century. the report is the first since 2007 and is based on research by hundreds of the world s top climate scientists. joining me now is nbc s chief environmental affairs correspondent, anne thompson. anne, secretary of state john kerry released a statement saying that this is yet another wake-up call and that those who deny science or choose excuses over action are playing with fire. do you think that this report will have an impact on policy here or abroad? well, that s certainly what the scientists hope because they say we are on this path of continuing to produce carbon dioxide emissions which are warming the earth and having serious consequences. some of those consequences we re already living with. we have seen less snow and ice cover around the world. that s what the report says. and they say in the northern hemisphere, we can expect even less. we ve seen sea levels rise. and we saw the difference that can make during superstorm sandy, because sea levels had risen a foot in n
coming back to a landing hopefully here on june 1st. so we expect them to be safe for 16 days and we expect them to be safe when they touch down here in the night, early morning hours on june 1st. all right. we all hope for that. jay barbree, we are so lucky to have you with us on days like this. space shuttle endeavour safely in orbit. jay, appreciate it so much. thanks. my pleasure, willie. nice working with you. turning now to louisiana where the mississippi has begun rushing towards several communities that are in effect being sacrificed in an attempt to save the bigger cities down river. the scope of the damage will be staggering. with the morganza spillway now open, water as high as 25 feet will flood hundreds of miles of cajun country. anne thompson is nbc s chief environmental affairs correspondent. she s live in croft springs, louisiana. reporter: this is one of the
refineries are. if it knocks any of the refineries down in louisiana that, could be has not been running recently, we have been getting our supplies from the gulf too. those floodwaters really hit hard in loouj abaton rouge. i got to let you go for that, becky quick, thanks very much. speaking of those floods, we re going to check in right now. anne thompson is nbc s chief environmental affairs correspondent, she s in morgan city, louisiana, and, ann, i don t know if you heard becky s report about this nervousness and the effect it s going to have on the price of oil. are these decisions about oil and refineries also affecting where they could open up spill ways? i think the biggest issue,
sample the air over japan at their government s request. the decision comes on the same day several more u.s. helicopters showed low levels of radiation upon returning from humanitarian flights in the region and an alarmed u.s. official has told abc news if japanese officials do not get the situation at the fukushima plant under control within the next 24 to 48 hours, they could have a situation that will be, quote, deadly for decades. joining me now from london, nbc news chief environmental affairs correspondent, anne thompson. anne, what do you make of conflicting views that seem to be emerging between united states officials and japanese officials on the severity of the situation? lawrence, this is something that s been going on almost ever since the cvárj began. just how good is the information that is coming out of japan, and it is not just u.s. officials