Agriculture41
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From Development Practitioner to National Leader: Lessons from Garry Conille, Prime Minister of Haiti
Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille met with students and scientists of the Earth Institute to explore core issues of Haiti’s growth and development.
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Natural Disasters: The Upside
Floods, volcanoes, earthquakes–really, very little good news comes out of this sort of thing. Maybe the occasional feel-good story about, say, a child miraculously dug from the rubble days later, tired but unharmed and in good spirits, having survived on a cache of crackers and Coke. Actually, says John Mutter, an Earth Institute professor of sustainability studies, disasters can sometimes…
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A Meeting of Science and Human Impact
A talk Monday by Cynthia Rosenzweig of the Center for Climate Systems Research serves as a good example of how some of the hard science being discussed at the American Geophysical Union’s fall meeting intersects directly with human welfare. She outlined the progress of a new global project that will help scientists produce more accurate…
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Under the Dead Sea, Warnings on Climate and Earthquakes
An international team of scientists drilling deep under the bed of the Dead Sea has found evidence that the sea may have dried up during a past warm period analogous to scenarios for climate change in coming decades. With nations in the volatile region already running short on water, the finding could be a…
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Gates Gift to Work Toward Millennium Development Goals
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently renewed its support for science and policy innovation to help impoverished countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals with a $15,000,000 multi-year grant.
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The Buzz on Elephants
African-born, Oxford-trained biologist Lucy King recently won an award for a promising solution to a longstanding problem in Africa—elephants raiding crops.
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Rethinking Our Food System to Combat Obesity
The Earth Institute’s Urban Design Lab and MIT Collaborative Initiatives joined to investigate the issue of obesity through the prism of design. Their conclusion: “No single effort to curb childhood obesity will be sustainable or effective on a broad scale if the larger food system is not addressed.”
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The Sustainable Development Seminar Series Returns
“Natural and Manmade Disasters: Lessons for the Future” kicked off the seminar series on October 18 with presentations about the Haiti Earthquake of 2010, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico of 2010, and the 2011 tsunami and earthquake that damaged the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan.
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Addressing Gender Inequality Through Agriculture
It has been well-documented that increasing women’s financial power is one of the most effective ways to develop a country (see: World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development). Mali is no exception, but due to laws that limit the amount of land women can hold, Malian women work mainly on small plots as horticulture…
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“
