Climate256
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La Niña Begins to Weaken
The current moderate-strength La Niña is now weakening and is expected to dissipate by late spring, said Tony Barnston, the lead forecaster at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, which holds a monthly climate briefing. Early February showed the first easing in strength of the cool sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern…
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Celebrating the end of the Antarctic field season
It is the end of a highly successful field season for our ‘Antarctica’s Secrets’ team – a mix of sadness and joy
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A Tentative Year for REDD+: Placing Value on Forests
Forests, particularly tropical forests, are economically valuable for their biodiversity and, especially relevant for climate change, their ability to store carbon within their vegetation and soil. Alternately, destruction of forests releases carbon into the atmosphere. Deforestation and forest degradation account for 12-20% of GHG emissions. REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) is a…
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Columbia Climate Center Co-hosts Screening of HOME
On Monday, January 31st, the Columbia Maison Française and the Columbia Climate Center co-hosted the American pre-screening of “HOME”, a film directed by world-renowned photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand, well known from his “Earth from Above” series. A panel discussion, moderated by science journalist and author David Berreby, followed the film. The panelists included Mr. Arthus-Bertrand, Olivier…
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Climate News Roundup: 2/6-2/11
Droughts, Floods and Food, NYTimes, Feb. 6 Extreme weather events in 2010 are linked to the current global food crisis, in which the prices of wheat, corn, sugar, and oils have exploded. In combination with growing demand from developing nations and increased competition for crop land, extreme weather events such as droughts in Brazil, wildfires…
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Record-Breaking Amounts of Snow Raise Problems for Cities
These record breaking amounts of snow have caused numerous concerns both economical and environmental and as snowfalls pile up cities run out of room to put the snow. One suggested solution was to dump the snow into waterways even though it became a mixture of many pollutants including, but not limited to, motor oil and…
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Floods in Eastern Sri Lanka and North-Eastern Australia: Contrasts in Disaster Risk Management
Due to the ongoing floods in Sri Lanka, more than a million people are affected, 185,000 were displaced and 16 had died by February 5, 2011. The impact has been most severe on Eastern Sri Lanka a “Disaster Hazard and Vulnerability Hotspot”. The purpose of this post is to publicize information resources to help target…
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Glacial deposits: A clue to reconstructing the history of the Antarctic ice sheet
Having been joined by a fifth team member, Tim Flood from St Norbert College, our “Antarctica Secrets” team sets out to a new field site near Mount Achernar.
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Columbia University’s Master of Arts program in Climate and Society
There is still time to apply to Columbia University’s Master of Arts program in Climate and Society (C&S). The need for professionals who understand the links between climate and society is acute, and grows ever more so as human activity alters the global atmosphere. The 12-month Columbia M.A. in Climate and Society will give you…
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