Posts
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Photo Essay: Studying Fracking’s Effects, Up Close and Personal
Ten years ago, hydraulic fracturing barely existed. Today 45,000 fracked wells produce natural gas, providing energy for millions of homes and businesses, and nearly a quarter of the nation’s electricity. But scientists are far behind in understanding how this boom affects people near wells. Geochemists Beizhan Yan and James Ross of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth…
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Learning from the Era of American Environmental Leadership
Earth Institute Executive Director Steve Cohen discusses what sustainability leaders can learn from American environmental leaders of the past through a new course taught at Columbia University by Leon G. Billings and Thomas C. Jorling, authors of the Clean Air Act.
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Faculty Profile: Robert Cook
For Robert Cook, an adjunct professor in the MPA in Environmental Science program, teaching allows him to share his unique experiences in veterinary medicine and conservation research with students as they delve into public policy legislation in the Workshop in Applied Earth Systems Management.
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How Much Arsenic is Too Little?
Five hundred utilities in the U.S. provide drinking water with unsafe levels of arsenic, the Environmental Protection Agency says. But how many people are getting too much arsenic in their water is much less clear, according to a study conducted in part by the Columbia Water Center.
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Erosion, Then Explosion
When viewing The Great Unconformity, The result of a vast denudation, One feels a new sense of enormity … And above it lie critters crustacean!
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Reduce, Reuse and Re-(bi)cycle
Audra Stark plans to pedal 300 miles from New York City to Washington, D.C., from Sept. 20-24 to raise money for The Earth Institute and other organizations working on the issues of climate, environment and transportation. “Too often I’ve found myself and others complaining about and debating an issue without taking action in our daily…
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MPA Students Explore Urban Parks
During the second half of the summer semester for Columbia University’s MPA class in Environmental Science and Policy program, the students extended their classroom learning on urban ecology to outdoor field trips in Brooklyn and the Bronx to focus on how restorations of wetlands, forests, and rivers are changing the city.
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The Energy to Fight Injustice
The enormity of these anti-nuclear policy decisions is difficult to exaggerate. Energy consumption is an inescapable requirement of development, and renewable energy sources alone cannot satisfy the energy demands of China and other developing nations. They now have no choice but to burn massive amounts of coal if they wish to raise their living standards.
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Faint Young Sun
Through an ancient looking-glass, Perhaps you’d see more H2 gas, And if with denser gas collided, Greater greenhouse warmth provided.
