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Illuminating the Science: Art and Climate Change Part II
Last week I expressed some skepticism that art and climate science were complementary languages. I also expressed some hope that the nature of these two fields – that is, that they both are ways of better knowing the world – really were reconcilable, and could create a better robustness of understanding the natural world. I’m glad…
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Sustainable water systems in rural Brazil
One of Columbia Water Center’s major programs, funded by the PepsiCo Foundation, is to develop water infrastructure in rural Brazil, in areas that have had no public water service. CWC’s local Director, Francisco de Assis de Souza Filho, was recently in New York, and on April 23 gave a talk about ‘Designing Sustainable Water Systems:…
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Challenges Inherent in Teaching Geosciences
Several inherent attributes of ocean, atmosphere and solid earth sciences contribute to making these disciplines challenging to teach and learn at the K-14 level. These include the large spatial scale of important processes, the consequent reliance on models and representations rather than actual target phenomena in hands-on activities, the centrality of systems thinking and emergent…
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Mandating energy benchmarking: the next step for cities in addressing climate change?
by Marne Sussman Within the past two years, two cities in the U.S. have passed ordinances mandating that existing buildings benchmark their energy usage. Benchmarking requires a building owner to report energy use data which can then be compared to data from buildings of a similar size and function and to past data from…
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Year Without a Summer? Not this Time.
You may have heard about the Year Without the Summer, 1816, when severe climate anomalies linked to the eruption of Indonesia’s Mt Tambora provoked widespread famine, the westward expansion of the United States, the invention of the bicycle, and Frankenstein. So epic, so influential: Tales of the dramatic climate impacts of that fateful year got…
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Vote for the Earth Institute in the eBay Fundraising Tournament for the Environment
Do you share our belief that the world has the know-how and resources to solve our environmental challenges in a sustainable manner? Do you support efforts by the scientific community to help understand the effects of climate change, reduce environmental degradation, and advance renewable energy technologies? Then please vote for the Earth Institute in the…
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The Desert Margins – vulnerable to desertification, but not hopeless
Most people are aware that vegetative cover, such as trees or other shade producing plants, helps to keep moisture in the soil, especially in the driest climates. Not all plants have the same effect, though.
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Final Seminar this Thursday: When Science and Halakha (Jewish Law) Collide
The end is near—of the CSSR’s Spring Seminar Series that is. We are concluding this season’s series with a seminar by Rabbi Dov Linzer, Rosh Hayeshiva and Head of Academics at Yeshiva Chovevei Torah, this Thursday, April 29th. Rabbi Linzer’s lecture, When Science and Halakha (Jewish Law) Collide: Sympathies, Strategies, and Solutions, will investigate the complex moral…
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The Bottled Water Risk: ‘Tapped’ Awareness Event (photos)
On April 21, the Tapped Truck visited the Columbia University campus, as part of an event organized by Teacher’s College Program in Social Studies and the Go Green Committee. The truck pulled up on 120th Street and began exchanging plastic water bottles for Klean Kanteen eco-friendly aluminum ones. The line formed quickly, and the first…
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