Over the past eight years, the price of gold has increased by 235 percent, from $271 to more than $1,000 an ounce.  But the costs in human misery and environmental degradation may be even higher.  National Geographic’s January cover story offers mostly sobering reading about mining for gold in far-flung spots around the world — whether the miners are employing age-old techniques to extract gold remnants from an old, artisinal mine (as in the Peruvian Andes) or working at a large, modern mine (as in Indonesia).  Here is one interesting tid-bit: all of the gold that has been mined to date, worldwide, can be fit within the space of two Olympic-sized swimming pools.  National Geographic January 2009  A WHYY Fresh Air radio interview with the auther and photographer of the story is also available from National Public Radio here.  Jan. 8, 2009