State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Poverty / Development28

  • The W.K. Kellogg Foundation Contributes to the Port-à-Piment Millennium Village

    The W.K. Kellogg Foundation Contributes to the Port-à-Piment Millennium Village

    The Earth Institute has begun implementing an innovative project throughout the South Department of Haiti, and has added a new partner to this critical work, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The work includes the Côte Sud Initiative, covering all communes within the South Department, and the recent launch of the first Millennium Village in the Western…

  • Making Connections and Celebrating Literacy, City to City

    Making Connections and Celebrating Literacy, City to City

    Across sub-Saharan Africa, where MCI is working to help selected secondary cities attain the Millennium Development Goals, more than 150 million adults, or 38% of the adult population, lack basic literacy skills. Fortunately, a number of organizations are working hard to change this. LitWorld, a NY-based NGO dedicated to improving global literacy and a long-time…

  • 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.

  • Water, Water Everywhere, But Nary a Drop to Drink

    Water, Water Everywhere, But Nary a Drop to Drink

    It is a unique challenge of our generation that many in the developing world have cellular phones and TVs, but lack reliable access to water. Odd, perhaps, given that water is marketed as essential for life, a human right, and heart rending pictures of women and children walking miles to fetch water are routinely flashed…

  • Student ‘Aquanauts’ to Tackle Water Issues

    Student ‘Aquanauts’ to Tackle Water Issues

    “We would like to take on international problems, problems of development, problems in the United States, but have them done with academic content and interest. Instead of people being sent to random places, we would take engineering companies that have an interest in a particular region in solving a problem, and they would bring the…

  • Millennium Villages Shed Light on Water Security

    Millennium Villages Shed Light on Water Security

    Water is essential to human well-being and economic development. Today, however, water stress caused by inadequate farming practices, demographic pressure and pollution is creating unprecedented problems. Nowhere is this more visible than in the rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. As the world celebrates World Water Day on the 22nd of March to draw attention to…

  • The Sundarbans

    The Sundarbans

    After finally reaching the Mongla and our boat, we settled into our new home. It is a similar design, but much larger than the one we used in September. As we ate dinner and explored the ship, it started the overnight journey to the southeastern part of the Sundarbans where the wildlife is most plentiful.…

  • Rivers and the Road

    Rivers and the Road

    We spent a day on the islands (chars) in the Brahmaputra River seeing the geology and talking to the residents. Then after an evening of feasting and dancing in our new Saris and lungis, we hit the road for the trip to the Sundarbans.

  • Class Trip – to Bangladesh

    Class Trip – to Bangladesh

    To help my students in a class on hazards of Bangladesh better understand the country, I am taking them there to experience Bangladesh for themselves.

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

  • The W.K. Kellogg Foundation Contributes to the Port-à-Piment Millennium Village

    The W.K. Kellogg Foundation Contributes to the Port-à-Piment Millennium Village

    The Earth Institute has begun implementing an innovative project throughout the South Department of Haiti, and has added a new partner to this critical work, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The work includes the Côte Sud Initiative, covering all communes within the South Department, and the recent launch of the first Millennium Village in the Western…

  • Making Connections and Celebrating Literacy, City to City

    Making Connections and Celebrating Literacy, City to City

    Across sub-Saharan Africa, where MCI is working to help selected secondary cities attain the Millennium Development Goals, more than 150 million adults, or 38% of the adult population, lack basic literacy skills. Fortunately, a number of organizations are working hard to change this. LitWorld, a NY-based NGO dedicated to improving global literacy and a long-time…

  • 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.

  • Water, Water Everywhere, But Nary a Drop to Drink

    Water, Water Everywhere, But Nary a Drop to Drink

    It is a unique challenge of our generation that many in the developing world have cellular phones and TVs, but lack reliable access to water. Odd, perhaps, given that water is marketed as essential for life, a human right, and heart rending pictures of women and children walking miles to fetch water are routinely flashed…

  • Student ‘Aquanauts’ to Tackle Water Issues

    Student ‘Aquanauts’ to Tackle Water Issues

    “We would like to take on international problems, problems of development, problems in the United States, but have them done with academic content and interest. Instead of people being sent to random places, we would take engineering companies that have an interest in a particular region in solving a problem, and they would bring the…

  • Millennium Villages Shed Light on Water Security

    Millennium Villages Shed Light on Water Security

    Water is essential to human well-being and economic development. Today, however, water stress caused by inadequate farming practices, demographic pressure and pollution is creating unprecedented problems. Nowhere is this more visible than in the rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. As the world celebrates World Water Day on the 22nd of March to draw attention to…

  • The Sundarbans

    The Sundarbans

    After finally reaching the Mongla and our boat, we settled into our new home. It is a similar design, but much larger than the one we used in September. As we ate dinner and explored the ship, it started the overnight journey to the southeastern part of the Sundarbans where the wildlife is most plentiful.…

  • Rivers and the Road

    Rivers and the Road

    We spent a day on the islands (chars) in the Brahmaputra River seeing the geology and talking to the residents. Then after an evening of feasting and dancing in our new Saris and lungis, we hit the road for the trip to the Sundarbans.

  • Class Trip – to Bangladesh

    Class Trip – to Bangladesh

    To help my students in a class on hazards of Bangladesh better understand the country, I am taking them there to experience Bangladesh for themselves.