Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Lybian children pay high price for curiosity over weapons.

Nine-year-old Mahmood Ahmed was playing near his home in Zintan, western Libya, when he found a green object he had never seen before.
He wanted to know what was inside, so took it into his backyard and began hitting it with a stone.
The object was a bullet from an anti-aircraft machine gun and it exploded, taking off his left hand. He is now getting used to life with a plastic hand.
Mahmood is one of the accidental child victims of the war that toppled Colonel Moammar Gadhafi in August and he is far from alone.
The International charity Mines Advisory Group (MAG), which highlighted his case, has recorded 90 casualties -- mostly children -- from similar accidents involving mines and unexploded ordinance left over from the war in the region of Zintan and Misrata alone this year.

I think that the kid was inresponsable by tuoching the weapon. He shoudent be able to touch one of them.

ihpone is a famili of smart phones with conextion tu internet.The iPhone 4S is a touchscreen slate smartphone developed by Apple Inc. It is the sixth generation of the iPhone, a device that combines a 3.5 inch (89 mm) touchscreen iPod, mobile phone, and internet client. It retains the exterior design of its predecessor, the iPhone 4, but is host to a range of improved hardware specifications and software updatesThe iPhone 4S was unveiled at Apple's "Let's Talk iPhone" event on October 4, 2011 in Cupertino, California. Apple started taking pre-orders for the iPhone 4S on October 7, 2011 in seven initial countries (United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan) with the first delivery date set for October 14, 2011, and available on that same day for direct store sales in those countries. It was released in 22 more European, American and Asian countries, including Ireland, Mexico and Singapore on October 28.

comment: i think that te i phone 4s is the best celphone becouse it have alot of more tecnology and alot of people buy them becouse one of the caracteristics of it is that the celphone can talkj to you and the celphon recomend you places to go an it tell where are the plases.

Can we afford eco-cities?

Durban, South Africa (CNN) -- Making cities greener "actually makes a lot of sense" in spite of the economic crisis, says former Irish President, Mary Robinson.
"You save money," she said, adding that the real challenge is greening cities in poorer nations, like Bangladesh, where people live in "almost impossible conditions."
Robinson was one of four leading climate change thinkers discussing how viable it is to invest in sustainable cities in a debate hosted by CNN's Robyn Curnow during the 2011 U.N. Conference on Climate Change last week in Durban.
Joining Robinson on the panel were Pan Jiahua, advisor to the Chinese delegation at the conference, Elliot Diringer, former adviser to the Bill Clinton's U.S. presidential administration and Kumi Naidoo, executive director of Greenpeace International.
Below is an edited version of the debate.
CNN: Why would people now, especially in the current economic climate, think they need to go green?
Mary Robinson: Well, actually, it makes an awful lot of sense. If you make your home more efficient, you save money. Here in Durban, there is an exhibition of how to make buildings greener, how to make transport greener, and that is the way we have to go.
But we have to recognize that our biggest growth in cities will be in poor developing countries -- I was in Dakar recently, in Bangladesh, and saw people living in almost impossible conditions and that is the real challenge.
Could big cities lead the fight against climate change?
CNN: China has seen a twenty-fold increase in the number of cars over the past decade and expects energy consumption to double by 2030. What is the country doing to ensure that growth is green?
Pan Jiahua: That is one part of the story -- the other part of the story is that we have consensus. We are very much aware of the challenges and that is why we have been so aggressive and that is why we have to (explore) nuclear and that is why we have to set a very challenging target by 2015 and 2020 for renewable energy development.
CNN: Do you think China is doing enough?

The only countries that are going to do well in the future are those that win the green race.
Kumi Naidoo, executive director of Greenpeace International

Kumi Naidoo: China had made an assessment that not only is it right to invest in green technologies because of climate change, but in fact that it was actually good for the economy. Because countries that are going to dominate the future economy -- you can forget about the arms race and the space race -- the only countries that are going to do well in the future are those that win the green race.
CNN: You were part of the team that helped negotiate the Kyoto protocol -- are you disappointed about the state of where things are now?
Elliot Diringer: I am disappointed about the lack of action in the United States, the lack of action in other countries, the lack of progress at the international level.
But we have to learn the lessons of the last 15 years since Kyoto was negotiated -- we have been going in circles for 15 years now insisting on binding commitments. Unfortunately, the United States and others aren't ready for that. We can't abandon that goal but we can't keep beating ourselves up year after year expecting it now.
Kumi Naidoo: I agree with that but let's just be honest -- what's on the table at the moment is lacking in ambition, lacking in urgency. We have to be honest with the people in all the world and say that in fact we are failing you, we are sleepwalking the planet into a crisis of epic proportions.
CNN: What are for you the greenest cities? What's the model to aspire to?
Mary Robinson: There are very good Scandinavian models. I would like to see the implementation of what I heard yesterday -- that solar can be cheaper than kerosene for poor communities.
I want green slum areas -- around most cities in the developing world you have these informal settlements and slum areas and that is where the real challenge is and that is where affordable and clean energy can transform those areas.
Cities blazing a green trail
Kumi Naidoo: Cities have to look, from top down, how they are using energy, where they actually locate offices, what transportation distances people have to travel to work, what kind of transportation they have to travel (in). In fact our quality of life in cities in the main is going down and down.
All countries have to begin to ask ourselves, what kind of society and consumption patterns gives us happiness, contentment and prosperity and I have to say that there is a lot of meaningless consumption that is contributing to this problem and we have to challenge what we consume.

You need to offer people the right choices and they will take them.
Elliot Diringer, former advisor to the Clinton administration

Pan Jiahua: In this regard, China is more advanced. Over two-thirds of ... (our) cities ... have low-carbon city planning, and we have very clear targets within these cities to reduce energy consumption, to reduce their carbon emissions and not only from the production side but from the consumer side. And we are going to change our behaviors. You are talking about the increase in car ownership, well now the Chinese are coming back to bicycles. I think we are moving in the right direction and we need to accelerate the process.
Elliot Diringer: I think we need cities that offer people green choices. It is difficult to mandate changes in people's behavior and lifestyle but you need to offer people the right choices and they will take them. So, mass transit that is convenient; charging stations so you can have plug in electric vehicles and know that you can recharge them; car sharing arrangements; bicycle sharing arrangements.

Comment:
I think these people is right we need to do green choices. We need to know how to use energy. As Kumi said, the planet is going down into an ecologic crisis. We must change that. Like in Cina a lot of people is actually riding bikes instead of cars. If cities we greener, the world would be better. Every country have to see how they are using energy, if they are using it the right way or not. There should be electric cars, because the smoke of the cars is affecting the planet. We should use solar energy. We need ecologic cities. Cities must have more green areas like parks. We have to protect the nature.

Jose Gonzalez

World's longest recycled bridge spans Scottish river

By Eoghan Macguire for CNN

December 7, 2011 -- Updated 0251 GMT (1051 HKT)

The newly built Dawyck Estate river crossing in Peeblesshire, Scotland, is the world's longest recyclable bridge.

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

A bridge made entirely out of waste plastic has been built over the River Tweed in Scotland
The structure is the world's longest and sturdiest recycled bridge
The company behind the venture hopes the prototype can meet future bridge building requirements

(CNN) -- Stretching out across the peaceful waters of the River Tweed in Peeblesshire, Scotland, the Dawyck Estate river crossing is an unlikely record breaker.
Measuring 30 meters in length and made entirely out of waste plastic products, the newly completed structure is the world's longest and sturdiest recycled bridge.
Utilizing a super-strength composite plastic material -- engineered by researchers at Rutgers University from items as common as plastic bottles and household plastic waste -- the bridge caters for pedestrians, cars and heavy goods vehicles.
The river span is one of five such structures now in existence, although all others are smaller and based in the U.S., and can support weights of up to 44 tons.
According to Vertech Composites, the British company behind the project, the bridge is a prototype that has the potential to meet future road and bridge requirements in an eco-friendly manner.

There are currently significant bridge and river crossing needs in rural and countryside areas.
William Mainwaring, CEO Vertech Composites

"There are currently significant bridge and river crossing needs in rural and countryside areas and there will only be more in years going forward," says William Mainwaring, CEO of Vertech Composites.
Mainwaring highlights the re-use of obsolete plastics that would otherwise be burned or sent to landfill sites as the primary environmental benefit of the bridge.
He also adds that recycled composite plastic provides a more sustainable alternative to existing bridge construction materials and not as likely to degrade as steel, timber and concrete.
"This technology creates enhanced stiffness and strength that is ideal for structures like a bridge," says Mainwaring.
"Once the bridge has completed its lifespan, the plastic can then be recycled again and used for other purposes, meaning it will never have to go to landfill," he adds.
Yet it could be many years before more of us are driving on plastic roads and bridges.
"The bridge in Peeblesshire has been built on private land, so it avoids the safety regulations (which as yet do not account for composite plastics) of the UK transport department," says Professor Bob Lark, head of the School of Engineering at Cardiff University, which was involved in helping design the structural aspects of the Dawyck Estate project.
Lark believes that overcoming existing legislative hurdles may take time as current building standards have been written around existing materials and do not take into account newly developed ones.
However the technology has the potential to be used in other areas of construction sector in the meantime.
Such spin-off opportunities have not escaped the attention of Vertech Composites, who are keen to find new and creative ways to use the plastic technology.
"We see the potential for the same recycled plastics to be used in road signage, advertising hoardings, as a replacement for plywood on building sites ... and in agriculture, which currently uses a huge amount of timber on the inside of livestock buildings," says Mainwaring.
"These materials generally degrade much more quickly than plastic meaning there is an opportunity to improve efficiencies in a way that spares valuable raw materials and has a positive environmental impact," he add.

This is a good way to recycle plastic, because besides of recycle plastic, they also build a bridge to the comunity. This this is a good example to the world of recycling. I think that plastic also can be used to make other things,

Pollution hits Hong Kong health, economy

Hong Kong (CNN) - Hong Kong is one of the world's richest cities. Almost one in 10 households boasts a millionaire. The government sits on a cash pile of about $80 billion. Yet Hong Kongers are choking, sometimes to death, on their own success.

A bold claim, but the statistics are compelling. The Hong Kong University School of Public Health has just unveiled a new real-time cost of pollution index. According to new research from the university and local think tank Civic Exchange, there are 3,200 avoidable deaths a year in Hong Kong due to air pollution - more than three times higher than previous estimates.

As I write this (at 7:15 p.m. HKT Tuesday) the index reports there has been seven preventable deaths and more than 14,000 preventable doctor's visits in Hong Kong in the 19 hours beginning midnight on Monday. Preventable, because the bad air quality that researchers say was responsible, can be easily improved.

The HKU's team leader Professor Anthony Hedley - 22 years as chairman of community medicine at the university - says the model they have developed is "state of the art.” Certainly the Hong Kong government has nothing like it. In fact, they have no statistics on pollution-related health costs, and their methods for measuring pollution are, say critics, well out of date.

But even with that technology, the quality of the air at roadside level in Hong Kong is rapidly deteriorating. Roadside pollution levels reached a record high last year. The number of days that pollution was rated "high" hit 20%. That is five times more than in 2005.

And the impact, according to the Hedley Index, has been hard. To take December as an example: 311 people died, nearly 800,000 visits were made to doctors and heath care experts and days lost at work cost the economy about $60 million.

But clean air campaigners say the level of roadside pollution could be brought to within acceptable World Health Organisation levels within weeks.

Roadside pollution is the chief cause of pollution-related respiratory illness in Hong Kong, according to Mike Kilburn of the thinktank Civic Exchange. He says that if the government spent some of their cash reserves in a cash-for-clunkers scheme to take dirty trucks and buses off the streets, then air quality would improve dramatically. Instead the government is giving Hong Kongers a tax rebate of around $800 per person.

The government appears to have been stung into action by the release of the Hedley Index. A few hours after the index was released the Environmental Protection Department held a press conference to announce it was modifying its pollution monitoring to bring it in line with WHO standards.

But many clean air campaigners greeted that move was greeted with a "too little, too late" response. The question they want answered is why is a government as rich as Hong Kong's is not spending more on a move which could have a big and rapid impact.

I think that Honq Kong is one of the richest cities, in the world, 1 of 10 people is a millionarie. But they have a very high pollution index. But the goverment is too selfish because instead of exchanging old cars for money, they`re giving tax money back and doing nothing to improve the polution. I think tha a goverment with a lot olf money shloud do something to improve the air and help people to have better lives becaus if not people will die.

Celebrating Year of the Maya with tour of Latin America's ruins

London (CNN) -- The year 2012 is a significant one in the Maya calendar.

The ancient long count calendar of the Maya, a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished across Mexico and Central America from 2000 BC to the time of the Spanish Conquistadores, states that on the 12th December, 2012, the sun will be aligned with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in approximately 26,000 years.

And 21 December, 2012, is said to mark the end of the 13th Maya Calendar, a 144,000-day cycle or "b'ak'tun" since the mythical Maya day of creation 5,200 years ago.

Though popularly interpreted as signifying the "end of the world as we know it," scholars stress that the end of the "b'ak'tun" does not mean apocalypse.

While few Maya people still follow the long count calendar, the Global Heritage Fund is celebrating the event by naming 2012 "The Year of the Maya," with members of the Fund greeting the winter solstice on top of La Danta pyramid at the El Mirador site in Guatemala.

But their celebrations have a serious side: the Global Heritage Fund is highlighting the dangers to Mayan sites such as El Mirador, which are threatened by looting and deforestation, and hoping to secure the investment to turn these neglected spots into thriving and sustainable tourist destinations.

"Experiencing the Winter Solstice on the summit of La Danta is thought to be one of the greatest opportunities to experience the end of the 13th Maya calendar and dawn of a new age," said Jeff Morgan, Executive Director of the Global Heritage Fund

"Tikal National Park (in Guatemala) has proven that major Maya archaeological sites are economically sustainable through visitation and with appropriate investment, can generate hundreds of millions of dollars for conservation and maintenance of both the cultural and natural heritage," said Morgan.

CNN's World's Treasures asked Morgan to compile a list of key Maya sites across LatinAmerica for Maya-enthusiasts keen to ring in the dawn of a new era sitting on the monumental steps of a temple or at the summit of an ancient pyramid.

Chichen Itza

The site of Chichen Itza is a key sacred spot in Mexico's southern Yucatan peninsula -- the settlement is believed to date back to the 5th century AD.

Its architecture is a blend of Maya and Toltec styles. It was the Toltec -- warrior peoples from the Mexican plateau -- who imposed the practice of ritual sacrifice at the site.

Covering a huge surface area, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is rich in monuments, chief of which is the stepped pyramid temple of Kukulkan, as well as a Great Ball Court, where visitors can picture deadly ball games taking place.

Tulum

Though not extensive, this clifftop site in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula is certainly picturesque, overlooking the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea.

A photo-friendly beauty spot, Tulum is a relaxed pit-stop on the itinerary. A dip in the sea should revive any temple-weary travelers.

Palenque

Also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Palenque, in Chiapas, Mexico, is nestled deep in the jungle, the tops of its many temples often wreathed in mist.

The site boasts stepped pyramids, including the impressive Temple of Inscriptions, carved stone walls and even the burial site of Pakal the Great, Palenque's 7th-century ruler.

Tikal

Tikal is set in an ecological reserve in Guatemala -- its ruins are believed to date from as far back as 600 BC, and at one point the city was thought to be inhabited by 90, 000 people.

Temples, palaces, and public squares abound: If you want to go off the main tourist beat, you can explore the many ruins lying seemingly half-forgotten in the surrounding jungle.

Not just a historical treasure, the land on which Tikal rests is a natural beauty spot, home to numerous protected species of flora and fauna.

Copan

The Maya civilization spanned much of Central America and this site in Honduras is thought to have been inhabited as far back as 2000 BC.

Abandoned for centuries, it was rediscovered in 1570 by a Spanish explorer named Diego Garcia de Palacio.

The site is another maze of temples, plazas, altar complexes and ball courts, and of particular note is the Hieroglyphic Stairway Plaza, a monumental 100-meter-wide stairway bearing a long Mayan inscription composed of numerous glyphs.

MY DESCRIPTION : Thats very good because the tourist that comes to Tikal and other places where mayas where in guatemala could generate a lot of money if they explore the ruins well guatemala will have a huge entry of money

Floods,heat, migration: How extreme weather will transform cities

Floods, heat, migration: How extreme weather will transform cities

By George Webster, for CNN

January 2, 2012 -- Updated 1636 GMT (0036 HKT)

Brooklyn Bridge stands shrouded in heavy rain and dark clouds as Hurricane Irene reaches the New York City area on August 28, 2011. According to Jan Corfee-Morlot, senior climate change analyst for the OECD, many developed coastal cities around the world face a "severe risk" of floods in the coming years.

HIDE CAPTION

Coastal city calamities

Red hot in Russia

London: The submerged city?

Coastlines to close against climate

The skyscraper solution

Seoul's windy waterways

Rooftop rice: A meal and an eco-solution

Downpour in Dhaka

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Tropical storm in Philippines comes just after report on climate change predicts floods
Climate change refugees are catalyst to urbanization, stretching city capacity
Climate scientists predict how effects of climate change will impact city
Floods, droughts, and "urban heat islands" among common characteristics

(CNN) -- When Tropical Storm Washi ripped through the southern Philippine city of Cagayan de Oro last weekend, it dumped in one day more than the city's entire average rainfall for the month of December.
According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, a total of 181 millimeters of rainfall was recorded in the area last Friday, compared to the expected 99.9 millimeters for the whole month.
The devastating flash floods, which have so far claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people, arrived just weeks after a report from the UK's Met Office Hadley Centre for Climate Change indicated that global warming has significantly increased the number of people at risk from flooding globally.
The report, "Climate: Observations, projections and impacts," examined how climate change will modify the weather in 24 countries around the world.
While findings vary from region to region, it forecasts an overall increase in this century of coastal and river floods, extreme weather events and a global temperature rise of between 3-5C, if emissions are left unchecked.
According to climate change experts, cities from New York in the U.S. to Dhaka in Bangladesh are likely to be heavily affected.
Migration

Temperature rises from climate change will be significantly exaggerated in urban areas
Dr David Dodman, International Institute for Environment and Development

Simon Reddy, executive director of the C40 Cities network, which promotes sustainable development among local city authorities around the world, says this could be a catalyst for migration into urban areas.
"If the forecast temperature rise is accurate, then entire countries could be irrevocably damaged in certain parts of the world -- and their inhabitants will have to find somewhere else to live," he said.
To illustrate his point, Reddy says that a third of flood-prone Bangladesh, in South Asia, could be made uninhabitable by a two-foot (60 cm) rise in regional sea-levels.
The Met Office report echoes this point, predicting that climate change will subject an additional five million people in Bangladesh to floods, if they continue to live in the same place.
"Where are they going to go?" said Reddy. "In most cases they'll move to where the opportunities and the jobs are -- the nearest habitable city."
With 70% of the world's population expected to live in cities by 2050, according to figures from the U.N., the impact of climate change on the urban environment appears more pressing than ever before.
Floods
Historically, cities built up around water highways and coastal regions have flourished due to their association with maritime trade and transport, said Jan Corfee-Morlot, senior climate change analyst for the OECD.
"This means that a disproportionately high number of the world's cities are located in areas that are now increasingly at risk of floods," she added.
According to Morlot, recent risk studies from the OECD as well as the newly published data from the Met Office report predict that extreme "once-in-a-lifetime" weather events such as flash floods and coastal hurricanes are going to become significantly more commonplace.

In America alone, New York, Miami, New Orleans -- these cities face terrible exposure to floods
Jan Corfee-Morlot, senior climate change analyst for the OECD

But, she says, it's not just cities in the developing world that are ill-equipped to manage the problem.
"In America alone -- New York, Miami, New Orleans -- these cities face terrible exposure to floods, and unlike cities such as Rotterdam (in the Netherlands) -- they do not have the defenses to prevent them."
In the future, Morlot believes that major cities will have to adapt to the reality of regular flooding by building new infrastructure, such as vast flood barriers and "evacuation avenues" -- wide roads with dedicated lanes for emergency vehicles.
Extreme heat
Global temperatures are projected to rise by between three to five degrees over the next century, according to the Met Office.
Dr David Dodman, senior researcher at the International Institute for Environment and Development, says that temperatures in the city will far exceed that, due to a phenomenon known as the "urban heat island effect."
"The built environment tends to absorb heat during the day and release it slowly at night, so there's little opportunity for the city to cool down" he said. "This means that temperature rises from climate change will be significantly exaggerated in urban areas."
Aside from increased instances of heat-related deaths, particularly among the elderly population, Dodman says that the "wicked irony" of the urban heat island effect is that it stimulates a demand for air conditioning.
"In places like Delhi, we're seeing a growing middle class use their wealth to pay for electricity-hungry air-conditioning units, which contribute to global warming, and this of course creates a negative feedback loop."
Water shortages

Entire countries could be irrevocably damaged in certain parts of the world, and their inhabitants will have to find somewhere else to live
Simon Reddy, executive director of the C40 Cities network

According to Dodman, the predicted rise in global sea levels pose a threat to city aquifers -- underground wells that provide a source of fresh water for many urban settlements around the world.
"In coastal cities, the rise causes 'saline intrusion' -- where salty water gets into the fresh water aquifers, making it undrinkable" he says.
In addition, Dr Doug Crawford-Brown, executive director at Cambridge University's Centre for Climate Mitigation Research, anticipates that stock piles of bottled water will be have to be rationed when fresh water distribution systems buckle under the impact of city floods.
"Even in a developed city like London, which is very well protected by the Thames barrier, high intensity rainfall could create problems with the old sewage system -- causing the potential spread of microbial disease," he said.
Adaptation
Simon Reddy believes that urbanities of the future will be defined "not just by how they restrict their own contributions to climate change, but by the infrastructure and policies they employ to defend against the consequences of it."
To this end, Reddy says that many of the cities in the C40 network have already started to implement adaptive measures.
"In Seoul, for instance, they have removed a highway and restored an ancient river running through the city. This creates a wind corridor to it keep cool, and will also help drain water away in times of high rainfall," he said.
Meanwhile, New York and Tokyo have led the way with green rooftops and urban gardens.
"Urban green spaces are going to be more critical than (they have) ever been," he said. "Not only do they absorb heat and rainfall -- helping to keep cities cool and dry, but they provide opportunities for small scale food cultivation -- so city dwellers can become a little less dependent on imports."
For Matthew Kahn, economics professor at the UCLA's Environment Institute, the accelerated urbanization caused by climate change, will mean that for most cities, the only way is up.
The professor, whose book "Climatopolis" details how future cities could turn climate change to their advantage, says that he expects future modern cities to accommodate the flood of migrants by building energy efficient high-rise residential tower blocks, over small areas of land -- "much like we see in Singapore today," he said.

I think that the climat changes and storms is caused by the polution that we are making to the world. Also global warming is gonna affect us with tropical storms and hurricanes so we must starting taking measures to prevent this catastrophes. A lot of important cities are in danger of floods because the global warming and also 24 countries gonna have a different climate because of the global warming. Another reason is cutting trees, we are cutting to much trees and wasting a lot of paper because what we shoul do is when we cut a tree plant another to mantain the forests and jungles that maintain de oxygen and the world with a normal weather.

Few hold hope for more survivors from stricken Italian cruise ship
Giglio, Italy (CNN) -- With bitterly cold temperatures and frigid waters, the chances of finding more survivors of the doomed Costa Concordia appeared to dim Wednesday.

At least 11 people died after the cruise liner ran aground and capsized last week off a Tuscan island. About two dozen are missing.

Rescue crews suspended operations Wednesday as the ship began to move, the Italian coast guard said. The search for survivors has been halted and restarted several times since the ship rolled onto its side Friday night.

Rescuers were planning to blast more holes in the ship to allow divers easier access to the interior of the ship.

But experts say their chances of finding survivors are slim.

Comment: In my opinion this notice is very tragic for me, an for all the people, because to find survivors of the incident is very difficult because the temperatures are so cold that a human will not recist.

Chocolate's Child Slaves

Everyone loves chocolate. But for thousands of people, chocolate is the reason for their enslavement.

The chocolate bar you snack on likely starts at a plant in a West African cocoa plantation, and often the people who harvest it are children. Many are slaves to a system that produces something almost all of us consume and enjoy.

The CNN Freedom Project sent correspondent David McKenzie into the heart of the Ivory Coast - the world’s largest cocoa producer - to investigate what's happening to children working in the fields.

His work has resulted in a shocking, eye-opening documentary showing that despite all the promises the global chocolate industry made a decade ago, much of the trade remains unchanged. There are still child slaves harvesting cocoa, even though some have never even tasted chocolate and some don't even know what the word "chocolate" mean.

my opinión

I think that the president of africa is so selfish because he dosen t consernd in the poor people that works ,to hard. THE CHILDRENS dosen t recive much money all the childrens that works in the fields has to be studing to lift up the country and if they do that all the peaple will study and they will have a best country.

Could Eiffel Tower become world's largest tree?

(CNN)
An engineering firm has unveiled plans to turn the Eiffel Tower into a vast, tree-like monument by cladding its mesh iron body in over 600,000 plants.
The controversial proposal from Ginger -- a French company that specializes in ecological design projects -- would cost $97 million and remove 87.8 tons of carbon dioxide from the Paris skies, according to the company's calculations.
Ginger CEO Jean-Luc Schonebelen concedes that it is probably not the most efficient form of carbon sequestration, but says the idea -- which has so far received no official endorsement from Paris City Council -- could have profound symbolic value.
"We're told that within the next 30 years the world's population may reach nine billion, and that 80% of us will live in cities," says Schonebelen, referring to projections from the U.N. Population Division released earlier this year.
"With this in mind, we need to think about how we're going to start bringing nature back into the city landscape ... so this (proposal) is our call for action."
If Schonebelen has his way, thousands of hemp sacks brimming with soil and 48 varieties of seedlings would be fastened to "La dame de fer" -- or "the iron lady," the tower's French nickname -- by the end of next year.
Irrigated via a 12-ton grid of interconnected rubbing tubing, the plants would likely mature by 2014 and would be nurtured until their removal two years later.
"Of course we're not suggesting this be a permanent fixture, we're proposing this as a temporary installation -- just as Mr Eiffel did when he built the tower back in the 19th century," says Schonebelen.
Staff at Ginger have been developing the mechanics behind the proposal for the past 18 months. The company employs over 1,500 people and has a turnover of €230 million a year, according to Schonebelen.

Since the Eiffel Tower opened during the 1889 World Fair, the 324-meter tall lattice monument has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world, with almost seven million paying visitors a year, according to La Societe d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel.

We want to turn an emblem of the industrial past into a beacon of the sustainable future
Jean-Luc Schonebelen, Ginger CEO

Parisians are quick to defend their city's architectural heritage but says Schonebelen, "they are also very concerned about the environment and I'm sure will come around to the idea."
Adorned in its new coat of living greenery, the tower would likely become a convenient new home for insects and birds. Schonebelen says they would be welcome guests and insists neither the foliage nor its accompanying inhabitants would obscure the view.
"We'd keep the viewing platforms clear," he says. "Our objective is to enhance the structure, not ruin it. We want to turn an emblem of the industrial past into a beacon of the sustainable future."
Schonebelen says that they have selected a variety of plants that can flourish at high altitude and will be performing a feasibility study in the coming week to test if the tower could withstand the significant additional load.
However, the company is yet to formally present its ideas to either the Paris City Council or SETE.
"This is a very serious proposal, from a serious company that has put a lot of time and resources into it," says Schonebelen. "We hope the Paris authorities will give us some of their time to listen to the idea."
So, what would you say in their shoes?

commentary:
I think that is intersting that Eiffiel Tower will have about 600,000 plants, but a problem is thatput the plants is too expensive and will take a lot of time. If the Eiffel Towercan put all the plants I think that that will be very ecological because people can start to protect more the planet.