State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Agriculture37

  • Pedro Sanchez Elected into the National Academy of Sciences

    Pedro Sanchez Elected into the National Academy of Sciences

    For more than 50 years, Sanchez has worked on agriculture and hunger issues throughout the developing world. Since 2005, he has helped to establish and direct the Millennium Villages Project to promote policies to bring a green revolution to Africa and achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

  • Drill Down into Africa Soils Projects

    Drill Down into Africa Soils Projects

    The Africa Soil Information Service has upgraded its website with a new layout, easier navigation and updates on project activities. A growing set of features provides information for managing soil and land in Africa, including an interactive map tool that allows you to choose layers and areas of interest that can be downloaded.

  • Fossil Teeth, Traces of Climate & Evolution

    Fossil Teeth, Traces of Climate & Evolution

    From fossil teeth to carbon traces of plants in the soil, scientists are studying how changes in climate may have influenced early human evolution in Africa. Researchers from around the world gathered for a symposium held recently at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Watch the videos.

  • New Course Offered on Global Food Systems

    The Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development will offer a course in Global Food Systems (SDEV W3200) in Fall 2012, taught by Dr. Cheryl Palm. Concerns about food shortages, land use, climate change and biodiversity have created an urgent need for interdisciplinary researchers, practitioners and policy-makers focused on agriculture. Developing sound solutions that improve agricultural production…

  • Why Soil Matters

    Why Soil Matters

    Soil is the source of all life. Yet “we know more about soils of Mars than about soils of Africa,” says Pedro Sanchez, director of the Earth Institute’s Tropical Agriculture and the Rural Environment Program. To remedy this situation, the Earth Institute is taking part in an ambitious undertaking to map the world’s soils.

  • Composter Puts College Food Waste in Its Place

    Composter Puts College Food Waste in Its Place

    Columbia has welcomed a composting machine to campus, a first at a New York City university. Accepting food scraps, such as banana peels, coffee grounds and egg shells, the composter will provide a way to recycle the urban campus’s food waste while also serving as an educational tool.

  • Growing Food, Protecting the Land in Africa

    Growing Food, Protecting the Land in Africa

    The new Africa Monitoring System aims to help land managers and policy makers identify and tackle tradeoffs between intensified food production on the African continent and the vital services provided by healthy ecosystems.

  • More Food Insecurity Expected in Horn of Africa

    More Food Insecurity Expected in Horn of Africa

    The current rainy season in the Horn of Africa is off to a poor start, and fear of famine once again looms large for the region.

  • Photo Essay: India, Water, Culture

    Photo Essay: India, Water, Culture

    Take a photographic journey from the crowded streets of Delhi, through the parched state of Rajasthan, and into the farmlands of north Gujarat to get a closer look at some of the many ways water affects the lives of millions of Indians every day.

Composite banner with modern building at night and portrait of Dean Alexis Abramson that reads "Science for the Planet"

By studying thousands of buildings and analyzing their electricity use, Columbia Climate School Dean Alexis Abramson has been able to uncover ways to significantly cut energy consumption and emissions. Watch the Video: “Engineering a Cooler Future Through Smarter Buildings

  • Pedro Sanchez Elected into the National Academy of Sciences

    Pedro Sanchez Elected into the National Academy of Sciences

    For more than 50 years, Sanchez has worked on agriculture and hunger issues throughout the developing world. Since 2005, he has helped to establish and direct the Millennium Villages Project to promote policies to bring a green revolution to Africa and achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

  • Drill Down into Africa Soils Projects

    Drill Down into Africa Soils Projects

    The Africa Soil Information Service has upgraded its website with a new layout, easier navigation and updates on project activities. A growing set of features provides information for managing soil and land in Africa, including an interactive map tool that allows you to choose layers and areas of interest that can be downloaded.

  • Fossil Teeth, Traces of Climate & Evolution

    Fossil Teeth, Traces of Climate & Evolution

    From fossil teeth to carbon traces of plants in the soil, scientists are studying how changes in climate may have influenced early human evolution in Africa. Researchers from around the world gathered for a symposium held recently at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Watch the videos.

  • New Course Offered on Global Food Systems

    The Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development will offer a course in Global Food Systems (SDEV W3200) in Fall 2012, taught by Dr. Cheryl Palm. Concerns about food shortages, land use, climate change and biodiversity have created an urgent need for interdisciplinary researchers, practitioners and policy-makers focused on agriculture. Developing sound solutions that improve agricultural production…

  • Why Soil Matters

    Why Soil Matters

    Soil is the source of all life. Yet “we know more about soils of Mars than about soils of Africa,” says Pedro Sanchez, director of the Earth Institute’s Tropical Agriculture and the Rural Environment Program. To remedy this situation, the Earth Institute is taking part in an ambitious undertaking to map the world’s soils.

  • Composter Puts College Food Waste in Its Place

    Composter Puts College Food Waste in Its Place

    Columbia has welcomed a composting machine to campus, a first at a New York City university. Accepting food scraps, such as banana peels, coffee grounds and egg shells, the composter will provide a way to recycle the urban campus’s food waste while also serving as an educational tool.

  • Growing Food, Protecting the Land in Africa

    Growing Food, Protecting the Land in Africa

    The new Africa Monitoring System aims to help land managers and policy makers identify and tackle tradeoffs between intensified food production on the African continent and the vital services provided by healthy ecosystems.

  • More Food Insecurity Expected in Horn of Africa

    More Food Insecurity Expected in Horn of Africa

    The current rainy season in the Horn of Africa is off to a poor start, and fear of famine once again looms large for the region.

  • Photo Essay: India, Water, Culture

    Photo Essay: India, Water, Culture

    Take a photographic journey from the crowded streets of Delhi, through the parched state of Rajasthan, and into the farmlands of north Gujarat to get a closer look at some of the many ways water affects the lives of millions of Indians every day.