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This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm SarahLong.
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And I'm Bob Doughty. Coming up: new warnings about bird flu ...
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An Earth observation system moves a step closer...
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And, President Bush says it is time to move forward after thedispute over the Kyoto Protocol.
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Health officials continue to warnpeople about the threat from avian influenza. One of the most recentwarnings came from Doctor Shigeru Omi. He is the Western Pacificdirector of the World Health Organization. He spoke in Vietnam,where experts held an international conference last week on birdflu.
Doctor Omi said the W.H.O. believes that the world is now in thegreatest possible danger of a pandemic. A pandemic is the worldwidespread of a disease. Pandemics of influenza generally happen everytwenty to thirty years. Doctor Omi noted that the world has gonealmost forty years since the last one.
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World health officials are callingon governments to do more to control the spread of the bird fluvirus in Asia. But the officials say it will be difficult to changeold farming traditions. Chickens and ducks are permitted to movearound freely and live close to people. This makes it easier for thevirus to spread to humans. And there have already been limitedreports of cases where the virus spread from one person to another.
Doctor Omi said the virus h-five-n-one has become more deadlysince it first appeared in Hong Kong in nineteen ninety-seven. Hesays the longer that the virus is in animals, the higher the risk ofhuman cases. And that means the higher the risk of genetic changesin the virus to cause a pandemic.
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The director of the United States Centers for Disease Control andPrevention had a similar warning last week. Doctor Julie Gerberdingsaid her agency is preparing in case of a flu pandemic next year.She spoke in Washington, D.C., at the yearly meeting of the AmericanAssociation for the Advancement of Science.
The bird flu virus has killed at least forty-five people in Asiain the past year. Doctor Gerberding says almost three out of fourpeople known to have gotten sick have died.
The virus is a member of a family of viruses called h-one. DoctorGerberding said that each time a new kind of h-one virus hasappeared, there has been a pandemic of influenza.
The most recent h-one pandemic was in nineteen eighteen. Theso-called Spanish flu killed an estimated twenty million to fiftymillion people. Doctor Gerberding says the situation now is probablysimilar to what happened before that outbreak.
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There are other warning signs. Scientists at Erasmus MedicalCenter in the Netherlands reported in September that the bird fluvirus can infect house cats. These animals were thought to beresistant to influenza.
Yet during an experiment, the scientists say, the infected catsthen spread the virus to other cats. The findings suggest that catscould possibly also spread the virus to humans. Science magazinepublished the report.
And, last month, the New England Journal of Medicine published areport on the deaths of a young brother and sister in Vietnam. Bothchildren had been very sick, but neither had a breathing infection.Such an infection is considered a usual sign of avian influenza. Yetresearchers found the virus in the four-year-old boy. They believehis nine-year-old sister died of the same disease, although theycould not do tests to confirm it.
In the words of Doctor Jeremy Farrar at the Center for TropicalMedicine, part of Oxford University in England: "These cases suggestthat the spread of avian influenza could have been underestimated."
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You are listening to SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English.I'm Sarah Long with Bob Doughty in Washington.
Last week President Bush visited Europe. One of the issuesdiscussed was the Kyoto Protocol which took effect on Februarysixteenth.
There is strong support in Europe for that treaty. It calls forthirty-five industrial nations to reduce the levels of six gasesreleased into the air. These gases are produced by burning fuelssuch as oil, coal and natural gas.
Scientists say carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse gases" trapheat in the atmosphere. Most scientists believe that this is largelyresponsible for increased temperatures on Earth.
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One hundred forty-one countries have joined in the KyotoProtocol. But developing nations will not have to meet therequirements.
The United States signed the Kyoto Protocol in nineteenninety-eight. The Senate never approved it. And President Bushrejected the treaty in March of two thousand one. He says it isunfair not to require big developing nations like India and China toalso meet the requirements. And he says the treaty would not helpthe environment enough to balance the damage it would do to theUnited States economy.
Mister Bush restated his opposition during a speech in Brusselson his first full day in Europe. But he also said that all sideshave expressed their opinions on the Kyoto Protocol. "Now," he said,"we must work together on the way forward."
Mister Bush suggested that new, cleaner technologies couldsupport economic growth and be environmentally responsible. He notedhydrogen-powered cars as one example.
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In Germany, the president met withChancellor Gerhard Schroeder. They noted their differences over theKyoto Protocol. But they promised to cooperate with what the Germanleader called "the reduction of problems in this area."
Mister Schroeder said there is room for cooperation especially inthe area of technology. Mister Bush said the two countries wouldalso share their technology with developing countries like China andIndia.
The United States and Germany released a five-point plan forjoint actions on cleaner energy, development and climate change. Itcalls for increased efforts to improve energy security and reducepollution and greenhouse gases, while supporting strong economicgrowth.
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The United States produces twenty-five percent of the world'sgreenhouse gases. Now, more than one hundred fifty American citieshave joined an effort to reduce these gases. The InternationalCouncil for Local Environmental Initiatives has organized thiseffort.
Outreach director Susan Ode says the first step is to decide on atarget level to reduce emissions. Then cities carry out projects toreach those goals. They might start, for example, withcleaner-burning fuels in city-owned vehicles.
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Almost sixty countries and the European Commission have approveda plan to create the Global Earth Observation System of Systems. Onemajor purpose is to get earlier warnings of severe weather and othernatural events.
International organizations are also supporting this American-ledplan. Delegates agreed to it on February sixteenth in Brusselsduring the Third Earth Observation Summit. The United States, Japan,the European Union and South Africa organized the conference.
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Many systems on land, in space and in the ocean observe theenvironment. But most of them do not "talk" to each other. The planis to link existing systems worldwide. This is expected to take tenyears.
Scientists say the "system of systems" will provide informationabout winter weather, for example, months before winter. It couldalso show where shortages of rain are most likely.
Farmers could gain information about water resources. Scientistscould better observe forest fires and air pollution. Experts say thesystem may increase understanding of climate change. It could alsohelp identify areas where diseases like malaria are likely tospread. And it might give early warning of events like tsunami.
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The first Earth Observation Summit took place in Washington intwo thousand three. Since then, more countries have joined the plan.Interest has grown since the earthquake and tsunami waves in theIndian Ocean in December.
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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Caty Weaver and Cynthia Kirk,who was also our producer. I'm Bob Doughty.
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And I'm Sarah Long. Join us again next week for more news aboutscience in Special English on the Voice of America.