The ramifications of climate change are often discussed in terms of rising sea levels, atmospheric changes, desertification, and worsening, more frequent natural disasters. Another impact of climate change could have immediate and disastrous effects on water availability both here in the US and abroad. Recent research increasingly suggests that the world’s major rivers are essentially…
Last week, NPR ran a two part story on water status in Punjab state in northern India. This is an area where the Columbia Water Center is doing a lot of work, and the article hit on several themes important to us, particularly the fact that current policies, while promoting food security, have had devastating…
Scientists warn that many cities around the world may soon face big climate-change challenges: rising seas; shrinking water supplies; killer summer heat waves; rises in water-borne diseases as temperatures go up and sewers are swamped. No one is predicting that, say, London or Miami will simply drop beneath the waves–but these and other cities will probably have to be redesigned if…
Tampa Bay is probably most known in the water community for having one of the largest desalinization plants in the nation, and is looked upon by many as the model to see if desal is a feasible alternative for the future. So far, the plant has been full of issues, such as costing $40 million…
A slot machine turning up three lemons is how Jeffrey Sachs described the global economic crisis at Haverford College last week. “Three ‘uns’: It is unstable, unfair, and unsustainable,” he said. “It’s the life-and-death struggle of the poor, and the plight of the planet.” “You are the answers,” he told the audience. “This crisis is…
Global Warming Could Worsen Newly Seen Pattern
Last night (Wednesday, April 15) the Water Center kicked off its conference on Water Security in India with a lecture and reception at the Asia Society in New York. Led by a formal talk given by Alok Sikka (see here for more information about Sikka and the other panelists), the evening addressed pressing water issues…
Okay, so you agree that CCS is part of a balanced climate stabilization portfolio. (Right? If not, sorry – I’ve been meaning to write that post for awhile.) Now what? How do we possibly store all of that gas safely, permanently, and legally? On April 21, the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy is co-sponsoring, with…
Be sure to check out the launch of Climate Change: Picturing the Science, to be hosted by the Columbia Climate Center tomorrow. The book, which the Earth Institute’s Kevin Krajick blogged about recently, features essays addressing the different aspects of climate change alongside stunning climate-related photographs. Here are the event details: Columbia Climate Center: Book…