Water73
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Water – a Human Right?
In the world, over one billion people live without access to clean water resources. These people have extremely large death rates to completely preventable, waterborne illnesses. It is estimated that over two million people die every year from preventable waterborne diseases, and a large percentage of those people are children under the age of five.…
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Gridlock in Everglades Land Deal
For many who have been following the saga of the Everglades of South Florida, it seemed that restoration and conservation plans formed during the last decade were only getting more complicated and mired in bureaucracy. That is, until Gov. Charlie Crist stepped up to the plate to make a game-changing proposition to buy back land…
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Punjab: Less Water, More Money (Part 2)
Last week, I began the story of declining groundwater tables in India. I talked about the current system of subsidized energy, the need to change it, and the willingness of farmers to adapt to such changes. Even before changing the irrigation in the crop’s lifecycle, however, an initial step that farmers can take starts with…
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Let’s Discuss Our Water Sources: Impacts of Natural Gas Extraction Along the Upper Delaware
In public debate about the future of America’s energy policy, the Northeast region is in contention regarding gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale field. With this project, we focused on the Marcellus Shale gas extraction along the Upper Delaware, in the Town of Hancock. The process of extraction includes potential environmental hazards and while contentious,…
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Punjab: Less Water, More Money (Part 1)
In an earlier blog, I highlighted the story of declining groundwater in many parts of India. This story is one of agricultural intensification and widespread groundwater pumping, facilitated by highly subsidized or free electricity. As the Government of India sought food security for the nation, it promoted the procurement of rice and wheat from the…
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Food Security Under Climate Change
In 2008 the world faced one of its most severe food crises in recent history. Around the world riots broke out in otherwise food-secure nations — places like Egypt, Russia, Mexico, and Brazil. The world’s governments responded — a major U.N. conference was held in Geneva. What they discussed there was the fundamental issue of…
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Water Reflections: Crisis of water supplies in New Delhi, India
Written in collaboration with Meghna Bhattacharjee. Failed monsoon rains put a cloud over the Columbia Water Center’s journey to India this summer. Soaring temperatures hitting 40 degrees Celsius with 100% humidity made for a hazy sweltering experience which begged for some precipitous relief. As we traveled around New Delhi from air-conditioned cars to air-conditioned rooms,…
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Water/commodity series (4)Corn feed consumption: China, US, and India
Among various uses of corn, the three major uses—food, animal feed, and biofuel production—compete in demand. Here we analyzed the percentage of corn for animal feed compared to total domestic consumption of corn (including feed, food, seed, and industrial uses) in US, China, and India.
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Water/commodity series (3)Wheat import/export
We found top three importers and exporters of wheat in 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2008.
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“