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Lighten up

A photograph of the world at night shows evidence of the need for better power supply in developing nations.

| April 2008 issue

This manipulated photograph, showing the world at night, provides ample evidence of the need for a better power supply in developing nations. Since the 1970s, improvements have been made to bring electricity to countries in Latin America, Asia and the Middle East, but so far Africa has lagged behind with only 25 percent of the population having access to electrical power. The World Bank is expecting a big power surge over the next decade, especially in Africa and South Asia.


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Comments (3)

I get that the point was about unequal distribution of access to electricity. In light (!) of the photo used to illustrate it, I'd like to bring up the related issue of light pollution. Again, I know the photo was manipulated, but it shows that acces to electricity also means using it responsibly. We need to turn *off* our lights as much as we can in order to preserve our natural night sky. There is information out there on the effects of 'darkness deprivation'. I encourage everyone interested in keeping the sky dark enough to explore the heavens from earth to start their education at www.darkskysociety.org/. Cheers!

posted by busylizard on 4/ 2/2008 2:31 am

good point

posted by katiek on 3/25/2008 11:00 pm

It may also mean the need to rethink the use of electricity and power in the developed world. Lifestyle diseases rising and often linked to lack of sleep and proper rest, maybe we should be turning out some of the lights and going to bed sooner?

posted by Brennie on 3/25/2008 6:57 pm

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