Wallace Broecker is a climate scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory who has helped shape our understanding of how the ocean moves heat around the globe, and how this so-called “great ocean conveyor” can switch the climate to a radically different state. Many scientists used to think that only periodic changes in earth’s orbit—so-called Milankovitch cycles–…
By Annabel Symington The Guarani Aquifer in South America is a huge underground reservoir that lies under Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil, covering an area of land the size of Texas and California combined.
Recently, the Obama administration has been getting harsh reviews from some environmentalists for its decision to open several new areas of the US to offshore drilling. Putting this admittedly odd decision aside though, the Thursday April 1 (April Fool’s Day) decision to roll out tough new water quality standards that could severely limit some of the most destructive…
NEW YORK, April 11 – The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and the Principality of Monaco have launched a new partnership with the Earth Institute, Columbia University that stands to make important new strides in protecting biodiversity and addressing the urgent needs of the rural poor in Mali. With a $1.5 million grant, this…
Wafaa El-Sadr, M.D., M.P.H. and Professor of Clinical Medicime and Epidemiology at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health, will be giving the CSSR’s third seminar of the semester this Tuesday, April 13th. El-Sadr is a noted researcher of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis and has created national and international programs in areas greatly affected by the diseases,…
About 150 people attended the first New York City Water Summit on April 9th, which was organized by Professors William Becker and Kartik Chandran of the Columbia University Dept. of Earth and Environmental Engineering. The morning sessions dealt with drinking water issues, while the afternoon sessions concentrated on wastewater treatment. The event had a focus…
One of the events that Thule looks forward to hosting each year is Armed Forces Day. The festival attracts several hundred people, both Inuit families and Air Force personnel. Held on the ice of North Star Bay, the events include broomstick hockey, snowmobile rides, helicopter rides, children’s craft activities and dog sled races. The dog…
Following up on my previous post, “Creating a Sustainable Water Future”, I will now go over a few of the steps that are being taken to better assess the current and future state of our global water resources. The tools that are being presented are based on economic analyses that aim to provide both private…
Hydropower is a tremendous potential energy source for many developing countries, but managing water reserves to maximize energy production is a tricky business. Let too much water out of the reservoir and you may not have enough later. Let out too little, and you aren’t producing all the energy that you could. Paul Block presented…