201018
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Is There an Ethics of Climate Change? Missing Conversations, New Challenges
(A link to an MP3 audio recording of this event is located towards the middle of the article.) Last spring, the Columbia Climate Center and the M.A. in Climate and Society program co-hosted a discussion panel on climate change and ethics. Ethics is a field of philosophy that can help to resolve contradictory interests, and…
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Rolling a 13: Global Warming and Regional Water Management in Pakistan and Russia
On July 28th in Peshawar, Pakistan, it rained more in one day than it had ever previously rained for the entire month. In the face of that kind of event, it’s hard not to think that we are entering unprecedented times. (It is still raining, with forecasts of more to come, with 1,600 people dead—at…
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Rock Hunting Before River Closes In
On Tuesday we drove to the Steelpoort River Valley, about a hundred kilometers away. Work on a new dam and road has begun since we were here last, in 2006 and 2007. Once it’s finished, the dam will flood much of our field area, submerging some of the rocks we are studying. It’s a good thing…
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Climate News Roundup – Week of 8/16
Last week: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is suing the EPA, massive coral bleaching is recorded off the coast of Indonesia, the range of blue mussels is being limited by rising sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic, and scientists explore the possibility that the Pakistan floods are related to climate change.
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Geology with a Taste of Safari
We started the morning with breakfast and shopping for lunch provisions. We bought a large bag of oranges grown in the groves that surround this region for the equivalent of $1.50, along with cheese and, of course, biltong. The butcher offered many kinds of biltong, from the shaved, proscuitto-like variety to the serious cowboy jerky…
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Rock Collecting While Watching for Crocodiles, Leopards
On Saturday morning, Ed and I left Pretoria for the next phase of our trip: field work near the Loskop Dam in Mpumalanga Province where a large volcano once existed about two billion years ago. No one has been able to find where this ancient volcano stood but lava flows in the area suggest there…
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Privatizing Responsibility on Water Use
I would like to say congratulations to the Environmental Protection Agency for it’s recent “We’re for Water” campaign to promote responsible water use (after all, who can argue with low-flow toilets and efficient showerheads?) but I am seriously concerned about the campaign’s underlying message. “We’re for Water” features families competing with each other to see…
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Singing, Clapping, Smiling over Geology in S. Africa
After a morning lecture about the Bushveld Complex and the processes of concentrating ores in magma bodies, Ed and I had to go to the University of Pretoria for Thursday afternoon. I was invited to give a lecture and we were able to have some very interesting conversations about Bushveld research with the people who…
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The Policy Buffet (Part 5): How the Oil Spill Killed the Climate Bill — and Why the Economy Didn’t Help, Either
The climate bill has come and gone. Just two months ago, it seemed as though the bill stood a fighting chance, given the buffet of options available to policymakers.
AGU25, the premier Earth and space science conference, takes place December 15-19, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. This year’s theme—Where Science Connects Us—puts in focus how science depends on connection, from the lab to the field to the ballot box. Once again, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School scientists, experts, students, and educators are playing an active role, sharing our research and helping shape the future of our planet. #AGU25 Learn More