climate matters32
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ILAS and the IRI Meet, Look Ahead to Copenhagen
Researchers from across Columbia in early May at a faculty seminar entitled Climate Change, Public Policy, and Development. The event was jointly organized by the Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS) and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI). The purpose of the meeting was to explore ways in which Columbia University could…
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How, what, & where CCS on 4/21
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…
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Launch of new climate science book to take place at Columbia tomorrow
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…
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Early Human Influence on the Climate
I’ve been meaning to blog about our visit from Bill Ruddiman, professor emeritus at the University Virginia and former Doherty Senior Research Scientist, who stopped in at his old stomping grounds last month. Ruddiman just wasn’t here to renew old ties, though. Rather, he used his visit as an opportunity to continue a rather heated…
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Operational Coconut Yield Predictions
The Coconut Research Institute of Sri Lanka (CRI) has sustained an improved prediction scheme for national coconut production for the last four years. Coconuts are an important source of food and raw materials and also provide income to millions in the tropics. Coconuts are the most important food crop after rice in Sri Lanka and …
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Who cares about the Southern Ocean?
Scientists are often asked to explain why their work is important. I have been asked this question several times since the publication of a paper entitled “Wind driven upwelling in the Southern Ocean and the deglacial rise in atmospheric CO2” (Science, 13 March, 2009). I’m going to try to answer it here. In the paper…
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Climate Change and the right to water
The Fifth World Water Forum in Istanbul, Turkey, ended this past Sunday, March 22. Held every three years, the Forum is organized by the World Water Council, an international multi-stakeholder platform designed to facilitate international cooperation on the management and use of water in an environmentally sustainable way. The Forum ended with the Istanbul Ministerial…
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Will the economy call the EPA’s bluff?
As expected, the Environmental Protection Agency is calling carbon dioxide (CO2) a danger to public health and welfare, a necessary first step for the agency to regulate CO2 under the Clean Air Act. Commentators, including myself, have doubted that the endangerment finding will lead to comprehensive regulation of CO2 under the Clean Air Act, as…
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Behavior, policy, and climate change
Climate change is often discussed as the ultimate market failure: in the absence of laws that change incentives, decisions to maximize individual self-interest will not produce the socially desirable outcome of reducing carbon emissions and preserving the climate system. The role of individual and institutional behavior in bringing about the necessary changes is rarely discussed outside…