New York City23
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Fracking Panel Comes to NYC
In an effort to present various views on hydraulic fracturing, a panel of experts spoke to the public at Barnard College in New York City last Tuesday night. Known colloquially as fracking or hydrofracking, hydraulic fracturing has been regarded by many as a potential threat to New York City’s drinking water supply. The mere possibility…
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Fracking: What Lies Beneath?
Disclaimer: Although this blog post has been researched like any other news piece I would write, it represents my personal perspective about natural gas drilling. For a journalist, it feels strange to begin with a disclaimer, but that’s what I’ll do here. The reason is simple: This blog post is skewed. Why? because, if the…
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Record-Breaking Amounts of Snow Raise Problems for Cities
These record breaking amounts of snow have caused numerous concerns both economical and environmental and as snowfalls pile up cities run out of room to put the snow. One suggested solution was to dump the snow into waterways even though it became a mixture of many pollutants including, but not limited to, motor oil and…
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Wild Oysters Deemed ‘Functionally Extinct’
A recent Valentine’s Day-inspired article in the Grist pointed out that oysters are the only delicacy that enhances The Mood and water quality. Don’t get too excited, though: a new study published this week in BioScience revealed that oysters are “functionally extinct” in many parts of the world where they were once abundant, and nothing…
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Solving Urbanization Challenges by Design – The Science of Green Roofs (part 2)
Patricia J. Culligan is a professor of civil engineering and engineering mechanics at Columbia University and the Vice Dean of Academic Affairs for Columbia Engineering. In part two of this interview she talks about the challenge of quantifying the economic benefits of green roofs, the potential for rooftop agriculture, and what it means to “solve…
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Solving Urbanization Challenges by Design – The Science of Green Roofs
Patricia J. Culligan, professor of civil engineering and engineering mechanics, discusses her work with the Columbia University Green Roof Consortium to quantify the benefits of green roofs.
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Could East River Tides Help Power NYC?
Typically, discussions about hydropower center around hydroelectric dams and ocean wind turbines. That could change, however, if Verdant Power – an energy company based out of New York – succeeds in its latest venture.
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Is New York City Ready for Drought?
All day long a flood of thousands scientists and students ebbs and flows across San Francisco’s 4th Street and Howard Avenue, coursing between the cavernous Moscone West and Moscone South convention buildings. The AGU is like a supercomputer of earth science, with human currents of data swapping information, heading from one talk to another, processing…
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New York Earthquake Barely Causes a Stir
Though the earthquake that no one really noticed yesterday was the largest to hit the New York area in 18 years, it’s important to note that it wasn’t an unusual event. One person in a WNYC story was quoted as saying that he had fun. Researchers at the Earth Institute have kept close tabs on…
AGU25, the premier Earth and space science conference, takes place December 15-19, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. This year’s theme—Where Science Connects Us—puts in focus how science depends on connection, from the lab to the field to the ballot box. Once again, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School scientists, experts, students, and educators are playing an active role, sharing our research and helping shape the future of our planet. #AGU25 Learn More
