State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Water53

  • Could East River Tides Help Power NYC?

    Could East River Tides Help Power NYC?

    Typically, discussions about hydropower center around hydroelectric dams and ocean wind turbines. That could change, however, if Verdant Power – an energy company based out of New York – succeeds in its latest venture.

  • Protecting Our Waterways: The Waterkeeper Alliance

    Protecting Our Waterways: The Waterkeeper Alliance

    At any given time, there are dedicated environmentalists around the U.S. working to protect our waterways.These “keepers” are all members of the Waterkeeper Alliance (WKA), an organization of over 200 keepers globally, defending their communities’ rights to clean water.

  • Floods and Coal – The Water-Energy Nexus Redux

    Floods and Coal – The Water-Energy Nexus Redux

    Beyond the human toll, the floods in Australia have other repercussions, the most notable being the effect on the global coal market. According to Reuters, “Australia’s $50 billion coal export industry has been brought to a virtual standstill”.

  • Helping Water Work for Women in Mali

    Helping Water Work for Women in Mali

    Last month I went to visit our Mali project site with two other Water Center staffers. We visited the village and garden where we worked last year (Koila Markala and Tibibas, respectively) and many other gardens where we hope to work in the future.

  • E.P.A. Sued for Trying to Protect the Environment

    E.P.A. Sued for Trying to Protect the Environment

    Early last month, Florida sued the US Environmental Protection Agency in an effort to block new clean water regulations that the agency announced last month and which it plans to begin enforcing in 2012.

  • Fluoridation of Water: Communist Conspiracy, Genuine Threat or Both?

    Fluoridation of Water: Communist Conspiracy, Genuine Threat or Both?

    Who can forget the scene from Kubrick’s classic movie Dr. Strangelove of screws-loose General Jack D. Ripper pontificating to straight-laced British group captain Lionel Mandrake about the dangers of fluoride in water…

  • At AGU, Earth Institute’s Columbia Water Center Adds to the Abundance of Scientific Riches

    At AGU, Earth Institute’s Columbia Water Center Adds to the Abundance of Scientific Riches

    The annual American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting is an all-you-can-eat buffet of the most current scientific knowledge available on the planet. Name your pleasure: space, climate change, geomagnetism, nonlinear geophysics, volcanology, biogeosciences, etc. You have to be careful to indulge in moderation over the five-day event, or risk unseemly bloating. The Columbia Water Center contributed…

  • A Milestone Worthy of a Party: the Municipal Water Plan in Brazil

    A Milestone Worthy of a Party: the Municipal Water Plan in Brazil

    I recently returned from a trip to visit our project site in Ceará, Brazil. While our project has included infrastructure construction, the heart of our work is a municipal water plan (PAM) for Milhã, an area in the central region of the state.

  • GE Agrees to Phase 2 of Hudson River Cleanup

    GE Agrees to Phase 2 of Hudson River Cleanup

    Today the General Electric Company (GE) notified the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it will conduct Phase 2 of the Hudson River cleanup operation and pay for it.

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

  • Could East River Tides Help Power NYC?

    Could East River Tides Help Power NYC?

    Typically, discussions about hydropower center around hydroelectric dams and ocean wind turbines. That could change, however, if Verdant Power – an energy company based out of New York – succeeds in its latest venture.

  • Protecting Our Waterways: The Waterkeeper Alliance

    Protecting Our Waterways: The Waterkeeper Alliance

    At any given time, there are dedicated environmentalists around the U.S. working to protect our waterways.These “keepers” are all members of the Waterkeeper Alliance (WKA), an organization of over 200 keepers globally, defending their communities’ rights to clean water.

  • Floods and Coal – The Water-Energy Nexus Redux

    Floods and Coal – The Water-Energy Nexus Redux

    Beyond the human toll, the floods in Australia have other repercussions, the most notable being the effect on the global coal market. According to Reuters, “Australia’s $50 billion coal export industry has been brought to a virtual standstill”.

  • Helping Water Work for Women in Mali

    Helping Water Work for Women in Mali

    Last month I went to visit our Mali project site with two other Water Center staffers. We visited the village and garden where we worked last year (Koila Markala and Tibibas, respectively) and many other gardens where we hope to work in the future.

  • E.P.A. Sued for Trying to Protect the Environment

    E.P.A. Sued for Trying to Protect the Environment

    Early last month, Florida sued the US Environmental Protection Agency in an effort to block new clean water regulations that the agency announced last month and which it plans to begin enforcing in 2012.

  • Fluoridation of Water: Communist Conspiracy, Genuine Threat or Both?

    Fluoridation of Water: Communist Conspiracy, Genuine Threat or Both?

    Who can forget the scene from Kubrick’s classic movie Dr. Strangelove of screws-loose General Jack D. Ripper pontificating to straight-laced British group captain Lionel Mandrake about the dangers of fluoride in water…

  • At AGU, Earth Institute’s Columbia Water Center Adds to the Abundance of Scientific Riches

    At AGU, Earth Institute’s Columbia Water Center Adds to the Abundance of Scientific Riches

    The annual American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting is an all-you-can-eat buffet of the most current scientific knowledge available on the planet. Name your pleasure: space, climate change, geomagnetism, nonlinear geophysics, volcanology, biogeosciences, etc. You have to be careful to indulge in moderation over the five-day event, or risk unseemly bloating. The Columbia Water Center contributed…

  • A Milestone Worthy of a Party: the Municipal Water Plan in Brazil

    A Milestone Worthy of a Party: the Municipal Water Plan in Brazil

    I recently returned from a trip to visit our project site in Ceará, Brazil. While our project has included infrastructure construction, the heart of our work is a municipal water plan (PAM) for Milhã, an area in the central region of the state.

  • GE Agrees to Phase 2 of Hudson River Cleanup

    GE Agrees to Phase 2 of Hudson River Cleanup

    Today the General Electric Company (GE) notified the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it will conduct Phase 2 of the Hudson River cleanup operation and pay for it.