion to the Atchafalaya could bring 5 to 25 feet of water in seven rural parishes along the River, affecting more than 25 000 people.

RECOMMENDED: Mississippi River flooding

The parish officials have welcomed the new body will probably open 25 percent of the capacity of the Morganza instead of the predicted 50 percent, a decision which could reduce flood levels.

Although the river and the nearby bayous are topping their banks, floodwater was supposed to have already flooded some communities along the Atchafalaya evolve more slowly than anticipated.

a € ?A combination € factors, including drought for a long time in the field and the body slowing releasing water into the Morganza, giving the opportunity to escape, wildlife has slowed down water, a

Flooding should now crest to Butte LaRose in the river basin may 27 to 24.5 feet and Morgan City near the Gulf may 29 to 11 feet. The slow arrival of the flood has given officials and residents, more time to prepare.

"We have been here for generations, the family after the family after the family and the hurricanes and flooding are something that you learn to live with," said Amanda Frederick, who lives in the community of Stephensvillejust north of Morgan City in the parish of Saint-Martin.

The subdivision where she lives sandwiched between two channels, was last flooded in 1993. In 2008, Hurricane Gustav tore shingles roof, demolished his backyard fence and the hangar and broke windows with flying debris.

Six hundred sandbagsTo to prepare for the next flood, this week Frederick packaged hand nylons 600 bags provided by the parish with sand and has built a mini dam of feet in height three ringing her home.

"We expect about two feet of water in our yards here so it could be worse, but it is still much work to keep off," she said.

Up to the Atchafalaya, residents of Butte LaRose face a Saturday morning mandatory evacuation order, leaving the hamlet a ghost town. In the nearby city of Henderson, zydeco dance halls could be packed on normal weekends is empty.

"Just people now expect the water to come and have disappeared so that they can start to clean up," said Henderson Mayor Sherbin Collette. "They're coming back to any-, it is the Cajun way."

Residents can have a long wait, as flood waters are expected to take weeks to clear, but they will help when begins cleaning.

This week, the Governor Bobby Jindal insured residents affected by the flood flooding insurance private and Federal is covers the damage. Thursday, the Federal Emergency Management Administration said that the local parishes will be refunded 75% of the costs for the preparation of the flood. However, some local officials including Terrebonne parish President Michel Claudet, said that parishes should be fully reimbursed.

"Houma, our largest city of Terrebonne, should not be affected, but we have smaller communities outside of the reception system which are very threatened by this flooding, which is not a natural event for us, said Claudet"adding that more than 1,600 houses may be at risk.

Terrebonne, the Parish has distributed 300,000 sandbags to residents.

Outside of Morgan City, a five hundred foot barge was cast in oak Bayou to create a roadblock improvised blocking turmoil in flooding in some parts of Terrebonne and St. Mary parishes. A second barge will be casting in proximity black Bayou.

The parish workers, assisted by volunteers and prison inmates, worked 18 hours a day for the last week, install tens of thousands of feet of water, of barricades of sandbags filled dams, of sand and baskets of Hesco filled to protect homes, schools and roads in the low-lying areas.

Local school systems have made contingency plans if the schools are forced to close and meet the needs of students who may not be able to travel because of the flood waters.

The Atchafalaya River Morgan City, the city of Berwick is ready for the flood on Friday afternoon.

Berwick Elementary School, located a block within the wall of 17 feet high flood of the city, school Secretary Crappell of students watched Penny that they were waiting for the day walks.

"We expect the biggest flood we have ever had" "I've lived here all my life and we expect the biggest flood we have ever had - six inches higher than 1973 - but if you are inside the wall of the flood."", you should be okay," said Crappell, who also sits on the City Council.

"Our school is going to be in agreement and my house is going to be okay, but our family business will be flooded," she said, nodding toward the floodwall.

Down the street across the flood wall, Crappell fish market was already surrounded by six inches of water as a flood swollen Atchafalaya away by yards.

Crappell husband, Reid, expected several metres of water in the building and has already implemented a portable market protected by the wall of the flooding near the town of landing boat.

"The oil spill last year hurt us because people in other States wanted to buy the Louisiana catfish, so things were just to return to normal and now it happened," he said. "This flood could put us out of the business of fishing for the next two months, but it will be a bumper season now to crawfish, so we are already in the future.".

RECOMMENDED: Mississippi River flooding


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EPA and Louisiana address environmental issues of flood (ContributorNetwork)

According a press of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published this Friday, the EPA continues to work with the State of Louisiana to prepare for any environmental issues that may occur due to the flooding of the Mississippi River that struck the hard State.

The United States EPA and the State of Louisiana said concerned about the rise of the waters of the Mississippi River flood and the possibility of it flooding facilities and industrial sites which may contain chemicals and other toxins that are harmful to human health and could easily get in other waterways to be washed away their holding locations or containers. The EPA is ready to dispatch technologies for cleaning of hazardous and other emergency plans if such facilities are threatened by dangerous flood waters.

In addition, according to the EPA press release, EPA has teamed with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and the Louisiana Department of health and the hospital to counter the threat which pose flood water to drinking water sources and the containment and disposal of wastewater and sewage. The EPA is remain stationed in Louisiana and is working with local officials to identify areas at risk. The Agency also works with drinking water and wastewater, especially security plans, to ensure or are compromised despite the continuing problems with flooding.

Mississippi River inflated and growing threat yet in Louisiana with a lot of destruction. According to a recent press release from the army of the United States, Louisiana National Guard are standing help Louisiana residents and to conduct search and rescue missions in the case where there is an immediate need of assistance.

The floods that hit central United States and continue to flow downstream are some of the worst in the 1970s, according to AFP. So far, slow and swollen flood waters destroyed houses, farms and roads throughout the Mississippi River. In many cases, the Government was opening the dikes and other weirs to offer relief floods in towns along the route of flood, but waters could continue to pose a dangerous risk to public health and the environment. Flooding was triggered by remnants of snow and ice melt in the regions of Mississippi North and also heavy rains which have hit the Centre of United States and still do.

Rachel Bogart provides a thorough analysis of local environmental issues current and new in Chicago. As a student of the suburbs of Chicago, seeking to obtain two degrees of science, applied his knowledge and his passion for the two subjects to gather more public awareness.


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Eva meeting disorder bolt (AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida - an extravehicular astronaut a ran in trouble Sunday while trying to lubricate a joint in the maintenance of the International Space Station life, lose a bolt and obtain a solar energy system puck stuck in a crevasse.

Mission control said flier space veteran Mike Fincke should settle for a partial lube job, after down bolts, blankets on the articulation started popping off the coast of unexpectedly.

"Bummer", said his partner spacewalks, Andrew Feustel.

The output in space - visit the second space station end of the shuttle Endeavour - begins well, with Fincke and Feustel topping off a line of radiator leaking. They have successfully added ammonia system of cooling of the space station, after rerouting of cables of startup and opening valves. A single line leaks slightly, and astronauts need to reload it.

Ammonia is extremely dangerous, and the two have done their best to avoid contaminating their combinations space all to restore the system with about 5 pounds of the substance. Some ammonia frozen flakes floating towards Feustel and a small piece of ice, but it didn't quite.

Fincke part in preventive maintenance on the massive joint that rotates solar wings to the space station on the left side. It was withdrawing its first coverage when a bolt in reason and away from him. He took the it. But another bolt finished floating away, and a washer is squeezed between the cover and an attachment.

Mission control worried the puck could enter joint gear mechanisms and damage. Fincke was advised to use "queries, large mild setback" to get the puck away from gears and astronaut replied he could try to coax it out.

All of this was a surprise and Mission control said later the astronauts that the washers may be folded and fragile in previous repair attempts.

"Sorry that you are having a hard time with those bolts, buddy," Feustel called Fincke.

"Yeah, man, I was being really careful, too," replied Fincke, one of NASA's most well-known spacemen.

After some deliberation, instructed flight controllers Fincke to remove only four covers of articulation rather than six. "We will do the best job possible", by radio to Mission control.

Another bolt in reason and almost got away, but Fincke took it. "It gets the golden glove for another capture price," said Mission control.

To the rescue of the Fincke, remaining blankets came off the coast of much more easily.

Fincke and Feustel team for real lubrication of the joint, by spraying the black substance on the gearbox grease guns. They turned to other tasks, as the joint has turn to spread the grease.

Mission control asked the astronauts if they were to work on the joint more once the motion has stopped. They said that they felt fine and wanted to continue. The spacewalk, the value of the last 6 1/2 hours, was to come in an hour of extra time.

NASA wants to lubricate as much articulation as possible to keep it functioning in the years to come without any visit by the shuttle.

A similar joint on the opposite side of the orbiting laboratory has become blocked by chips metal in 2007 due to grinding parts; He took a series of outputs in 2008 to fix. In one of these excursions, a tool bag away an astronaut and floated away - it is a loss of $100,000.

— 10-Foot diameter circular joints - transform space station solar wings toward the Sun, as the boat paddle wheels. Each set of wings measures 240 feet from tip of pointe. Panels to collect light from the Sun and turn it into electrical energy which is used to run all the equipment on the outpost, including life support.

These are the final output be achieved by visiting shuttle crew. the objective is to leave the space station in the best possible condition for the next decade of operation. It is the next-to-last shuttle mission. The 30-year program will end in July with the flight of Atlantis.

A observed that the output of the Sunday got underway in the small hours of the morning, astronaut Gregory Chamitoff from inside, "" it is an important for the longevity of the station, for power and cooling."" He added: "if we will start."

As they ventured in more than 200 miles in, Fincke and Foale leased one of the other. The two are astronauts experienced; It's seventh tour fifth Feustel and Fincke.

"It is an honour for walking outings in a Hubble astronaut space," Fincke said Feustel, part of the 2009 Hubble repair team.

"It is an honour to be walking with the man with the most time in space," said Feustel. Fincke will become the most popular American in space by next weekend, surpassing the current record of 377 days aloft.

Feustel and Chamitoff had cut output in the space of a little short Friday because of a sensor failure of carbon dioxide into Chamitoff costume. This problem was not anticipated in the output of Sunday.

Monday, three of the six space station residents will head home in their Russian Soyuz capsule after a five-month mission. In a single photo session, the crew initially will be photo Endeavour stationed at the space station.

Then on Wednesday, Fincke and Feustel will venture back exit No. 3.

Endeavour, under the command of Mark Kelly, husband of injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, will remain at the outpost in orbit for another week. Landing is scheduled for June 1.

___

Online:

A: NAS http://www.nasa.gov/shut tle


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2011年5月22日星期日

How flooding can restore the wetlands of Louisiana (Time.com)

The discourse on New Orleans have centered if the flood of the river Mississippi more severe in more than a quarter of a century causes catastrophic damage in a city still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. And for good reason: the flood carved a destructive path from Cairo, Illinois, at Vicksburg, Mississippi and you are prompted for the Republican Governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, ask the Federal Government for emergency assistance. But just maybe it is a misfortune: the flood could actually help fragile wetlands of Louisiana.

Of course, floodwaters of the river Mississippi is destructive. Many people along Weirs open to mitigate the outbreak is likely to lose their homes. Water can also destroy oyster beds, especially in Lake Borgne, between the Mississippi and the Gulf of the Mexico. Long term effects will be not obvious for several months. But, said Alex Kolker, a geologist at the Louisiana universities Marine Consortium, it may be an opportunity to let nature help resolve an artificial problem. "It will be a fascinating time," said Kolker. (See the photos in the flood zone).

Only a year ago, the worst oil spill in American history slathered million litres of oil through the coast of Louisiana. The muck covered cane tall, resembling bamboo and grass that points together vegetation which includes wetlands, South of New Orleans, preventing them from receiving oxygen. Many experts feared it would take years for the wetlands recover, and that the industry of seafood from Louisiana core - particularly oysters, shrimp and fish cannot execute suspicion of oil - is at risk. These sediments is crucial: the loss of vegetation is accelerating the erosion of soils and the Islands.

Now, however, rich in sediments of flood water is led to contaminated wetlands. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Manager of most of the waterways of the nation, has, over the century last, put in place a framework of containment of the Mississippi River, which has deprived ultimately indispensable silt Delta wetlands. That sediment reduced a, experts say, accelerated the narrowing of the Delta. Today, however, the Agency opened two canals to divert part of the Mississippi from New Orleans and wetlands. A channel is the Bonnet Carre spillway, which is to reduce the water in Lake Pontchartrain and thence to the Gulf of the Mexico. The other is the Morganza spillway, which sends water along the Atchafalaya River basin in the Gulf. Water and sediment forced through this channel, say experts, will likely help to rebuild the wetlands to the West of the Mississippi with sediment fresh, especially fishing and shrimp villages as Dulac. The last major flood in 1973, delivered enough of sediment to create what are now big trees covered with mud banks and lush grass. These banks have provided some of the crucial defenses of New Orleans during large storms. (See following a tornado that ripped through the Mississippi).

Flooding is, to some extent, flush out the remaining oil spill last year. Some of the oil will be mix with new sediment and, according to its weight, this amalgam is pushed by the current of the Mississippi River in the Gulf. "That does not mean it is not a problem", warns Richard Steiner, a protector of the marine environment that has studied the effects of oil spill of the Exxon Valdez and BP spill in the Gulf. His primary concern: the thick, dark, weathered mixture infused oil will remain toxic and continue to jeopardize the Gulf and certainly a large part of the wetlands of Louisiana, but perhaps with lower levels of contamination. There is also the risk that some remaining wildlife species will become slathered with oil of re-emerging and die. Still, says Steiner, the best route to save the wetlands of Louisiana finally may be "just left to natural degradation." Formidable that they, the flood waters are all part of the work of nature.

See how New Orleans responds to flooding of the Mississippi River.

See the top 10 U.S. historical floods.

See this article on Time.com

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