Environment

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The housing market is heating up again in 20 top metropolitan areas, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index. Relatively few homes have been built since the 2008 collapse. (Associated Press)

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Rising incomes in China, which is the world's No. 2 economy, have resulted in a surge in demand for gold jewelry and other luxury goods.

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Damaged railcars lie on the ground near Rockview, Mo. on Saturday, May 25, 2013. Authorities said a highway overpass collapsed when rail cars slammed into one of the bridge's pillars after a cargo train collision. Seven people were injured, though none seriously. (AP Photo/KFVS, Michael Mohundro)

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Emergency personnel respond to the scene of a train derailment near Rockview, Mo., on Saturday, May 25, 2013. The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into the cause of a cargo train collision that partially collapsed a highway overpass in southeast Missouri, injuring seven people. (AP Photo/The Southeast Missourian, Fred Lynch)

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The iconic "Poo Pond," a waste retention pond at the Kandahar Air Field known for its odor, was slated to close mid-2013. However, the pond, shown here in this May 17, 2013, photo, will remain open until the airfield's residents no longer need a place to discard waste, including that from portable toilets. (Kristina Wong/The Washington Times)

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President Obama greets people on the apron as he arrives on Sunday, May 26, 2013, at Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City, Okla., en route to the Moore, Okla., to see the response efforts to the severe tornadoes and weather that devastated the area. He will also visit with the families affected as well as first responders. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin greets President Obama as he arrives on Sunday, May 26, 2013, at Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City, Okla., en route to Moore, Okla., to see the response efforts to the severe tornadoes and weather that devastated the area. He also will visit with the families affected as well as first responders. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Damaged rail cars lie on the ground near Rockview, Mo., on Saturday, May 25, 2013. Authorities say a highway overpass collapsed when derailed rail cars slammed into one of the bridge's pillars after two freight trains collided. (AP Photo/KFVS, Michael Mohundro)

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** FILE ** New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, right, talks to Carla Pilla, of Seaside Heights, N.J., while Robert Hilton, left, executive director of the Jersey Shore Convention and Visitor's Bureau, holds a sign, Friday, May 24, 2013, in Seaside Heights, N.J. Christie cut a ribbon to symbolically reopen the state's shore for the summer season, seven months after being devastated by Superstorm Sandy. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

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President Obama shakes hands with the Marine at the base of the steps of Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on May 24, 2013. Obama forgot to salute the Marine as he boarded so he came back out to shake hands with the Marine. The president is traveling to Annapolis to deliver the commencement address at the United States Naval Academy. (Associated Press)

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** FILE ** This Aug. 11, 2009, file photo provided by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography shows Matt Durham, center, pulling in a large patch of sea garbage with the help of Miriam Goldstein, right, in the Pacific Ocean. Plastics discarded by people often end up in the ocean, creating coastal pollution that harms marine life and gathers out at sea in what's become known as the great Pacific garbage patch. Now, California state lawmakers have introduced a law that if passed would require makers of plastic bottles, bags and packaging to replace plastics with more environmentally friendly alternatives. (AP Photo/ Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Mario Aguilera, File)