State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Water18

  • How to Wrap Your Head Around Dead Sea Rehabilitation

    How to Wrap Your Head Around Dead Sea Rehabilitation

    The Dead Sea has been receding at an average rate of 1 meter per year. How can this important historic, cultural and environmental landmark be rehabilitated in one of the world’s driest regions while improving water access for Israel, Palestine and Jordan?

  • New Rules to Hold Mining Industry Accountable for Cleanups

    New Rules to Hold Mining Industry Accountable for Cleanups

    A federal court has ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ensure that mining companies provide financial assurance that they can pay for any harm to the environment from their operations.

  • Report Assesses Risks to World’s Shared River Basins

    Report Assesses Risks to World’s Shared River Basins

    Risks for the world’s Transboundary River Basins are projected to increase in the next 15–30 years, particularly in four hotspot regions: the Middle East, Central Asia, the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin, and the Orange and Limpopo basins in Southern Africa.

  • Project Calculates the Cost of Social Conflict

    Project Calculates the Cost of Social Conflict

    The Columbia Water Center is undertaking a three-year project to quantitatively assess mining-related water and environmental risks and their financial implications.

  • When Environmental Oversight Takes a Back Seat

    When Environmental Oversight Takes a Back Seat

    The government of Peru faces significant pressure to encourage growth and investment in the mining sector, but this has also put pressure on the government’s ability to properly assess environmental impacts.

  • The Importance of New York City’s Water Infrastructure

    New York City has a magnificent system of water supply. It is an example of farsighted long-term leadership and investment without which the modern city of New York could never have been built.

  • Report Charges ‘Nepotism and Neglect’ on Bangladesh Arsenic Poisoning

    Report Charges ‘Nepotism and Neglect’ on Bangladesh Arsenic Poisoning

    Two decades after arsenic was found to be contaminating drinking water across Bangladesh, tens of millions of people are still exposed to the deadly chemical. Now a new report from the group Human Rights Watch charges that the Bangladesh government “is failing to adequately respond” to the issue, and that political favoritism and neglect have…

  • Californians Are Ready for Recycled Water

    Californians Are Ready for Recycled Water

    Water reuse is a proven technology that can produce a drought-proof sustainable water supply. Yet historically, there has been some reluctance to adopt it here in the United States. Xylem commissioned a poll to try to better understand perceptions about recycled water in drought-stricken California. And the findings were eye-opening.

  • Drought in Papua New Guinea Heightens Tensions over Gold Mine

    Drought in Papua New Guinea Heightens Tensions over Gold Mine

    In the highlands of Papua New Guinea, tensions between local villagers and a gold mining operation over access to clean water are being heightened by a prolonged drought.

  • How to Wrap Your Head Around Dead Sea Rehabilitation

    How to Wrap Your Head Around Dead Sea Rehabilitation

    The Dead Sea has been receding at an average rate of 1 meter per year. How can this important historic, cultural and environmental landmark be rehabilitated in one of the world’s driest regions while improving water access for Israel, Palestine and Jordan?

  • New Rules to Hold Mining Industry Accountable for Cleanups

    New Rules to Hold Mining Industry Accountable for Cleanups

    A federal court has ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ensure that mining companies provide financial assurance that they can pay for any harm to the environment from their operations.

  • Report Assesses Risks to World’s Shared River Basins

    Report Assesses Risks to World’s Shared River Basins

    Risks for the world’s Transboundary River Basins are projected to increase in the next 15–30 years, particularly in four hotspot regions: the Middle East, Central Asia, the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin, and the Orange and Limpopo basins in Southern Africa.

  • Project Calculates the Cost of Social Conflict

    Project Calculates the Cost of Social Conflict

    The Columbia Water Center is undertaking a three-year project to quantitatively assess mining-related water and environmental risks and their financial implications.

  • When Environmental Oversight Takes a Back Seat

    When Environmental Oversight Takes a Back Seat

    The government of Peru faces significant pressure to encourage growth and investment in the mining sector, but this has also put pressure on the government’s ability to properly assess environmental impacts.

  • The Importance of New York City’s Water Infrastructure

    New York City has a magnificent system of water supply. It is an example of farsighted long-term leadership and investment without which the modern city of New York could never have been built.

  • Report Charges ‘Nepotism and Neglect’ on Bangladesh Arsenic Poisoning

    Report Charges ‘Nepotism and Neglect’ on Bangladesh Arsenic Poisoning

    Two decades after arsenic was found to be contaminating drinking water across Bangladesh, tens of millions of people are still exposed to the deadly chemical. Now a new report from the group Human Rights Watch charges that the Bangladesh government “is failing to adequately respond” to the issue, and that political favoritism and neglect have…

  • Californians Are Ready for Recycled Water

    Californians Are Ready for Recycled Water

    Water reuse is a proven technology that can produce a drought-proof sustainable water supply. Yet historically, there has been some reluctance to adopt it here in the United States. Xylem commissioned a poll to try to better understand perceptions about recycled water in drought-stricken California. And the findings were eye-opening.

  • Drought in Papua New Guinea Heightens Tensions over Gold Mine

    Drought in Papua New Guinea Heightens Tensions over Gold Mine

    In the highlands of Papua New Guinea, tensions between local villagers and a gold mining operation over access to clean water are being heightened by a prolonged drought.