Energy46
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Southern Louisiana’s Vanishing Act
Louisiana’s wetlands — the largest system in the United States — are shrinking at an alarming rate.
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Climate News Roundup: Week of 4/10
Fewer penguins survive warming Antarctic climate, Reuters, Apr. 11 A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that in Antarctica, only 10 percent of juvenile chinstrap and Adelies penguins now survive the first independent trip they take from their winter habitat back to their colonies, know as the penguin’s “transition…
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Growing Up: Water Efficiency and Sunless Farming
As Earth’s population continues to grow and a dynamic global climate shifts our expectations of where and when food can be grown, scientists are trying to find new ways to get more from less.
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Fracking Panel Comes to NYC
In an effort to present various views on hydraulic fracturing, a panel of experts spoke to the public at Barnard College in New York City last Tuesday night. Known colloquially as fracking or hydrofracking, hydraulic fracturing has been regarded by many as a potential threat to New York City’s drinking water supply. The mere possibility…
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Of Earthquakes and Nuclear Reactors
As Japan’s nuclear meltdown catastrophe continues in the wake of the March 11 magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami, Japanese power company executives and officials face an increasingly challenging situation. Tuesday morning, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) — the company operating the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant — dumped more than 11,000 gallons of radioactive seawater into…
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Climate News Roundup: Week of 3/27
Warming Brings Unwelcome Change to Alaska Villages, Anchorage Daily News, Mar. 27 The changing climate is leading to health concerns in some Alaskan villages. In the Chukchi Sea village of Kivalina, beavers have colonized the Wulik River, the main source of fresh water for the Inupiat Eskimo villagers. This is a concern as beaver feces…
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Earth Hour: Making it Count
The past Saturday 26 of March, people in 131 countries switched off their lights for an hour at 8:30pm local time to celebrate Earth Hour as a way to express their concern about the planet. Major iconic buildings and landmarks went dark, including the Empire State Building in NYC, the Beijing National Stadium (The Bird’s Nest),…
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Fracking: What Lies Beneath?
Disclaimer: Although this blog post has been researched like any other news piece I would write, it represents my personal perspective about natural gas drilling. For a journalist, it feels strange to begin with a disclaimer, but that’s what I’ll do here. The reason is simple: This blog post is skewed. Why? because, if the…
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Haiti’s Charcoal Challenge
Three Columbia University graduate students recently spent a week in Haiti trying to understand the nuances of the charcoal production process. The study site was in the Port-à-Piment watershed of the South Department where local people are on the front lines of climate, agricultural, and water challenges.
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“
