Posts
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Tapping into Earth’s Secret History
In a study published last week, Lamont post-doctoral scholar Heather Ford and coauthors used 4 million-year-old fossils from the Pliocene to reconstruct the physical features of the Pacific Ocean that would have shaped the environment during a critical juncture in Earth history.
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Sustainable Shipping and EPA’s Truck Mileage Standards
The huge vertically integrated companies and large factory complexes of the 20th century have been replaced by the networked organization of the 21st. This enables more specialized and efficient production because the cost of shipping is low enough to be easily covered by the reduced costs of production. Shipping of finished products is also increasing…
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Climate Negotiations as a Realistic Fiction
In addition to what might be expected of a climate negotiations simulation, Make it Work enlisted the creative help of artists, actors and dancers to use stage work and meditative methods to improve the channels of communication.
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STARS Summit: Ramping up Sustainability at Columbia
Columbia University received a gold star rating as part of the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS), a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. In May 2015, the Office of Environmental Stewardship convened a meeting of the first ever Sustainability Summit, to take action on sustainability planning at…
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Forecast Sees a Stronger El Niño
El Niño is back, and it looks like it will be getting stronger. While it’s difficult to predict the impact precisely, El Niño can alter patterns of drought and rainfall around the world.
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The Road to Make It Work
Students throughout Columbia University were notified of a once-in-a-lifetime chance to attend a student simulation in anticipation of the upcoming United Nations Climate Conference in Paris. Two words jumped out at me immediately: climate and Paris.
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H. James Simpson; Tracked Pollutants in the Hudson and Far Beyond
H. James Simpson, a geochemist who pioneered important studies of water pollutants in the Hudson River and abroad, died May 10. He had been affiliated with Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory for 50 years. The cause was Parkinson’s disease, said his family; he was 72.
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The Right Wing’s Endless War on Environmental Regulation
The right wing attack on environmental regulation is a fundamental political mistake. Conservatives are correct in assuming that Americans mistrust big organizations and powerful institutions, but they should remember that the public counts on these powerful organizations to protect them.
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World’s Oldest Unused Stone Tools Found (So They Say)
Last week, it was announced that scientists had found the world’s oldest stone tools, in Kenya, dated at 3.3 million years. The precise dating of the tools was made possible by Chris Lepre and Dennis Kent of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, who used periodic reversals in earth’s magnetic field to nail the timing. Now, in a…
