Posts
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The Role of Drought in the Horn of Africa Famine
Let’s get this out of the way. The current famine in the Horn of Africa isn’t caused by drought. Rather, a complex mix of societal and political factors created a dangerous situation. The worst drought in 60 years (pdf) is what pushed that situation over the edge into a humanitarian crisis. However, just as these…
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Swimming in Data Offshore Alaska
Although we still have ~3 days of data collection aboard the R/V Langseth to go before we pull in our equipment and head for port, we are already drowning in beautiful seismic data. Following each pulse from the air gun array, the two 8-km-long streamers listen for returning sound waves for 22 seconds. This is…
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Climate News Roundup: Week of 7/18 and 7/25
Sizzle Factor for a Restless Climate, NY Times, July 19 In the context of the recent East coast heat wave, NOAA’s recent finding that the last 10 years was 1.5 degrees higher than in the 1970s is particularly palpable. If trends continue, the number of days that exceed 95 degrees is expected to triple by…
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Maintaining the Superiority of NYC’s Drinking Water
New York City is world-renowned for its clean and delicious drinking water. The NYC watershed delivers roughly 1.2 billion gallons of unfiltered water each day to 9 million New Yorkers. But in 2013, the Croton Water Filtration Plant, currently under construction in the Bronx, will begin filtering 1.2 million cubic meters or 10% of New…
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Ultrasound Trainings Improve Maternal and Newborn Care at Kumasi Hospitals
Maternal and neonatal mortality rates remain high across the Millennium Cities and throughout much of the developing world. All the more reason why we’re excited about the second in a series of ultrasound trainings and screenings in Kumasi, Ghana, led by the London-based International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology (ISUOG), MCI’s partner, which…
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ConEdison Renews Corporate Circle Membership
The Earth Institute is pleased to announce that Con Edison has renewed its membership as a Sustaining Member of the Corporate Circle. Through their generous gift of $25,000, Con Edison will continue to support The Earth Institute in its central goals of mobilizing the sciences, education and public policy to achieve environmental and economic sustainability…
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Throught-Provoking Words from Dr. Robert Pollack
For the past year we have posted the observations of our students as they work with patients and physicians at the Terrance Cardinal Cooke Hospital, a palliative hospital for people who are facing death in the coming days, weeks or months. These essays are powerful evidence for the importance of the CSSR’s working assumption that…
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Following Footsteps, Venturing Forward
During Summer of 2011, CSSR interns Huili Zhu and Ashley Shaw, undergraduates at Columbia Engineering ’12 and Columbia College ’13, respectively, will be following Raphy Rosen’s footsteps. They will devote time, thought, and new ideas to palliative care research at Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center… Please visit the CSSR websites for future updates: http://thecssr.wordpress.com/
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A Human Right to Water – Can it Make a Difference?
Despite the UN’s 2010 resolution on the human right to water, debate continues over how useful a rights approach really is. Even if we identify water as a human right, where the state is the principal duty-bearer, will it improve access to water for communities in need?
