State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Water55

  • ‘Small is Also Beautiful’ – Appropriate Technology Cuts Rice Farmers’ Water Use by 30 Percent in Punjab, India

    ‘Small is Also Beautiful’ – Appropriate Technology Cuts Rice Farmers’ Water Use by 30 Percent in Punjab, India

    Since the 1960s, farmers in Punjab, India have practiced some of the most intensive broad scale grain production in the world. As a result, the state has earned the nickname “the food bowl of India” for its out sized role in adopting and implementing Green Revolution technologies that in the last decades of the 20th…

  • Parched for Peace: A Miniseries on the Mideast Water Crisis

    Parched for Peace: A Miniseries on the Mideast Water Crisis

    For a vast majority of the past fifty years, oil and its abundance defined the Middle East. In coming years, however, that part of the world may well be defined by the dearth of a different natural resource: water.

  • Is Groundwater Depletion Causing Sea-level Rise?

    Is Groundwater Depletion Causing Sea-level Rise?

    A recent study from Yoshihide Wada and other researchers from Utrecht University attempted to assess the status of global groundwater depletion—that is, the amount of water that is being drawn out from underground reservoirs that is not being replaced by precipitation—and came up with some startling conclusions. Chief among them that depletion of groundwater may…

  • Drugs in Our Drinking Water: An Update

    Drugs in Our Drinking Water: An Update

    The 2008 Associated Press report that drugs had been found in the drinking water supplies of 41 million Americans was alarming. What is the state of pharmaceuticals in our water today?

  • Risky Business 2: Municipal Bonds?

    Risky Business 2: Municipal Bonds?

    According to a recently released report, municipal bonds, which finance a large portion of the nation’s water utilities and infrastructure, may not carry ratings that reflect the growing pool of risk surrounding the nation’s water supply.

  • Columbia Engineers an Impact on Water Sustainability

    Columbia Engineers an Impact on Water Sustainability

    The most recent issue of the Columbia Engineering Magazine profiles many of the Columbia University Engineering faculty who are addressing the issues of sustainability in the water, climate and energy fields. Several of Columbia Water Center’s researchers and collaborators were featured. Here are some teasers that demonstrate the depth and breadth of the talent at…

  • Can We Have Our Water and Drink It, Too? Exploring the Water Quality-Quantity Nexus

    Can We Have Our Water and Drink It, Too? Exploring the Water Quality-Quantity Nexus

    Water quantity and quality have generally been considered as separate problems and have usually been treated as such in policy-making and environmental restoration efforts. Increasingly, however, research and experience is beginning to show a strong link between water quantity and quality.

  • A Year of Progress Toward a Sustainable Earth

    A Year of Progress Toward a Sustainable Earth

    The Earth Institute’s annual donor report is now available in an interactive digital format. We remain committed to finding extraordinary solutions to unprecedented world challenges, and this report highlights some of our innovative projects in research, policy and education, and the partnerships that are helping to support them.

  • ‘Troubled Waters’ Wreaking Havoc, from Minnesota to Mexico

    ‘Troubled Waters’ Wreaking Havoc, from Minnesota to Mexico

    On October 5th, ‘Troubled Waters’, a documentary produced by the University of Minnesota’s Bell Museum, was screened for the first time on the U’s main campus in St. Paul.

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

  • ‘Small is Also Beautiful’ – Appropriate Technology Cuts Rice Farmers’ Water Use by 30 Percent in Punjab, India

    ‘Small is Also Beautiful’ – Appropriate Technology Cuts Rice Farmers’ Water Use by 30 Percent in Punjab, India

    Since the 1960s, farmers in Punjab, India have practiced some of the most intensive broad scale grain production in the world. As a result, the state has earned the nickname “the food bowl of India” for its out sized role in adopting and implementing Green Revolution technologies that in the last decades of the 20th…

  • Parched for Peace: A Miniseries on the Mideast Water Crisis

    Parched for Peace: A Miniseries on the Mideast Water Crisis

    For a vast majority of the past fifty years, oil and its abundance defined the Middle East. In coming years, however, that part of the world may well be defined by the dearth of a different natural resource: water.

  • Is Groundwater Depletion Causing Sea-level Rise?

    Is Groundwater Depletion Causing Sea-level Rise?

    A recent study from Yoshihide Wada and other researchers from Utrecht University attempted to assess the status of global groundwater depletion—that is, the amount of water that is being drawn out from underground reservoirs that is not being replaced by precipitation—and came up with some startling conclusions. Chief among them that depletion of groundwater may…

  • Drugs in Our Drinking Water: An Update

    Drugs in Our Drinking Water: An Update

    The 2008 Associated Press report that drugs had been found in the drinking water supplies of 41 million Americans was alarming. What is the state of pharmaceuticals in our water today?

  • Risky Business 2: Municipal Bonds?

    Risky Business 2: Municipal Bonds?

    According to a recently released report, municipal bonds, which finance a large portion of the nation’s water utilities and infrastructure, may not carry ratings that reflect the growing pool of risk surrounding the nation’s water supply.

  • Columbia Engineers an Impact on Water Sustainability

    Columbia Engineers an Impact on Water Sustainability

    The most recent issue of the Columbia Engineering Magazine profiles many of the Columbia University Engineering faculty who are addressing the issues of sustainability in the water, climate and energy fields. Several of Columbia Water Center’s researchers and collaborators were featured. Here are some teasers that demonstrate the depth and breadth of the talent at…

  • Can We Have Our Water and Drink It, Too? Exploring the Water Quality-Quantity Nexus

    Can We Have Our Water and Drink It, Too? Exploring the Water Quality-Quantity Nexus

    Water quantity and quality have generally been considered as separate problems and have usually been treated as such in policy-making and environmental restoration efforts. Increasingly, however, research and experience is beginning to show a strong link between water quantity and quality.

  • A Year of Progress Toward a Sustainable Earth

    A Year of Progress Toward a Sustainable Earth

    The Earth Institute’s annual donor report is now available in an interactive digital format. We remain committed to finding extraordinary solutions to unprecedented world challenges, and this report highlights some of our innovative projects in research, policy and education, and the partnerships that are helping to support them.

  • ‘Troubled Waters’ Wreaking Havoc, from Minnesota to Mexico

    ‘Troubled Waters’ Wreaking Havoc, from Minnesota to Mexico

    On October 5th, ‘Troubled Waters’, a documentary produced by the University of Minnesota’s Bell Museum, was screened for the first time on the U’s main campus in St. Paul.