ABIDJAN, March 22 (Reuters) - Human beings are flushing millions of tonnes of solid waste into rivers and oceans every day, poisoning marine life and spreading diseases that kill millions of children annually, the U.N. said on Monday. "The sheer scale of dirty water means more people now die from contaminated and polluted water than from all forms of violence including wars," the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said.

Nearly a quarter of a billion people escaped life in the slums over the past decade, the United Nations says. The improvement was thanks largely to housing efforts in China and India, which made "giant strides", according to a report by the UN Habitat agency. But the housing efforts were more than countered by world population growth and the rural exodus to cities. So overall, the total number of slum dwellers actually increased from 776.7m to 827.6m, during the years 2000-2010.

NREL - March 15, 2010 - The photovoltaic (PV) market now has an eye-popping, interactive bevy of maps and charts that can let anyone know where PV panels are being installed, how big they are, how much they cost and how fast the industry is booming. Interested in where PV is installed in the U.S. and how it has grown over time? Go to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Web site, openpv.nrel.gov, and find a dynamic time map showing PV installation activity in the U.S. from 1998 to 2009. Want to know how fast the cost per watt is plunging in Wisconsin or California?