Giving the poor access to electricity would bring huge gains in health, education and economic growth, with little increase in emmissions, according to International Energy Agency study

More than 1 billion people in poor countries around the world could have access to electricity within 20 years, if the international community is prepared to make the effort, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Monday.

The UN estimates 8 million extra teachers are needed worldwide by 2015. But how do countries compare? Get the full data here

New York City’s Clean Revolution has been led by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, and his detailed and comprehensive sustainability plan, called PlaNYC: A Greener, Greater New York. PlaNYC’s most important initiative has been to take on a comprehensive approach to reducing energy consumption in existing buildings, leveraging the fact that New York City has control over its own construction and energy codes.

Luke Copland is an associate professor in the geography department at the University of Ottawa who co-authored the research published on Carleton University’s website. He said the Serson Ice Shelf shrank from 205 square kilometres to two remnant sections five years ago, and was further diminished this past summer.

Prof. Copland said the shelf went from a 42-square-km floating glacier tongue to 25 square km, and the second section from 35 square km to 7 square km, off Ellesmere Island’s northern coastline.

Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reached an all-time high in 2010, rising 45% in the past 20 years. Rising rapidly between 1990 and 2010, global atmospheric CO2 levels totaled 33 billion metric tons last year, according to a report published by the European Commission’s Joint Research Center and PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.