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Moraines and spaghetti in the Transantarctic Mountains
Our Antarctica Secret’s team starts collecting samples at their first remote field site at Mt Howe, Transantarctic Mountains, about 180 miles from the South Pole.
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Solving Urbanization Challenges by Design – The Science of Green Roofs
Patricia J. Culligan, professor of civil engineering and engineering mechanics, discusses her work with the Columbia University Green Roof Consortium to quantify the benefits of green roofs.
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Setting up camp 184 miles from the South Pole
Our field team flies from McMurdo to their first base camp, named CTAM, which stands for Central Transantarctic Mountains. This camp is set up by the US National Science Foundation every 5 to 10 years, with input from scientists on the cutting edge research that can be done in the region.
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Michigan Case Demonstrates Growing Importance of Courts for Water Issues
According to a recent report by Deutsche Bank, the number of US lawsuits related directly or indirectly to climate change rose by nearly 300% between 2009 and 2010. In addition to cases focused more broadly on climate change, there have also been a growing number of cases focused specifically on water regulations. Examples of the…
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Our Oceans: A Plastic Soup
“Humanity’s plastic footprint is probably more dangerous than its carbon footprint,” said Captain Charles Moore, who, in 1997, discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Its name is misleading because the huge expanse of floating marine debris is actually more like a soup of confetti-sized plastic bits, produced by the runoff of our throwaway lifestyle that…
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Hope for Biofuels in ‘Oilgae’?
With growing concern over the ethics and efficiency of first generation biofuels (see here), interest has increased in third generation, or algal, biofuels. Some, however, question the technology’s real-world potential, and call publicity surrounding investments in the technology, such as this Exxon Mobil TV commercial, “green-washing.” To help properly assess the debate, here’s an overview…
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La Niña Rolls On
The current moderate-to-strong La Niña is expected to continue through at least the middle of spring, said forecasters at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society’s monthly climate briefing.
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Climate News Roundup: Week of 1/16
For Many Species, No Escape as Temperature Rises, New York Times, Jan. 21 Adding to existing stressors from deforestation and habitat loss, climate change is expected to further harm populations of mountain dwelling animals. While other species traditionally seek higher elevation in response to warming, mountains species cannot do so, as they are limited by…
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Desalination: Yesterdayʼs Solution (part 3)
Worldwide, humans have quickly and wastefully consumed water from the cheapest sources by over-pumping aquifers and over-allocating rivers. Weʼve turned to technology to eek out more but technology is not without its costs. Every remaining incremental gallon of water will come at a higher and higher price. Are we nearing a breaking point?
Congratulations to our Columbia Climate School MA in Climate & Society Class of 2024! Learn about our May 10 Class Day celebration. #ColumbiaClimate2024
