State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

International Research Institute for Climate and Society34

  • New report: Reducing climate risks with index insurance

    We know climate has always presented a challenge to farmers, herders, fishermen and others whose livelihoods are closely linked to their environment–particularly in developing countries. A type of insurance called index insurance shows some promise as a climate-risk management tool, according to the latest Climate and Society publication from Columbia’s International Research Institute for Climate…

  • East African Drought Linked to Climate Change?

    When African finance and environmental ministers met last month to discuss climate-related challenges to the Millennium Development Goals, East African rains were on the agenda. Millions of Kenyans currently face food shortages as a result of successive failed rains, and periodic droughts cost the region 5-8% of GDP. A look at the climatology reveals that…

  • Some Thoughts on the Summer Institute

    The Summer Institute, mentioned here, drew to a close last week and while attending a session on final presentations by the participants, I was struck by how participants, depending on their backgrounds, benefited differently from the course and took away unique learnings. For instance, one participant, Daddi Jima Wayessa, Head of Malaria and other Vector-borne…

  • IPCC Chief Pachauri Heads Board of Climate-Risk Center

    International Research Institute Focuses on Practical Adaptations

  • Using Insurance in Adaptation Efforts

    If the recent Conference of the Parties in Poznan, Poland was any indication, next year’s buzzword in the climate-change community will be climate risk insurance. “Dealing with insurance is of fundamental importance in order to meet adaptation objectives,” said UNFCCC Secretary General Yvo de Boer. “If you can’t get insurance because climate change makes you…

  • Protecting African Farmers from Climate Extremes

    Innovative Crop Insurance Will Be Geared to Weather Data

  • Water Expert Wins Presidential Award

    Water-resources expert Casey Brown has been named one of 56 recipients of the 2006 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor given by the U.S. government that recognizes outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their career. Brown is a scientist at the International Research Institute for Climate…

  • Climate Information Can Be Used to Improve Lives of Most Vulnerable, Says New Publication

    In Africa, millions rely directly on rainfed agriculture for their livelihoods; climate-sensitive diseases are a major public health problem; and climate-related disasters regularly threaten development gains. Yet climate information often fails to reach them. The partners behind the publication Climate Risk Management in Africa: Learning from Practice would like to see this change. Case studies in this…

  • In Philippines, El Niño Means Drought

    Casey Brown arrived in Manila in early November on the heels of Typhoon Cimaron, a “super typhoon” that clocked 125-mile-per-hour winds. It was the second deadliest typhoon to hit the island nation since 1998. But for Manila, home to more than 10 million people, it is drought — not typhoons — that has led to…

  • New report: Reducing climate risks with index insurance

    We know climate has always presented a challenge to farmers, herders, fishermen and others whose livelihoods are closely linked to their environment–particularly in developing countries. A type of insurance called index insurance shows some promise as a climate-risk management tool, according to the latest Climate and Society publication from Columbia’s International Research Institute for Climate…

  • East African Drought Linked to Climate Change?

    When African finance and environmental ministers met last month to discuss climate-related challenges to the Millennium Development Goals, East African rains were on the agenda. Millions of Kenyans currently face food shortages as a result of successive failed rains, and periodic droughts cost the region 5-8% of GDP. A look at the climatology reveals that…

  • Some Thoughts on the Summer Institute

    The Summer Institute, mentioned here, drew to a close last week and while attending a session on final presentations by the participants, I was struck by how participants, depending on their backgrounds, benefited differently from the course and took away unique learnings. For instance, one participant, Daddi Jima Wayessa, Head of Malaria and other Vector-borne…

  • IPCC Chief Pachauri Heads Board of Climate-Risk Center

    International Research Institute Focuses on Practical Adaptations

  • Using Insurance in Adaptation Efforts

    If the recent Conference of the Parties in Poznan, Poland was any indication, next year’s buzzword in the climate-change community will be climate risk insurance. “Dealing with insurance is of fundamental importance in order to meet adaptation objectives,” said UNFCCC Secretary General Yvo de Boer. “If you can’t get insurance because climate change makes you…

  • Protecting African Farmers from Climate Extremes

    Innovative Crop Insurance Will Be Geared to Weather Data

  • Water Expert Wins Presidential Award

    Water-resources expert Casey Brown has been named one of 56 recipients of the 2006 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor given by the U.S. government that recognizes outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their career. Brown is a scientist at the International Research Institute for Climate…

  • Climate Information Can Be Used to Improve Lives of Most Vulnerable, Says New Publication

    In Africa, millions rely directly on rainfed agriculture for their livelihoods; climate-sensitive diseases are a major public health problem; and climate-related disasters regularly threaten development gains. Yet climate information often fails to reach them. The partners behind the publication Climate Risk Management in Africa: Learning from Practice would like to see this change. Case studies in this…

  • In Philippines, El Niño Means Drought

    Casey Brown arrived in Manila in early November on the heels of Typhoon Cimaron, a “super typhoon” that clocked 125-mile-per-hour winds. It was the second deadliest typhoon to hit the island nation since 1998. But for Manila, home to more than 10 million people, it is drought — not typhoons — that has led to…