State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Infrastructure15

  • Squeezing the Last Drops out of Sicily

    Squeezing the Last Drops out of Sicily

    If you were to drive south from Palermo, Sicily toward Monreale, you would be ringed in by green mountains, the sparkling white of ancient and modern buildings and the azure Mediterranean Sea receding behind you. Continuing south through the island’s mountainous interior, you would pass verdant agricultural fields on your way past Corleone, the namesake…

  • The Push to Dam China’s Rivers

    The Push to Dam China’s Rivers

    China already has half the world’s large hydroelectric dams (25,800), but along the Yangtze River and its tributaries, 100 large dams are either being planned or built and 43 additional dams are in the works.

  • Portland Opposes a Federal Rule due to a “Unique Water Source”

    Portland Opposes a Federal Rule due to a “Unique Water Source”

    In Portland, Oregon Federal Water Treatment Rule LT2 faces opposition due to high water costs and what its City Commissioner describes as its “unique water source”.

  • Paulie, Jimmy and Vinny on NYC’s Water Future

    Paulie, Jimmy and Vinny on NYC’s Water Future

    New York City’s trio of water and sewer czars, explain the reasons behind rising rates.

  • Pennsylvania’s Gasland Spill

    Pennsylvania’s Gasland Spill

    Pennsylvania well spills tens of thousands of gallons of fracking fluid into a nearby creek; Gasland director Josh Fox talks to Columbia University about renewable energy.

  • Southern Louisiana’s Vanishing Act

    Southern Louisiana’s Vanishing Act

    Louisiana’s wetlands — the largest system in the United States — are shrinking at an alarming rate.

  • Growing Up: Water Efficiency and Sunless Farming

    Growing Up: Water Efficiency and Sunless Farming

    As Earth’s population continues to grow and a dynamic global climate shifts our expectations of where and when food can be grown, scientists are trying to find new ways to get more from less.

  • Colonel Qaddafi and the Great Man-made River

    Colonel Qaddafi and the Great Man-made River

    Behind the political impetus at work determining the fate of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi and the future of Libya lurks another issue: water.

  • The State of Water in America

    The State of Water in America

    Guest Post By Colin Sabol, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for ITT’s Fluid and Motion Control division Today, World Water Day, is a day designed to draw attention to the state of one of the world’s most precious resources. This is a global issue with many regional and local implications. Here in America,…

  • Squeezing the Last Drops out of Sicily

    Squeezing the Last Drops out of Sicily

    If you were to drive south from Palermo, Sicily toward Monreale, you would be ringed in by green mountains, the sparkling white of ancient and modern buildings and the azure Mediterranean Sea receding behind you. Continuing south through the island’s mountainous interior, you would pass verdant agricultural fields on your way past Corleone, the namesake…

  • The Push to Dam China’s Rivers

    The Push to Dam China’s Rivers

    China already has half the world’s large hydroelectric dams (25,800), but along the Yangtze River and its tributaries, 100 large dams are either being planned or built and 43 additional dams are in the works.

  • Portland Opposes a Federal Rule due to a “Unique Water Source”

    Portland Opposes a Federal Rule due to a “Unique Water Source”

    In Portland, Oregon Federal Water Treatment Rule LT2 faces opposition due to high water costs and what its City Commissioner describes as its “unique water source”.

  • Paulie, Jimmy and Vinny on NYC’s Water Future

    Paulie, Jimmy and Vinny on NYC’s Water Future

    New York City’s trio of water and sewer czars, explain the reasons behind rising rates.

  • Pennsylvania’s Gasland Spill

    Pennsylvania’s Gasland Spill

    Pennsylvania well spills tens of thousands of gallons of fracking fluid into a nearby creek; Gasland director Josh Fox talks to Columbia University about renewable energy.

  • Southern Louisiana’s Vanishing Act

    Southern Louisiana’s Vanishing Act

    Louisiana’s wetlands — the largest system in the United States — are shrinking at an alarming rate.

  • Growing Up: Water Efficiency and Sunless Farming

    Growing Up: Water Efficiency and Sunless Farming

    As Earth’s population continues to grow and a dynamic global climate shifts our expectations of where and when food can be grown, scientists are trying to find new ways to get more from less.

  • Colonel Qaddafi and the Great Man-made River

    Colonel Qaddafi and the Great Man-made River

    Behind the political impetus at work determining the fate of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi and the future of Libya lurks another issue: water.

  • The State of Water in America

    The State of Water in America

    Guest Post By Colin Sabol, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for ITT’s Fluid and Motion Control division Today, World Water Day, is a day designed to draw attention to the state of one of the world’s most precious resources. This is a global issue with many regional and local implications. Here in America,…