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Emissions of CO2 driving rapid oceans 'acid trip'

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Matt McGrath
Great barrier reef Corals all over the world are threatened by rising rates of acidification in the oceans
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The world's oceans are becoming acidic at an "unprecedented rate" and may be souring more rapidly than at any time in the past 300 million years.

In their strongest statement yet on the issue, scientists say acidification could increase by 170% by 2100.

The report's co-author said acidification had already caused a 30% loss of species in some ocean ecosystems.

The researchers conclude that human emissions of CO2 are clearly to blame.

The study will be presented at global climate talks in Poland next week.

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Health disparities 'could be eliminated in a generation': study

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KATE KELLAND
Health Disparity
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Health disparities between rich and poor nations could be banished in a generation by investment in research, vaccines and drugs to combat diseases such as AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, global health experts said on Tuesday.

In a report setting out a plan for a "grand convergence" in health, the experts said world leaders needed to press for a concerted increase in research and development (R&D) investment to develop new medicines, vaccines and health technologies.

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How technology is transforming emergency preparedness

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IRIN NEWS, Aug 16, 2013
Flooding in Chad. Use of technology to warn of disasters is increasing
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DAKAR, 16 August 2013 (IRIN) - Mobile phone, geographic information systems (GIS), Twitter and other technologies are increasingly being used to warn communities of potential crises and inform them how to prepare, and to help governments and aid agencies predict how emergencies may unfold. 

IRIN looks at some of the ways these innovations are transforming early warning and preparedness. 

Market monitoring 

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Africa’s Farmers Seek Private Money

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Busani Bafana, Sep 08, 2013
Sweetpotato breeder Jose Ricardo in Maputo Mozambique. Africa currently imports almost 40 billion dollars worth of food, and experts say that the continent needs to become more self-reliant.
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Africa currently imports almost 40 billion dollars worth of food a year, but it should implement measures to attract private sector investment in agriculture in order to reduce its food import bill and increase its self-reliance, experts in the sector tell IPS.
“In the next 10 years, African countries should not rely on food aid, but should produce their own food and buy from within Africa when they run out of food,” agriculture researcher and director of the Barefoot Education for Africa Trust, Professor Mandivamba Rukuni, told IPS.

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Africa faces sharp rise in climate adaption costs - UNEP

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Megan Rowling, Nov 19, 2013
An abandoned canoe is seen on a water hyacinth covered lagoon near the Makoko slum in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos
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Africa faces climate adaptation costs in the range of $7 billion to $15 billion per year by 2020, and that figure could rise to around $350 billion annually by 2070 if global warming exceeds 2 degrees Celsius, a U.N. report said on Tuesday.

Even if the 2 degrees goal - agreed by nearly 200 governments in 2010 - were to be met, the cost of adapting to more extreme weather and longer-term climate shifts would still be around $35 billion per year by the 2040s and $200 billion per year by the 2070s, according to the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP).

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Better sanitation boosts children's test scores, decreases stunting - study

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Astrid Zweynert, Nov 19, 2013
A Jordanian worker uses a wheelbarrow to transport materials for building the Azraq Syrian Refugee Camp, the third of its kind, near Al Azraq, 80km (50 miles) east of Amman
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Access to improved sanitation can increase cognition in children, according to a new World Bank study, the latest research to link stunting and open defecation.

More than 2.5 billion people worldwide lack access to toilets, and one billion people practice open defecation.

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Cooker reduces black carbon problem

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Roger Harrabin Sep 24, 2013
Why the old stove causes so much pollution - and how the new stove works
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It's a wonder gadget. It safeguards eyes and lungs.

It protects glaciers from melting. It saves forests. This miracle device is... a cooker.

The organisation Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves says the smoky mud stoves used in developing countries are a health problem thatdisproportionately affects women.

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