State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Poverty / Development42

  • Reaching the Millennium Development Goals in the Millennium Villages and Beyond

    Reaching the Millennium Development Goals in the Millennium Villages and Beyond

    There are just five years left until the deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, eight ambitious objectives to tackle extreme poverty and its many dimensions and reach a more equitable and sustainable world by 2015. World leaders are gathering this month at the United Nations Summit on the Millennium Development Goals to see that…

  • Transforming Health in the Millennium Villages

    Transforming Health in the Millennium Villages

    If someone asked me what is the single most important thing that has caused these positive developments in health I would say the Community Health Worker (CHW) system. There are definitely other equally important program interventions in setting up health facilities, ensuring commodity security for health-related consumables, and providing equipment and staffing to optimize the…

  • Practice and Persevere: Neonatal Survival Workshops Aim to Reduce Infant Mortality in Ghana

    Practice and Persevere: Neonatal Survival Workshops Aim to Reduce Infant Mortality in Ghana

    With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has called on world leaders to attend a summit in New York on 20-22 September 2010 to accelerate progress towards the MDGs, aimed at slashing poverty, hunger, disease, maternal and child deaths and other…

  • Restoring Sight: My Work With the Himalayan Cataract Project in Ethiopia

    Restoring Sight: My Work With the Himalayan Cataract Project in Ethiopia

    A guest blog from Dr. Matt Oliva, an MD with the Himalayan Cataract Project. Blindness exerts an incredible toll in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, in terms of both human suffering and adverse economic impact. Due to environmental conditions, malnutrition and vitamin deficiency, ocular infections, trauma and lack of access to care, some of the…

  • Reusable, Homemade Feminine Pads: A Simple Intervention to Help Keep Girls in School

    Reusable, Homemade Feminine Pads: A Simple Intervention to Help Keep Girls in School

    In many areas of sub-Saharan Africa, gender parity tends to decline at higher levels of schooling. While girls’ enrollment and completion rates for primary school are typically high, these rates decrease with secondary and tertiary education. Girls may discontinue their studies to devote more time to household chores, to earn extra income by engaging in…

  • Phytoremediation: Can It Solve the Brownfield Problem?

    Phytoremediation: Can It Solve the Brownfield Problem?

    Brownfields, born from defunct industrial facilities, are a growing problem in the world today. Current cleanup techniques are invasive, expensive, energy dependent, and restrictive. Perhaps a better and more innovative solution to the problem is a form of bioremediation called phytoremediation.

  • H2O – “Help to Others”, A Youth Inspired Water Project

    H2O – “Help to Others”, A Youth Inspired Water Project

    Project H2O, Help to Others, is a documentary production about a group of high school students in Puerto Rico on an odyssey of learning about global water problems and how to be part of the solution, and much more.

  • Climate and the Border: Why Rising Temperatures Will Add Immigration Challenges

    Climate and the Border: Why Rising Temperatures Will Add Immigration Challenges

    When experts warn of the consequences of global climate change, they usually cite impacts on natural systems. They tell us that ice caps will melt, sea levels will rise, extreme weather will become more common, droughts will increase in frequency, oceans will become more acidic and so on. In recent years, we have also come…

  • Think Globally, Act Locally: Climate Adaptation in Action

    Think Globally, Act Locally: Climate Adaptation in Action

    Across Indonesia, several effective climate adaptation actions on local levels are underway. These actions serve as a reminder of the important change that starts with a community of dedicated individuals.

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

  • Reaching the Millennium Development Goals in the Millennium Villages and Beyond

    Reaching the Millennium Development Goals in the Millennium Villages and Beyond

    There are just five years left until the deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, eight ambitious objectives to tackle extreme poverty and its many dimensions and reach a more equitable and sustainable world by 2015. World leaders are gathering this month at the United Nations Summit on the Millennium Development Goals to see that…

  • Transforming Health in the Millennium Villages

    Transforming Health in the Millennium Villages

    If someone asked me what is the single most important thing that has caused these positive developments in health I would say the Community Health Worker (CHW) system. There are definitely other equally important program interventions in setting up health facilities, ensuring commodity security for health-related consumables, and providing equipment and staffing to optimize the…

  • Practice and Persevere: Neonatal Survival Workshops Aim to Reduce Infant Mortality in Ghana

    Practice and Persevere: Neonatal Survival Workshops Aim to Reduce Infant Mortality in Ghana

    With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has called on world leaders to attend a summit in New York on 20-22 September 2010 to accelerate progress towards the MDGs, aimed at slashing poverty, hunger, disease, maternal and child deaths and other…

  • Restoring Sight: My Work With the Himalayan Cataract Project in Ethiopia

    Restoring Sight: My Work With the Himalayan Cataract Project in Ethiopia

    A guest blog from Dr. Matt Oliva, an MD with the Himalayan Cataract Project. Blindness exerts an incredible toll in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, in terms of both human suffering and adverse economic impact. Due to environmental conditions, malnutrition and vitamin deficiency, ocular infections, trauma and lack of access to care, some of the…

  • Reusable, Homemade Feminine Pads: A Simple Intervention to Help Keep Girls in School

    Reusable, Homemade Feminine Pads: A Simple Intervention to Help Keep Girls in School

    In many areas of sub-Saharan Africa, gender parity tends to decline at higher levels of schooling. While girls’ enrollment and completion rates for primary school are typically high, these rates decrease with secondary and tertiary education. Girls may discontinue their studies to devote more time to household chores, to earn extra income by engaging in…

  • Phytoremediation: Can It Solve the Brownfield Problem?

    Phytoremediation: Can It Solve the Brownfield Problem?

    Brownfields, born from defunct industrial facilities, are a growing problem in the world today. Current cleanup techniques are invasive, expensive, energy dependent, and restrictive. Perhaps a better and more innovative solution to the problem is a form of bioremediation called phytoremediation.

  • H2O – “Help to Others”, A Youth Inspired Water Project

    H2O – “Help to Others”, A Youth Inspired Water Project

    Project H2O, Help to Others, is a documentary production about a group of high school students in Puerto Rico on an odyssey of learning about global water problems and how to be part of the solution, and much more.

  • Climate and the Border: Why Rising Temperatures Will Add Immigration Challenges

    Climate and the Border: Why Rising Temperatures Will Add Immigration Challenges

    When experts warn of the consequences of global climate change, they usually cite impacts on natural systems. They tell us that ice caps will melt, sea levels will rise, extreme weather will become more common, droughts will increase in frequency, oceans will become more acidic and so on. In recent years, we have also come…

  • Think Globally, Act Locally: Climate Adaptation in Action

    Think Globally, Act Locally: Climate Adaptation in Action

    Across Indonesia, several effective climate adaptation actions on local levels are underway. These actions serve as a reminder of the important change that starts with a community of dedicated individuals.