How Renewables In Developing Countries Are Leapfrogging Traditional Power

Lots of poorer countries may be gearing up to largely skip fossil fuel reliance in favor of renewables, if a report released last week is any indication.

It’s long been assumed that developing nations — particularly those in Africa and Asia — would need to follow the same course as the United States and other western powers, relying on traditional fossil fuels to build their economies before transitioning onto renewable energy. It’s one of the reasons many critics think efforts to keep global warming under 2°C are either doomed or would be hopelessly destructive.

CO2 emissions are being 'outsourced' by rich countries to rising economies

The world's richest countries are increasingly outsourcing their carbon pollution to China and other rising economies, according to a draft UN report.

Outsourcing of emissions comes in the form of electronic devices such as smartphones, cheap clothes and other goods manufactured in China and other rising economies but consumed in the US and Europe.

Cancer in developing world on the rise

There were an estimated 14.1 million new cancer cases worldwide in 2012, mostly in developing countries, according to a new report from the World Health Organization.

In comparison, in 2008 there were 12.7 million new cases cases, the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer said. About 8.2 million cancer-related deaths occurred in 2012 compared with 7.6 million in 2008.

Dr. David Forman is the head of the agency's cancer information section, which compiled the data.