Posts
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Fixing Climate: Beyond Carbon Dioxide
Climate scientists at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science this week were elated to hear that the United States and five other countries had agreed to work toward cutting pollutants other than carbon dioxide thought to cause about a third of current human-influenced global warming. After all, many of them…
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The Economic Invisibility of Nature
In a talk at the TEDGlobal conference in July 2011, Pavan Sukhdev, CEO and founder of environmental consultation firm GIST Advisory, urges us to protect the coral reefs, as they are in serious danger of extinction. In his talk, Sukhdev invokes the “economic invisibility of nature” to describe the value of biodiversity and ecosystems services.
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Climate Services: Science=Credibility
It’s terribly important that those who provide climate services are backed up by science and most importantly, link with and understand the problems of the user community. – says John Zillman, former president of the World Meteorological Organization, in the fourth in a series of video interviews.
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Energy Efficiency: A Great (But Dull) Way to Save
Cutting energy use in a home or small business can save consumers plenty of money, so how come more private citizens aren’t doing it? Speakers at an Earth Institute-sponsored panel said in part it’s because the information people need is not accessible enough.
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A Climate Tipping Point for World Food Prices?
Increased growing-season heat due to climate change in coming decades could push staple U.S. crops off a cliff, and cause world food prices to jump, a Columbia University economist told a press briefing at a top scientific meeting this week. In a panel organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, economist Wolfram…
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Can Intensive Farming Save Tropical Forests?
With 7 billion people on the planet and some 40 percent of earth’s land surface already covered with croplands and pastures, the only remaining frontiers for agricultural expansion are dwindling tropical forests. Some see high-yield industrial-scale farming as a way to take the pressure off; the theory goes that if more produce can be grown…
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Collaborating on Policy and Practice with Garry Conille, Prime Minister of Haiti
The Earth Institute welcomed Prime Minister Garry Conille of Haiti on Dec. 2 for a day of policy discussions and a seminar with the students of the Master’s in Public Affairs Development Practice program at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.
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Did the Oceans Influence Human Evolution?
Scientists often invoke climate as a possible factor in human evolution; but only recently have they developed the ability to get enough information about past climates and related fossil evidence to see any details. A half-dozen leading paleontologists and climate scientists discussed recent advances in a symposium this week at the annual meeting of the…
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U.S., 5 Nations to Cut Methane, Soot Emissions
The United States and five other countries agreed this week to fund an effort to cut emissions of methane, soot and other pollutants to start to slow the rate of human-induced climate change.
