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The Human Cost of Coal

The Human Cost of Coal
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Mountaintop's Removal's Effect on Humans and the Economy

There’s a common saying in Appalachia: what we do to the land, we do to the people. Recently, 21 peer-reviewed scientific studies have confirmed the truth of those words. Not only has mountaintop removal permanently destroyed more than 500 Appalachian mountains, but people living near the destruction are 50% more likely to die of cancer and 42% more likely to be born with birth defects compared with other people in Appalachia.

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US tops global clean energy investment rankings

Author: 

Mark Kinver
US tops global clean energy investment rankings
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The US has regained top spot from China as the biggest investor in clean energy in 2011, according to global rankings.

The table, published in a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, showed that US invested more than $48bn (£30bn) in the sector, up from $34bn in 2010.

China slipped to second place, the authors reported, with investment only increasing by $0.5bn to $45.5bn.

Globally, overall financial backing in clean energy technologies hit a record $263bn, up 6.5% from 2010 levels.

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Energy ring best option to solve regional needs

Author: 

Shahiduzzaman Khan
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Energy demands in South Asia are growing at rate of over 6.0 per cent a year - a pace that is far in excess of the region's capacity to meet. The fact that a sizeable section of the population does not have access to electricity makes energy security a daunting challenge for the countries of this region.

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Scientists' satellite images track Malaria

Author: 

Gareth van Zyl
Scientists' satellite images track Malaria
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 Super-high-resolution digital satellite photography is being used by researchers to help fight Malaria in Africa.

Mosquitoes' water habitats in Swaziland, Mozambique and SA's northern KwaZulu-Natal are being tracked by scientists, who are using imagery that has a visibility of up to five metres.

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Pollution in China: Man-made and visible from space

Pollution in China: Man-made and visible from space
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 “PM2.5” seems an odd and wonky term for the blogosphere to take up, but that is precisely what has happened in China in recent weeks. It refers to the smallest solid particles in the atmosphere—those less than 2.5 microns across. Such dust can get deep into people’s lungs; far deeper than that rated as PM10. Yet until recently China’s authorities have revealed measurements only for PM10. When people realised this, an online revolt broke out. Such was the public pressure that authorities caved in, and PM2.5 data are now being published for Beijing and a handful of other cities.

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India records world-beating green energy growth

India records world-beating green energy growth
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 Increase of 52% to $10.3bn in 2011 was based on strong solar performance

India's transformation into a cleantech powerhouse moved up a gear in 2011 when it racked up investments of $10.3bn in the sector, a growth rate of 52 per cent year on year that dwarfed the rest of the world's significant economies.

Solar investments led the growth with a seven-fold increase in funding, from $0.6bn in 2010 to $4.2bn in 2011, just below the $4.6bn invested in wind during the year, according to figures released yesterday by analysts Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

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Tribal Districts Show Heavy Forest Degradation

Author: 

Nikita Mehta
Tribal Districts Show Heavy Forest Degradation
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India’s forest cover decreased by 367 square kilometers between 2007 and 2009, and it was primarily tribal and hilly regions that were to blame, according to the biennial forest survey released last week by the Ministry of Environment and Forest.

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