Water43
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Western Water Woes – Is Big Infrastructure the Way to Go?
Guest Blog by Michael Clark Pat Mulroy, the general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, spoke on July 20 at a US Chamber of Commerce conference, as part of its Invest in Water Initiative, and proposed a bold idea: build a pipeline to divert Mississippi River flood waters to the West. This, she said,…
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Walking the Tightrope of Groundwater Management
As climate changes and supplying water becomes more challenging, one company says it has a better management strategy.
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Removing Dams and Restoring Rivers
On Sept. 17, 2011, the removal of two large hydroelectric dams on the Elwha River in Washington State, which have blocked migrating salmon from reaching their spawning grounds for almost 100 years, will begin. While this is the largest dam removal project in U.S. history, it is just one of several major dam removals planned…
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Hydraulic Fracturing: Resources for Journalists
(Updated Feb. 12, 2019) Earth Institute scientists can offer a wide range of expertise to journalists covering natural-gas production using hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking). This includes basics of energy exploration and extraction; rock mechanics; contaminants in underground water; manmade earthquakes; and economic/political questions surrounding the practice. Here is a brief guide. (Click on hyperlinks for individual…
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Mountaintop Removal: Laying Waste to Streams and Forests
Mountaintop removal mining, an environmentally devastating form of coal mining that involves blowing off the tops of mountains, has already leveled over 500 mountains and buried 1,200 miles of streams in the Appalachians.
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Sewage Still Plagues Hudson River
People are swimming in the Hudson again, and while clumps of sewage rarely float by anymore, the water is not reliably clean, says a report released this week from the environmental group Riverkeeper. Four years of testing by Riverkeeper and Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, show recurring hot spots, especially after rain, when overwhelmed sewers divert…
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Canadian Boreal: Protecting Today’s Water for Tomorrow
Canada’s Boreal forest is far from the public eye, but it contains 25 percent of the world’s wetlands.
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The Less Thirsty Cars of the Future
Good news for clean air and water: President Obama unveiled an agreement last week to raise the bar on fuel economy by 2025.
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The Role of Drought in the Horn of Africa Famine
Let’s get this out of the way. The current famine in the Horn of Africa isn’t caused by drought. Rather, a complex mix of societal and political factors created a dangerous situation. The worst drought in 60 years (pdf) is what pushed that situation over the edge into a humanitarian crisis. However, just as these…
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“
