Climate239
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Climate News Roundup: Week of 10/09
Nations Heading to Durban Climate Talks Remain Deeply Divided, Oct 10, New York Times U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres lauded a climate change meeting in Panama as “good progress” this weekend, even as environmental activists warned that the world’s only structure for curbing greenhouse gas emissions appears about to crumble. The next time diplomats meet,…
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The 7 Billion Challenge
The rapid rise in the world’s population to 7 billion — from 6 billion a dozen years ago — poses enormous challenges. In this video, Earth Institute Director Jeffrey D. Sachs talks about the stresses our population already puts on the planet, and the mission of the institute to promote sustainable development.
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Join a Conversation About 7 Billion People
The world’s population will reach 7 billion this year, and the UN estimates continued growth, primarily in less-developed regions. What will this steep population growth mean for our environmental, economic and social systems? Join the conversation on Oct. 17.
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Imagining the Hudson before Humans
Pollution is just one way that humans have transformed the Hudson River. A small way, it turns out. We have altered the Hudson’s shape, the speed of its flow and the mix of plants and trees along its banks. In a new book, Environmental History of the Hudson River, two Lamont-Doherty scientists who contributed chapters—Frank…
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News Roundup: Week of 9/25
Climate Change and the Exodus of Species, New York Times, Sept 26 A team of scientists from the University of York examined the movement of 2,000 animal and plant species over the past decade. According to their study, published in Science last month, in their exodus from increasing heat, species have moved, on average, 13.3…
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Welcome Back, La Niña
The components of La Niña are getting ready to tango. But will their performance break any climate records this time around?
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Hybrid Climate Data for East Africa
In our latest video interview, climate scientist Tufa Dinku talks about his work on combining weather station data with satellite information to generate high-resolution data sets. These data could be used for making more accurate forecasts and can feed into other climate risk management activities, such as early-warning systems. With funding from Google.org, Dinku and…
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Climate News Roundup: Week of 9/12 and 9/20
World Bank looks to South African climate talks, Associated Press, Sept. 13 Andrew Steer, special envoy of the World Bank on climate change, is pushing for a focus on the impacts of climate change on agriculture and food security during the upcoming UNFCCC negotiations in Durban, South Africa. Although Durban is not expected to be…
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Carbon Capture & Storage Project Stalls
In June, American Electric Power suspended its work on the world’s largest test of carbon capture and storage at a power plant in West Virginia, citing lack of regulatory certainty. At the successful conclusion of a two year validation phase, American Electric Power is indefinitely delaying the next step, commercial scale demonstration. The U.S. Department…
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“