Posts
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Greenhouse Gases Like Steroids for Extreme Weather
The fourth seminar in the Earth Institute’s Sustainable Development Seminar Series, “Ch Ch Ch Changes – recent trends in temperature extremes and hydroclimate,” brought together experts in the fields of climate change and hydrology to discuss emerging trends in global weather events.
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Phosphorus: Essential to Life—Are We Running Out?
Phosphorus is essential to human health and vital for food production. But are we using up phosphorus faster than we can economically extract it?
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A Library of Giant Landslides
A new method for detecting big landslides is allowing scientists to understand the dynamics of these elusive events almost instantly, without traipsing to remote mountains or scrambling up rugged peaks months, or even years, later. In a recent study in the journal Science, Göran Ekström and Colin Stark, geophysicists at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory,…
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Where’s My Seasonal Tornado Forecast?
Tornadoes, derechos and other violent storms can kill hundreds each year and cause billions in damages. How well can we predict them? How will climate change influence their occurrence? Experts from around the country discussed these issues at a recent workshop.
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Undergraduate Students Working Toward Sustainable Solutions
This spring, sustainable development seniors worked with clients on a range of projects aimed at combatting local and international challenges to sustainability, as part of the Capstone Workshop in Sustainable Development. Spring 2013 projects include the Department of Defense’s Net Zero Energy Initiative, Bike New York, the City as a Living Laboratory, and a Storm…
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I’ll Go on a Cross-Date if You Show Me Some Rings
Ever since I’ve started learning to cross-date tree core samples, I’ve learned I have a type. I prefer my tree cores to be black oaks, middle-aged, with some nice big rings to show me. Alright, fine, I can deal with some smaller rings every now and then. As long as they’re some nice marker rings.…
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Water Security: Finding Solutions for a World at Risk
“This is a mess, and it is a mess that we have not attended to yet,” Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs said at a conference on water security held today at Columbia University. “Humanity is the driver, but we don’t have our hands on the steering wheel very much.”
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Partnering to Expand Access to Water: PepsiCo and CWC Announce Achievement of Safe Water Goal
Earth Institute partner PepsiCo has achieved its stated goal of partnering with organizations, including the Columbia Water Center, to provide access to safe water to three million people in developing countries by the end of 2015.
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IRI to develop climate adaptation tools to help farmers in South and Southeast Asia
A new two-year climate change initiative, led by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society aims to help farmers in Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Bangladesh reduce their vulnerability to climate risks.
