Playing now through April 11th, Kia Corthron’s A COOL DIP IN THE BARREN SAHARAN CRICK tells the story of an African preacher-in-training, Abebe, who arrives in a drought-stricken American town to further his studies in water conservation and religion. Hosted by a mother and daughter haunted by tragedy, Abebe must prepare to battle the personal…
To celebrate World Water Day this year, the National Geographic Magazine gave us a lovely gift. They produced a Special Issue on Water – one whole 200+ page issue of engaging articles, and of course photographs. Oh, the photographs. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this issue alone is an Encyclopedia of…
As an employee of the Columbia Water Center as well as a student studying Earth and Environmental Engineering (and focusing specifically on water resources), I consider myself a fairly water conscientious person. I take fast showers, turn off the sink when brushing my teeth, and drink primarily tap water to reduce my water footprint. However,…
This Thursday, April 1st ISERP (the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy) is hosting a lecture by Professor Nathaniel Berman of Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies. The lecture will be held in Room 1118 of the International Affairs Building on Columbia’s campus from 4:15 to 6:00pm. Nathaniel Berman is the Rahel Varnhagen…
A new multimillion dollar research program by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research aims to alleviate climate-related threats to the food security, livelihoods and environment of people living in the developing world. One of the key intellectual forces behind this initiative has been the IRI‘s Jim Hansen. He’ll be leading efforts within the program…
We have flown three flights in the last week, with a fourth postponed as winds were too high for take off. Two of the flights have focused on sea ice in the Arctic. The first was flown north of Canada’s Ellsmere Island, where thick multiyear ice tends to accumulate. We examined the thickness of that…
The concept of sustainable development encompasses not only environmental sustainability, but also economic sustainability, and sociopolitical sustainability. There may be no bigger an issue when taking into account the three aspects of sustainable development than the issue of global water scarcity and the growing gap between water supply and demand. Water is arguably our most…
LAUNCH is a new initiative founded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USAID, US State Dept, and NIKE to identify and support innovative work with great potential to contribute to sustainable solutions for many of the current environmental challenges. The organization will coordinate a series of forums which bring together scientists, academics, policy…
Columbia University researchers Laia Andreu Hayles and Daniel Ruiz Carrascal traveled to Colombia last month to investigate the impact of climate on high-altitude ecosystems in the Andes. Supported by the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Climate Center, Andreu and Ruiz are exploring the potential of several high-altitude tree species to reveal information about past climate variability and…