State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

roads

  • Cutting the Salt in Winter Road Maintenance

    Cutting the Salt in Winter Road Maintenance

    As the capital and environmental costs of road salt continue to mount, has the time come to ask whether we’re putting too much of it on our streets?

  • How Road Salt Harms the Environment

    How Road Salt Harms the Environment

    Recent research indicates that salt is accumulating in the environment and poses an emerging threat both to ecosystems and human health.

  • The (Somewhat Less Fast) Growing Human Footprint

    The (Somewhat Less Fast) Growing Human Footprint

    The human footprint continues to expand, with three quarters of earth’s land surface now experiencing measurable pressures from buildings, roads, crops, pastures and other human structures and activities, according to a new report. But the report also finds an encouraging trend: In recent years, growth in the footprint has lagged far behind population and economic…

  • Roads: An Essential Element of Development

    Roads: An Essential Element of Development

    Roads data are critical to planning and development of rural transportation in developing countries, where better transportation systems can help improve livelihoods.

  • Cutting the Salt in Winter Road Maintenance

    Cutting the Salt in Winter Road Maintenance

    As the capital and environmental costs of road salt continue to mount, has the time come to ask whether we’re putting too much of it on our streets?

  • How Road Salt Harms the Environment

    How Road Salt Harms the Environment

    Recent research indicates that salt is accumulating in the environment and poses an emerging threat both to ecosystems and human health.

  • The (Somewhat Less Fast) Growing Human Footprint

    The (Somewhat Less Fast) Growing Human Footprint

    The human footprint continues to expand, with three quarters of earth’s land surface now experiencing measurable pressures from buildings, roads, crops, pastures and other human structures and activities, according to a new report. But the report also finds an encouraging trend: In recent years, growth in the footprint has lagged far behind population and economic…

  • Roads: An Essential Element of Development

    Roads: An Essential Element of Development

    Roads data are critical to planning and development of rural transportation in developing countries, where better transportation systems can help improve livelihoods.