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Myanmar: Death toll more than 15,000

YANGON, Myanmar (CNN) — The death toll from the Myanmar cyclone is more than 15,000 people, Myanmar’s government has said, with at least 10,000 killed in the township of Bogalay alone, according to the Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua.

Survivors were facing their third night without electricity in the aftermath of the historic cyclone that also clogged roads with thousands of downed trees.

Diplomats were summoned to a government briefing Monday as the reclusive southeast Asian country’s ruling military junta issued a rare appeal for international assistance in the face of an escalating humanitarian crisis.

A state of emergency was declared across much of the country following the 10-hour storm that left swathes of destruction in its wake.

The death toll of more than 15,000, official sources told Xinhua, makes the weekend cyclone the deadliest natural disaster to hit Myanmar in recent history, according to figures compiled by a U.N.-funded disaster database.

The toll eclipses that from a 1926 wind storm the killed about 2,700 people in the country, according to the database.

The government of neighboring Thailand said Myanmar’s leaders had already requested food, medical supplies and construction equipment, AP reported. The first plane-load of supplies was due to arrive Tuesday, a Thai spokesman said.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement he was deeply saddened by the loss of life and the destruction suffered by the people of Myanmar and pledged to mobilize international aid and assistance as needed.

A United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team is on stand-by to assist the government in responding to humanitarian needs if required, the statement said.

Scenes of the destruction showed extensive flooding, boats on their sides in Yangon harbor, roofs ripped off buildings, uprooted trees and downed power lines after cyclone Nargis battered the Irrawaddy delta with 150 mile (240 km/h) an hour winds throughout Friday night and Saturday morning, dumping 20 inches of rain. Watch how the cyclone crippled Yangon

Residents of Yangon trudged through knee-deep swirling brown waters Monday as the delta city remained mostly without electricity and phone connections.

The U.S. Embassy in Myanmar has issued a disaster declaration in the country and authorized the release of $250,000 for cyclone relief efforts, Deputy State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Monday.

A disaster relief team is standing by, Casey said, but the Myanmar government had not given permission for the team to enter the country.

U.S. first lady Laura Bush blasted the military government, saying the lack of warning before the deadly cyclone hit was the latest example of the junta’s failure to meet its people’s basic needs.

Hakan Tongkul, with the United Nation’s World Food Programme, said residents in Yangon needed urgent assistance. This has pushed people to the edge. All that they have has been blown away. Watch the cyclone hammer Yangon

Michael Annear, regional disaster manger for the Red Cross, said the group was helping provide safe drinking water.

Relief agencies met at the United Nations’ Bangkok headquarters Monday to coordinate their response to the disaster. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it had released 200,000 Swiss Francs (about $190,000) to help with the aftermath.

A state of emergency was declared Sunday across five regions: the city of Yangon, Irrawaddy, Pegu and the states of Karen and Mon. All flights to Yangon, the former capital, were canceled.

Most Burmese with whom we’ve been in touch report they lost their roofs, although so far everyone we have been able to contact reports that they and their families are safe, said a Yangon-based diplomat who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. See photos of the destruction

Most telephone and cell phone service was down in Yangon, a city of about 6.5 million people, according to Dan Rivers, a CNN correspondent in the country.

In some places, the price of fuel had quadrupled to $10 a gallon. Even with that price lines for gas stretched around the block and some sought to buy gas on the black market.

The main water supply has been cut in many areas and power lines are down, Rivers reported.

Earlier Monday, an editor for an independent Myanmar newspaper based in Thailand told CNN that people in the Southeast Asian nation were angry over the response to the disaster by the ruling military junta.

People are very angry with the slow response coming from the military government, said Aung Zaw of Irrawaddy news magazine. Listen to Irrawaddy journalist discuss the situation in Myanmar

Khin Maung Win, a spokesman for the Democratic Voice of Burma — a broadcast media group run by opposition expatriates — said the whole of the delta region had been affected and entire villages had disappeared.

Pictures from inside the country showed a cyclone-ravaged region with tin huts crushed under trees. Bicyclists navigated around large branches that littered the deserted roads.

A man with his pant legs rolled up waded through knee-deep water and strained to clear massive limbs that were blocking the entrance to a house.

Despite widespread damage, Myanmar’s junta plans to proceed with a referendum on the country’s constitution on May 10 — the fourth step of a seven-step road map to democracy — according to state-run media reports. Learn more about Myanmar

A critic of Myanmar’s government said the referendum must be postponed.

They would be very stupid to go ahead with it, said Khin Maung Win with Democratic Voice of Burma, a broadcast media group run by opposition expatriates. Thousands of people are dying or missing. It is very difficult to get around or get food and water. How can people vote?

Myanmar, formerly called Burma, last held multi-party elections in 1990, when Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy handily won. The military junta ignored the results. Suu Kyi, who is currently under house arrest, has been in detention without trial for more than 12 of the past 18 years.
found here.

Protect and survive: The importance of biodiversity

CNN — When someone says they can put an end to extinction, you tend to listen to them.

That’s exactly what a group of Norwegians claimed earlier this year, when they placed 100 million food crop seeds in a Doomsday vault, built into the side of an Arctic mountain.

They said it was their Plan B should the world’s falling biodiversity levels escalate to catastrophic proportions. In short, they said they were offering future generations of the human race the chance to survive.

To some, this may sound like crazed talk only coming from the extremely paranoid. But to many, the threats to the world’s animal and plant biodiversity levels are all too real.

The World Conservation Union is now warning the world of a global extinction crisis, claiming nearly 40 percent of all of Earth’s species are now at the highest risk of extinction. More than one third of all fish are threatened; as are just under a third of all reptiles and amphibians and 20 percent of all mammals.

One fifth of the world’s cattle, goats, poultry, pigs and horses are also now at risk of being permanently wiped out, with one breed of livestock having been eradicated every month for the past seven years.

The blame for dwindling livestock breed has mainly been put at the door of the mass-scale industrial livestock farming sector’s tendency to simplify or narrow the types of animals bred for consumption.

The main reason for doing so has been to increase productivity levels — high-output animals can better meet the ever increasing demand for dairy and meat products around the world.

So we get more food but the trade-off is we lose genetic diversity along the way.

Because of the worldwide introduction of a small number of high-performance breeds, populations of many less productive breeds of certain indigenous creatures have been declining.

In Vietnam, between 1994 and 2002, the number of indigenous sows fell from 72 percent of the total population to just 26 percent. In Kenya, the indigenous Red Maasai sheep have all but disappeared following the introduction of the Dorper sheep.

Some of these creatures that are dying off may not be able to satisfy the demands of the livestock industry, but they are often better equipped at dealing with diseases and local climatic extremes, two abilities that will become more important as time goes on.

And new research from the Oxford University Press has revealed how specific threatened species are vital to conserve, if not for their own sake, then at least for the sake of human health.

One breed of bear, the Denning bear, for example produces a number of acids and other substances that can potentially counteract an astonishing list of human ailments. These include extending the life of liver disease patients; treating obesity and Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes; treating end-stage renal disease and potentially osteoporosis too.

Other potential health remedies we could miss out on if we don’t take greater care of threatened species are treatments for Alzheimer’s, depression and epilepsy (all thanks to the Gymnosperm plant); medicines that can cure or ease Parkinson’s disease, incontinence, and pain relief (cone snails); and blood samples that could prevent the spread of leukemia, prostate cancer, breast cancer — and HIV (horseshoe crab).

It is just survival of the cutest?

Few will have ever heard of the horseshoe crab, never mind its amazing abilities. To garner support from the general public for their conservation therefore, has been an uphill battle.

To date outpourings of sympathy and support for threatened species by the general public has often been confined to media-friendly creatures like dolphins and whales. You don’t see many people waving Save our Plankton banners, for example, despite population levels falling by as much as 30 percent in recent years.

But in many ways we should be more worried about the survival of plankton than dolphins. And anyone familiar with the term, The Butterfly Effect would understand why. Any tiny change in the world’s ecosystem can cause knock-on events of an unprecedented scale.

Planktons not only are one of the best carbon sequesters on earth, but the entire marine food chain depends on their very existence. And that includes the largest mammal on earth — the blue whale.

The nematode worm is another creature, less known, but just as vital to protecting biodiversity. Few probably know that nematodes are the most numerous animals in the world, representing a staggering 90 percent of life at the bottom of the sea.

It is creatures like these that an entire ecosystem relies on to function effectively. It is not so surprising then that scientists have found that in areas of the sea where nematodes are high in number, that the productivity levels of deep sea ecosystems are proportionately high too.

This is the most obvious knock-on impact to reducing biological diversity. Each creature — ourselves included — relies on another creature or plant in order to survive.

Remove that source of food and that creature may be able to eat something else. This is relatively easy for humans, who are omnivores and therefore have a far greater choice of food types to choose from. But for predator-prey relationships which are symbiotic, that luxury isn’t always there.

More choice, less diversity

But while humans can technically draw on thousands of different types of foods, the reality is our diet has become oversimplified with industrial food production practices, which is in turn pushing some ‘unnecessary’ creatures to the point of extinction.

While there may seem like there is a lot of food on the shelves in the supermarket, in reality, increasing numbers of these products are coming from a very small number of sources.

Food scientists are warning that as a direct result of the kind of simplification the food system is going through, that people’s diets are suffering.

Today the average person gets anywhere from half to two thirds of their entire calorie intake from four main types of grains — rice, corn, wheat and soybeans.

Modern-day health threats like obesity and diabetes have been put down to an over reliance on the carbohydrates, proteins and fats we get from grains, consumed directly, and via meat products.

So it seems that for everyone’s interest — the predator and the prey alike — it would be best to keep as many of us here on the planet for as long as we can. E-mail to a friend

found here.

Protect and survive: The importance of biodiversity

CNN — When someone says they can put an end to extinction, you tend to listen to them.

That’s exactly what a group of Norwegians claimed earlier this year, when they placed 100 million food crop seeds in a Doomsday vault, built into the side of an Arctic mountain.

They said it was their Plan B should the world’s falling biodiversity levels escalate to catastrophic proportions. In short, they said they were offering future generations of the human race the chance to survive.

To some, this may sound like crazed talk only coming from the extremely paranoid. But to many, the threats to the world’s animal and plant biodiversity levels are all too real.

The World Conservation Union is now warning the world of a global extinction crisis, claiming nearly 40 percent of all of Earth’s species are now at the highest risk of extinction. More than one third of all fish are threatened; as are just under a third of all reptiles and amphibians and 20 percent of all mammals.

One fifth of the world’s cattle, goats, poultry, pigs and horses are also now at risk of being permanently wiped out, with one breed of livestock having been eradicated every month for the past seven years.

The blame for dwindling livestock breed has mainly been put at the door of the mass-scale industrial livestock farming sector’s tendency to simplify or narrow the types of animals bred for consumption.

The main reason for doing so has been to increase productivity levels — high-output animals can better meet the ever increasing demand for dairy and meat products around the world.

So we get more food but the trade-off is we lose genetic diversity along the way.

Because of the worldwide introduction of a small number of high-performance breeds, populations of many less productive breeds of certain indigenous creatures have been declining.

In Vietnam, between 1994 and 2002, the number of indigenous sows fell from 72 percent of the total population to just 26 percent. In Kenya, the indigenous Red Maasai sheep have all but disappeared following the introduction of the Dorper sheep.

Some of these creatures that are dying off may not be able to satisfy the demands of the livestock industry, but they are often better equipped at dealing with diseases and local climatic extremes, two abilities that will become more important as time goes on.

And new research from the Oxford University Press has revealed how specific threatened species are vital to conserve, if not for their own sake, then at least for the sake of human health.

One breed of bear, the Denning bear, for example produces a number of acids and other substances that can potentially counteract an astonishing list of human ailments. These include extending the life of liver disease patients; treating obesity and Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes; treating end-stage renal disease and potentially osteoporosis too.

Other potential health remedies we could miss out on if we don’t take greater care of threatened species are treatments for Alzheimer’s, depression and epilepsy (all thanks to the Gymnosperm plant); medicines that can cure or ease Parkinson’s disease, incontinence, and pain relief (cone snails); and blood samples that could prevent the spread of leukemia, prostate cancer, breast cancer — and HIV (horseshoe crab).

It is just survival of the cutest?

Few will have ever heard of the horseshoe crab, never mind its amazing abilities. To garner support from the general public for their conservation therefore, has been an uphill battle.

To date outpourings of sympathy and support for threatened species by the general public has often been confined to media-friendly creatures like dolphins and whales. You don’t see many people waving Save our Plankton banners, for example, despite population levels falling by as much as 30 percent in recent years.

But in many ways we should be more worried about the survival of plankton than dolphins. And anyone familiar with the term, The Butterfly Effect would understand why. Any tiny change in the world’s ecosystem can cause knock-on events of an unprecedented scale.

Planktons not only are one of the best carbon sequesters on earth, but the entire marine food chain depends on their very existence. And that includes the largest mammal on earth — the blue whale.

The nematode worm is another creature, less known, but just as vital to protecting biodiversity. Few probably know that nematodes are the most numerous animals in the world, representing a staggering 90 percent of life at the bottom of the sea.

It is creatures like these that an entire ecosystem relies on to function effectively. It is not so surprising then that scientists have found that in areas of the sea where nematodes are high in number, that the productivity levels of deep sea ecosystems are proportionately high too.

This is the most obvious knock-on impact to reducing biological diversity. Each creature — ourselves included — relies on another creature or plant in order to survive.

Remove that source of food and that creature may be able to eat something else. This is relatively easy for humans, who are omnivores and therefore have a far greater choice of food types to choose from. But for predator-prey relationships which are symbiotic, that luxury isn’t always there.

More choice, less diversity

But while humans can technically draw on thousands of different types of foods, the reality is our diet has become oversimplified with industrial food production practices, which is in turn pushing some ‘unnecessary’ creatures to the point of extinction.

While there may seem like there is a lot of food on the shelves in the supermarket, in reality, increasing numbers of these products are coming from a very small number of sources.

Food scientists are warning that as a direct result of the kind of simplification the food system is going through, that people’s diets are suffering.

Today the average person gets anywhere from half to two thirds of their entire calorie intake from four main types of grains — rice, corn, wheat and soybeans.

Modern-day health threats like obesity and diabetes have been put down to an over reliance on the carbohydrates, proteins and fats we get from grains, consumed directly, and via meat products.

So it seems that for everyone’s interest — the predator and the prey alike — it would be best to keep as many of us here on the planet for as long as we can. E-mail to a friend

found here.

Protect and survive: The importance of biodiversity

CNN — When someone says they can put an end to extinction, you tend to listen to them.

That’s exactly what a group of Norwegians claimed earlier this year, when they placed 100 million food crop seeds in a Doomsday vault, built into the side of an Arctic mountain.

They said it was their Plan B should the world’s falling biodiversity levels escalate to catastrophic proportions. In short, they said they were offering future generations of the human race the chance to survive.

To some, this may sound like crazed talk only coming from the extremely paranoid. But to many, the threats to the world’s animal and plant biodiversity levels are all too real.

The World Conservation Union is now warning the world of a global extinction crisis, claiming nearly 40 percent of all of Earth’s species are now at the highest risk of extinction. More than one third of all fish are threatened; as are just under a third of all reptiles and amphibians and 20 percent of all mammals.

One fifth of the world’s cattle, goats, poultry, pigs and horses are also now at risk of being permanently wiped out, with one breed of livestock having been eradicated every month for the past seven years.

The blame for dwindling livestock breed has mainly been put at the door of the mass-scale industrial livestock farming sector’s tendency to simplify or narrow the types of animals bred for consumption.

The main reason for doing so has been to increase productivity levels — high-output animals can better meet the ever increasing demand for dairy and meat products around the world.

So we get more food but the trade-off is we lose genetic diversity along the way.

Because of the worldwide introduction of a small number of high-performance breeds, populations of many less productive breeds of certain indigenous creatures have been declining.

In Vietnam, between 1994 and 2002, the number of indigenous sows fell from 72 percent of the total population to just 26 percent. In Kenya, the indigenous Red Maasai sheep have all but disappeared following the introduction of the Dorper sheep.

Some of these creatures that are dying off may not be able to satisfy the demands of the livestock industry, but they are often better equipped at dealing with diseases and local climatic extremes, two abilities that will become more important as time goes on.

And new research from the Oxford University Press has revealed how specific threatened species are vital to conserve, if not for their own sake, then at least for the sake of human health.

One breed of bear, the Denning bear, for example produces a number of acids and other substances that can potentially counteract an astonishing list of human ailments. These include extending the life of liver disease patients; treating obesity and Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes; treating end-stage renal disease and potentially osteoporosis too.

Other potential health remedies we could miss out on if we don’t take greater care of threatened species are treatments for Alzheimer’s, depression and epilepsy (all thanks to the Gymnosperm plant); medicines that can cure or ease Parkinson’s disease, incontinence, and pain relief (cone snails); and blood samples that could prevent the spread of leukemia, prostate cancer, breast cancer — and HIV (horseshoe crab).

It is just survival of the cutest?

Few will have ever heard of the horseshoe crab, never mind its amazing abilities. To garner support from the general public for their conservation therefore, has been an uphill battle.

To date outpourings of sympathy and support for threatened species by the general public has often been confined to media-friendly creatures like dolphins and whales. You don’t see many people waving Save our Plankton banners, for example, despite population levels falling by as much as 30 percent in recent years.

But in many ways we should be more worried about the survival of plankton than dolphins. And anyone familiar with the term, The Butterfly Effect would understand why. Any tiny change in the world’s ecosystem can cause knock-on events of an unprecedented scale.

Planktons not only are one of the best carbon sequesters on earth, but the entire marine food chain depends on their very existence. And that includes the largest mammal on earth — the blue whale.

The nematode worm is another creature, less known, but just as vital to protecting biodiversity. Few probably know that nematodes are the most numerous animals in the world, representing a staggering 90 percent of life at the bottom of the sea.

It is creatures like these that an entire ecosystem relies on to function effectively. It is not so surprising then that scientists have found that in areas of the sea where nematodes are high in number, that the productivity levels of deep sea ecosystems are proportionately high too.

This is the most obvious knock-on impact to reducing biological diversity. Each creature — ourselves included — relies on another creature or plant in order to survive.

Remove that source of food and that creature may be able to eat something else. This is relatively easy for humans, who are omnivores and therefore have a far greater choice of food types to choose from. But for predator-prey relationships which are symbiotic, that luxury isn’t always there.

More choice, less diversity

But while humans can technically draw on thousands of different types of foods, the reality is our diet has become oversimplified with industrial food production practices, which is in turn pushing some ‘unnecessary’ creatures to the point of extinction.

While there may seem like there is a lot of food on the shelves in the supermarket, in reality, increasing numbers of these products are coming from a very small number of sources.

Food scientists are warning that as a direct result of the kind of simplification the food system is going through, that people’s diets are suffering.

Today the average person gets anywhere from half to two thirds of their entire calorie intake from four main types of grains — rice, corn, wheat and soybeans.

Modern-day health threats like obesity and diabetes have been put down to an over reliance on the carbohydrates, proteins and fats we get from grains, consumed directly, and via meat products.

So it seems that for everyone’s interest — the predator and the prey alike — it would be best to keep as many of us here on the planet for as long as we can. E-mail to a friend

found here.