UNC to Conduct Massive Environmental Health Study in United Arab Emirates
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 07. 2.08
In a taste of what would come if the U.S. were to take the lead in developing global alternative energy solutions, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has signed a multi-million dollar agreement to bring their expertise to an assessment of health risks in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) due to environmental factors.
And since the U.A.E. has gone from a small nomadic and seafaring economy to one that is highly industrialized in just the last 40 years as one of the fastest developing nations in the world the truth is that there is plenty of cause for concern. A fact leadership in that country fully recognizes, and is attempting to tackle before a serious burden of disease emerges among the general population.
Ultimately, UNC researchers will partner with the U.A.E. University’s department of community medicine and the RAND Corporation to conduct the study. Expecting the two year project will shed light on the ways in which such rapid industrialization is affecting the health of its citizens and perhaps offering solutions on what can be done to mitigate those concerns.
via: Press Release
More on Environmentally Related Diseases
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The places in the world that have better alternative energy resources than almost anyone else in the world are the deserts of the southwest US, the Middle East, and northern Africa. We will see it developed soon enough, I hope, since these are also places whose land isn't useful for much else, even for wildlife.
Wind power, though not as location-sensitive as geothermal, is also subject to very local influences on climate. Thus I don't know what if any large regions are especially good for wind farms, except perhaps parts of west Texas and northern China.
Once again United Arab Emirates is a step ahead of almost everyone else. A long time ago they started moving away from oil. Oil is NOT the most important part of their economy by any means. I hope they race towards renewable energy too, and I hope they get rich doing it. Prove to those short-sighted doubters of the world that it works, and works well.