State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Poverty / Development33

  • Somali Drought; Harbinger of Hard Times

    Somali Drought; Harbinger of Hard Times

    For all its problems, Southern California has been a wonderful home for a lot of people over the past 100 or so years. It has nice beaches, good roads, plenty of places to eat, and, for now, a reliable supply of drinking water. Now imagine the L.A. riots had spread across the entire region, plunging…

  • Lurking Under Bangladesh: The Next Great Earthquake?

    Lurking Under Bangladesh: The Next Great Earthquake?

    Beneath Bangladesh: The Next Great Earthquake? from Earth Institute on Vimeo. After the recent great quakes that have swept away entire coastlines and cities in Japan, Haiti and Sumatra, scientists are now looking hard at the nation that may suffer the gravest threat of all: Bangladesh. A new documentary from the Earth Institute follows seismologists as they trace signs of…

  • Clean Water for Fiji

    Clean Water for Fiji

    Corporate giant Fiji Water makes millions of dollars every year selling bottled water, but only 47 percent of Fiji Islanders have access to clean drinking water. That may change.

  • Climate Information Crucial to Help Reduce Disaster Risk

    Climate Information Crucial to Help Reduce Disaster Risk

    Forecasts can play an invaluable role in helping humanitarian agencies and governments plan for and prevent disasters, according to a new report published by Earth Institute’s IRI and its international partners.

  • How Far Can a Bicycle Take You in Uganda?

    How Far Can a Bicycle Take You in Uganda?

    In rural Uganda a bicycle is the key to many destinations.  It can take you to be an entrepreneur offering delivery and taxi services, it can also increase the revenue from the crops since you will be able to transport your “Matoke” bananas to the nearest town and boost the price. A bicycle here means…

  • 17th Annual International Sustainable Development Research Conference

    17th Annual International Sustainable Development Research Conference

    “We have in the world today two dangerously different views of the future,” the view of natural scientists and the view of economists, says Lester Brown, founder of the Earth Policy Institute and a keynote speaker at the 17th annual International Sustainable Development Conference.

  • Can Water Scarcity Bring Down a Government? Yemen Spirals Out of Control

    Can Water Scarcity Bring Down a Government? Yemen Spirals Out of Control

    According to The New York Times, Yemen, a nation of 24 million people that sits at the southern and southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is “on the brink of an economic collapse so dire it could take years to recover.”

  • The Uncertainties of Groundwater and Climate in India: An Interview with Chandra Kiran Krishnamurthy

    The Uncertainties of Groundwater and Climate in India: An Interview with Chandra Kiran Krishnamurthy

    Since he arrived at the Columbia Water Center at its founding in 2008, Chandra Kiran Krishnamurthy has been unswervingly focused on two questions. First, how will groundwater depletion and climate change affect agriculture in India? And given the dire nature of the crisis, what can we do to help people adapt?

  • Hitting the Green in Cuba–Again

    Hitting the Green in Cuba–Again

    In a somewhat distressing development, the New York Times reports that the Cuban golf industry will soon be back in business after a 50-year hiatus that started when Fidel Castro first came to power.

  • Somali Drought; Harbinger of Hard Times

    Somali Drought; Harbinger of Hard Times

    For all its problems, Southern California has been a wonderful home for a lot of people over the past 100 or so years. It has nice beaches, good roads, plenty of places to eat, and, for now, a reliable supply of drinking water. Now imagine the L.A. riots had spread across the entire region, plunging…

  • Lurking Under Bangladesh: The Next Great Earthquake?

    Lurking Under Bangladesh: The Next Great Earthquake?

    Beneath Bangladesh: The Next Great Earthquake? from Earth Institute on Vimeo. After the recent great quakes that have swept away entire coastlines and cities in Japan, Haiti and Sumatra, scientists are now looking hard at the nation that may suffer the gravest threat of all: Bangladesh. A new documentary from the Earth Institute follows seismologists as they trace signs of…

  • Clean Water for Fiji

    Clean Water for Fiji

    Corporate giant Fiji Water makes millions of dollars every year selling bottled water, but only 47 percent of Fiji Islanders have access to clean drinking water. That may change.

  • Climate Information Crucial to Help Reduce Disaster Risk

    Climate Information Crucial to Help Reduce Disaster Risk

    Forecasts can play an invaluable role in helping humanitarian agencies and governments plan for and prevent disasters, according to a new report published by Earth Institute’s IRI and its international partners.

  • How Far Can a Bicycle Take You in Uganda?

    How Far Can a Bicycle Take You in Uganda?

    In rural Uganda a bicycle is the key to many destinations.  It can take you to be an entrepreneur offering delivery and taxi services, it can also increase the revenue from the crops since you will be able to transport your “Matoke” bananas to the nearest town and boost the price. A bicycle here means…

  • 17th Annual International Sustainable Development Research Conference

    17th Annual International Sustainable Development Research Conference

    “We have in the world today two dangerously different views of the future,” the view of natural scientists and the view of economists, says Lester Brown, founder of the Earth Policy Institute and a keynote speaker at the 17th annual International Sustainable Development Conference.

  • Can Water Scarcity Bring Down a Government? Yemen Spirals Out of Control

    Can Water Scarcity Bring Down a Government? Yemen Spirals Out of Control

    According to The New York Times, Yemen, a nation of 24 million people that sits at the southern and southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is “on the brink of an economic collapse so dire it could take years to recover.”

  • The Uncertainties of Groundwater and Climate in India: An Interview with Chandra Kiran Krishnamurthy

    The Uncertainties of Groundwater and Climate in India: An Interview with Chandra Kiran Krishnamurthy

    Since he arrived at the Columbia Water Center at its founding in 2008, Chandra Kiran Krishnamurthy has been unswervingly focused on two questions. First, how will groundwater depletion and climate change affect agriculture in India? And given the dire nature of the crisis, what can we do to help people adapt?

  • Hitting the Green in Cuba–Again

    Hitting the Green in Cuba–Again

    In a somewhat distressing development, the New York Times reports that the Cuban golf industry will soon be back in business after a 50-year hiatus that started when Fidel Castro first came to power.