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ENVIRONMENT

Third World Soot Threatens Globe

Cooking fires account for one-fifth of emissions.

cheats/2009/04/16/third-world-soot-threatens-globe/soot_niuceb

Chitose Suzuki / AP Photo

Could George Foreman Grills save the world? In combatting climate change, attention has mostly focused on reducing emissions from cars, power plants, and buildings. But the simplest of human technologies—fire—is responsible for as much as 18 percent of global warming, according to scientists. Cooking fires in the third world, fueled by twigs and dung, release black soot, one of the most potent types of carbon emissions. Climate experts are calling for new efforts to supply modern stoves to these areas in order to reduce emissions.

Read it at The New York Times

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