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Japan

New Study: Thyroid Cancer Surge Among Youth In Fukushima Region

LE TEMPS(Switzerland)

Worldcrunch

BASEL - The nuclear accident of Fukushima is already leading to a surge in the number of cases of thyroid cancer, according to research being presented this week in Switzerland by Japanese scientist Toshihide Tsuda.

The Swiss daily Le Temps reports that Tsuda, professor of environmental epidemiology at the University of Okayama, said his tests show the annual incidence of thyroid cancer among those 18-years-old and younger in the Fukushima area to be 157 per one million, more than 31 times superior to the national average of five per million.

These numbers, presented in the Swiss city of Basel, show a stronger and faster evolution than that after the Chernobyl incident in the Soviet Union in 1986 and, Tsuda believes, are only the first signs of a wider health catastrophe.

The Japanese nuclear agency announced Wednesday that it had upgraded the severity level of a radioactive water leak at the Fukushima plant to the highest level since the accident occurred in 2011.[rebelmouse-image 27087316 alt="""" original_size="640x480" expand=1]

(Fukushima plant before the 2011 accident - Wikipedia)

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Migrant Lives

They Migrated From Chiapas When Opportunities Dried Up, Orchids Brought Them Home

An orchid rehabilitation project is turning a small Mexican community into a tourist magnet — and attracting far-flung locals back to their hometown.

They Migrated From Chiapas When Opportunities Dried Up, Orchids Brought Them Home

Marcos Aguilar Pérez takes care of orchids rescued from the rainforest in his backyard in Santa Rita Las Flores, Mapastepec, Chiapas, Mexico.

Adriana Alcázar González/GPJ Mexico
Adriana Alcázar González

MAPASTEPEC — Sweat cascades down Candelaria Salas Gómez’s forehead as she separates the bulbs of one of the orchids she and the other members of the Santa Rita Las Flores Community Ecotourism group have rescued from the rainforest. The group houses and protects over 1,000 orchids recovered from El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve, in the southeastern Mexican state of Chiapas, after powerful storms.

“When the storms and heavy rains end, we climb to the vicinity of the mountains and collect the orchids that have fallen from the trees. We bring them to Santa Rita, care for them, and build their strength to reintegrate them into the reserve later,” says Salas Gómez, 32, as she attaches an orchid to a clay base to help it recover.

Like magnets, the orchids of Santa Rita have exerted a pull on those who have migrated from the area due to lack of opportunity. After years away from home, Salas Gómez was one of those who returned, attracted by the community venture to rescue these flowers and exhibit them as a tourist attraction, which provides residents with an adequate income.

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