impact stories6
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Report Charges âNepotism and Neglectâ on Bangladesh Arsenic Poisoning
Two decades after arsenic was found to be contaminating drinking water across Bangladesh, tens of millions of people are still exposed to the deadly chemical. Now a new report from the group Human Rights Watch charges that the Bangladesh government âis failing to adequately respondâ to the issue, and that political favoritism and neglect have…
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Does Pollution Regulation Kill Jobs? Lessons for China from the U.S.
The problem of air pollution in China continues to reach new heights. To combat the problem in any real way stringent regulation is needed. A new paper from Columbia Universityâs Earth Institute finds that this can be done without hurting job creation.
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Filling a Climate Gap and Helping Rwandan Farmers
Agriculture makes up a major portion of Rwandaâs economy, and employs eight in 10 Rwandans. Of course, farmers are hugely dependent on the climate, and a new project hopes to ensure they get timely information so they can plan for both good times and bad.
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Navigating Governmentsâ Obligations in the Context of Land Investments
How should governments address the concerns of their citizens tied to land investments? And do their legal obligations constrain their options for doing so? These are increasingly complicated, and pressing, questions.
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Where Will Sea-Level Rise Hurt the Most?
A study out yesterday says that the lives of up to 13 million people in the United States may be disrupted by sea-level rise in the next century. But another study says that while much hard infrastructure like houses, piers, seawalls and roads may have to be kissed goodbye, some 70 percent of natural landforms…
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Photo Essay: High in the Hills, Climate May Challenge Forests
Forests in the south-central United States are some of the countryâs most productive and diverse. They also sit in a warming âholeââan area where the progressive rise in temperature affecting most of the continent hasnât yet taken hold. A team from Columbia Universityâs Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory is studying how these forests might shiftâor even disappearâwhen…
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How Will Shifting Climate Change U.S. Forests?
One foggy spring morning just after a hard rain, Park Williams was tromping through the woods deep in Arkansasâ Ozark Mountains. Toiling down a steep slope, he supposedly was keeping a simultaneous eye out for rattlesnakes, copperheads, poison ivy and big old trees. Williams seemed mostly focused on the trees, though; attention to the other…
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Drought in Papua New Guinea Heightens Tensions over Gold Mine
In the highlands of Papua New Guinea, tensions between local villagers and a gold mining operation over access to clean water are being heightened by a prolonged drought.
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Attributing Extreme Weather to CausesâIncluding Climate Change
New research and more powerful computer models are advancing scientistsâ ability to tease apart the forces that can worsen extreme weather. In a new report, a committee of the National Academy of Sciences that includes Columbia’s Adam Sobel assesses the young field of attribution studies.
Congratulations to our Columbia Climate School MA in Climate & Society Class of 2024! Learn about our May 10 Class Day celebration. #ColumbiaClimate2024
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Report Charges âNepotism and Neglectâ on Bangladesh Arsenic Poisoning
Two decades after arsenic was found to be contaminating drinking water across Bangladesh, tens of millions of people are still exposed to the deadly chemical. Now a new report from the group Human Rights Watch charges that the Bangladesh government âis failing to adequately respondâ to the issue, and that political favoritism and neglect have…
-
Does Pollution Regulation Kill Jobs? Lessons for China from the U.S.
The problem of air pollution in China continues to reach new heights. To combat the problem in any real way stringent regulation is needed. A new paper from Columbia Universityâs Earth Institute finds that this can be done without hurting job creation.
-
Filling a Climate Gap and Helping Rwandan Farmers
Agriculture makes up a major portion of Rwandaâs economy, and employs eight in 10 Rwandans. Of course, farmers are hugely dependent on the climate, and a new project hopes to ensure they get timely information so they can plan for both good times and bad.
-
Navigating Governmentsâ Obligations in the Context of Land Investments
How should governments address the concerns of their citizens tied to land investments? And do their legal obligations constrain their options for doing so? These are increasingly complicated, and pressing, questions.
-
Where Will Sea-Level Rise Hurt the Most?
A study out yesterday says that the lives of up to 13 million people in the United States may be disrupted by sea-level rise in the next century. But another study says that while much hard infrastructure like houses, piers, seawalls and roads may have to be kissed goodbye, some 70 percent of natural landforms…
-
Photo Essay: High in the Hills, Climate May Challenge Forests
Forests in the south-central United States are some of the countryâs most productive and diverse. They also sit in a warming âholeââan area where the progressive rise in temperature affecting most of the continent hasnât yet taken hold. A team from Columbia Universityâs Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory is studying how these forests might shiftâor even disappearâwhen…
-
How Will Shifting Climate Change U.S. Forests?
One foggy spring morning just after a hard rain, Park Williams was tromping through the woods deep in Arkansasâ Ozark Mountains. Toiling down a steep slope, he supposedly was keeping a simultaneous eye out for rattlesnakes, copperheads, poison ivy and big old trees. Williams seemed mostly focused on the trees, though; attention to the other…
-
Drought in Papua New Guinea Heightens Tensions over Gold Mine
In the highlands of Papua New Guinea, tensions between local villagers and a gold mining operation over access to clean water are being heightened by a prolonged drought.
-
Attributing Extreme Weather to CausesâIncluding Climate Change
New research and more powerful computer models are advancing scientistsâ ability to tease apart the forces that can worsen extreme weather. In a new report, a committee of the National Academy of Sciences that includes Columbia’s Adam Sobel assesses the young field of attribution studies.