The environment in the news thursday, 22 May 2008

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  AFP: Brazil looks to develop Amazon as deforestation alarm rings
  
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  AP: Brazil says Amazon deforestation rising
  
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  Reuters: Alaska to sue to block polar bear listing
  
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  Reuters: Queen Goes Green With World's Largest Wind Turbine
  
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  Reuters: Senegalese Fisherman Save Dozens Of Stranded Whales
  
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  Reuters: Garbage Is Dirty, But Is It A Clean Fuel?
  
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  AFP: EU nations to sanction serious environmental abuse
  
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  BBC: Aviation impacts 'hotly disputed'
  
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  Reuters: Denmark seeks unity over Arctic claims
  
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  Reuters: Crops' wild relatives need better protection: WWF
  
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  BBC: Japan to probe whale meat 'theft'
  
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  Christian Science Monitor (USA): Interview: Jane Goodall embraces a broader mission
  
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  Newsfactor Network: Greenpeace Pushes for Greener Video Game Consoles
  
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  Austin Business Journal (Texas): City may stop purchasing bottled water
  

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  ROA
  
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  ROAP
  
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  RONA
  
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  ROLAC
  
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  ROWA
  

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  Environment News from the UN Daily News of 21 May 2008 (none)
  
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  Environment News from the S.G.’s Spokesman Daily Press Briefing of 21 May 2008 (none)
  

Gulf Times: Two pulled from rubble eight days after quake

Published: Wednesday, 21 May, 2008, 05:04 AM Doha Time

The woman, identified as Wang Youqun, had survived for more than 195 hours when rescuers in Pengzhou city, Sichuan province, found her conscious yesterday evening, the state Xinhua news agency said. It earlier identified her as Wang Liqun.

She survived by drinking rainwater, it added. Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV said she was in a stable condition.

Earlier, a man who had spent 179 hours trapped was pulled from the remains of a power plant following a 30-hour rescue operation.

Ma Yuanjiang, a 31-year-old executive at the plant, was freed at 00:50 am Tuesday (1650 GMT Monday) after a team chiselled through 10 slabs of cement, opening up a tunnel, Xinhua said.

Doctors said his internal organs were in good condition but Ma’s left forearm had to be amputated and he had lacerations in his abdomen, the report said.

Ma was surprisingly able to speak and eat and drink small amounts after spending so long under the rubble of the office section of the power plant, Xinhua said.

He was discovered alive on Sunday as rescuers dug a hole and saved one of his colleagues, who could be pulled out only after amputation, Xinhua said.

Ma had been buried on the second floor of the plant’s office section.

The quake in southwestern China has left more than 40,000 dead and almost fivemn homeless, according to Xinhua.

The two rescues are among a string of “miracle” rescues that have captivated the nation but the positive outcomes contrast with the misery of desperate relatives.

Rescuers and people whose family members are missing are still clinging to fading hopes, said Xinhua. Messages that read “searching for missing families” are proliferating on government websites, TV screens and online chatrooms.

Ma had been in a meeting when the earthquake flattened the power plant in Wenchuan county, close to the epicentre of the quake, which measured 8.0-magnitude on the Richter scale, the report said.

More than 100 rescuers were involved in the operation to save Ma, digging inch by inch with hammers and shovels, Xinhua said.

Ma, the vice director of the power generation department at the Yingxiu Bay Hydropower plant, was taken to a hospital in Chongqing, said Xinhua, adding that he asked for water during the trip.

More than 10,000 people are still believed to be buried under the debris of flattened buildings in Sichuan, according to provincial authorities, but hopes of finding survivors are rapidly fading.

Rescuers pulled out at least three people alive from the rubble on Sunday, although one of them later died.

Experts warn that the chances of survival in earthquake rubble decrease greatly after three days.

As residents search frantically for signs of missing relatives, Chinese authorities said they were taking photos of bodies before removing them.

For health reasons the bodies were being buried but police were keeping a database of DNA and photos, Xinhua said.

“Some people may never have a chance to see the bodies of their families and we hope it’ll be a comfort to them if they could see their last photos,” Tang Yanfeng, a brigadier involved in rescue efforts, was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

GENEVA: Environment experts are monitoring closely 18 lakes that have formed following the earthquake in China, a UN spokesman said yesterday.

 They had been created by debris blocking the rivers the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told journalists in Geneva.

“These lakes could create a potential danger for the populations below if the rivers burst through once more,” warned OCHA spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs.

The threat was even greater with further aftershocks being forecast in the region.

The death toll has now risen to 40,000 in the earthquake that struck Sichuan Province on May 12. OCHA said the biggest need was for tents with an estimated 5.7mn million people evacuated as of May 16.

The children’s agency, UNICEF, said they were providing a 1,000 tents. The Chinese authorities had asked them to send experts to work with children suffering from post-traumatic stress. A team was to spend five days in three towns.

More than 33,000 hectares of farmland had been flooded damaging wheat and vegetable crops in the 13 worst-hit cities and counties, according to information from the Ministry of Agriculture.

According to the latest UN figures $17mn has been received in funding with a further $76.8mn  in pledges from more than 20 donors.–Agencies
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