Agriculture21
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Photo Essay: Climate Change, Sea Level and the Vikings
A thousand years ago, powerful Viking chieftans flourished in Norway’s Lofoten Islands, above the Arctic Circle. In an environment frequently hovering on the edge of survivability, small shifts in climate or sea level could mean life or death. People had to constantly adapt, making their living from the land and the sea as best they…
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Lorenzo Cotula and Thierry Berger On Transparency around Land Investment Contracts
The Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) spoke with Lorenzo Cotula and Thierry Berger about OpenLandContracts.org, the challenges and opportunities stakeholders face in promoting greater transparency around land investments, and how effective use of disclosed information can be promoted.
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Not So Sweet: Tanzania Confronts Arbitration over Large-Scale Sugarcane and Ethanol Project
The legal battle underscores the challenges that arise when governments, international investors, and the rights of local communities are at odds.
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Warming Climate Could Abruptly Increase Rain in Africa’s Sahel
Climate change could turn one of Africa’s driest regions wet, according to a new study. Scientists have found evidence in computer simulations for a possible abrupt change in the Sahel, a region long characterized by aridity and political instability. In the study, just published in the journal Earth System Dynamics, the authors detected a self-amplifying…
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How Will Climate Change Impact Water Resources?
Richard Seager and Park Williams, climate scientists at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, discuss how water will be affected by warmer temperatures, and how their research increases understanding of these issues.
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Building Regenerative Local Food Systems
On April 27, 2017, the Earth Institute, the School of International and Public Affairs, the Agriculture and Food Security Center and the Columbia Water Center presented the third annual Forum on Sustainable Agriculture, on Building Regenerative Food Systems.
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In Jharkhand, Using an Old Technique for Sustainable Water
The Indian state of Jharkhand has plentiful rainfall, but most of that water runs off before it can be put to use by farmers, who struggle to make a living. To help improve irrigation and crop productivity, the Centers for International Projects Trust and Ranchi’s Birsa Agricultural University turned to a simple traditional technology, “dobhas,”…
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Reduced U.S. Air Pollution Will Boost Rainfall in Africa’s Sahel, Says Study
If U.S. sulfur dioxide emissions are cut to zero by 2100, as some researchers have projected they will be, rainfall over Africa’s Sahel region could increase up to 10 percent from 2000 levels, computer simulations suggest.
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Study: Overuse of Water Threatens Global Food Supply
In recent years, scientists have revealed that we are depleting our global groundwater reserves at an alarming rate. Now researchers have shown that a significant share of this unsustainable water use fuels the global food trade, which means water exhaustion in supplier nations could ripple outward, causing food crises half way across globe.
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
