State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Soil Fertility

  • What Does It Mean for Soil To Be Healthy?

    What Does It Mean for Soil To Be Healthy?

    Yushu Xia’s research bridges field-based science and advanced modeling to inform more resilient land management strategies that benefit farmers, ranchers, communities and the planet.

  • Revitalizing Africa’s Soils

    Revitalizing Africa’s Soils

    To feed our burgeoning global population, the world has to at least double crop yields by 2050, by improving seeds of high yielding crops and cultivating healthy fertile soils. A new on-the-spot soil testing kit will help meet this challenge.

  • Investigating Impacts of Increased Fertilizer Use in Africa

    Investigating Impacts of Increased Fertilizer Use in Africa

    The rains came late this year in Kenya. I was there for several months in the winter and spring to conduct research for a post-doctoral fellowship, examining the consequences of increases in fertilizer use on soil fertility, maize yields, nitrogen gas emissions and nitrogen leaching losses.

  • Why Soil Matters

    Why Soil Matters

    Soil is the source of all life. Yet “we know more about soils of Mars than about soils of Africa,” says Pedro Sanchez, director of the Earth Institute’s Tropical Agriculture and the Rural Environment Program. To remedy this situation, the Earth Institute is taking part in an ambitious undertaking to map the world’s soils.

  • Getting to the Root of Africa’s Agriculture Challenges: TropAg and AfSIS Partner to Improve Soil Fertility

    Getting to the Root of Africa’s Agriculture Challenges: TropAg and AfSIS Partner to Improve Soil Fertility

    Agrium Incorporated and The Mosaic Company have partnered with the Earth Institute’s Tropical Agriculture and Rural Environment Program (TropAg) to improve soil measurement and fertility throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.  The program will link the Millennium Villages Project to the African Soil and Information Systems Project (AfSIS) with the aim of assessing nutrient depletion in soil and…

  • Is Biomass Really Renewable?

    Is Biomass Really Renewable?

    Ninety percent of all existing biomass power plants use wood residue and there are currently 115 power plants in development that will burn biomass to generate electricity. But just how renewable is biomass energy?

Composite banner with modern building at night and portrait of Dean Alexis Abramson that reads "Science for the Planet"

By studying thousands of buildings and analyzing their electricity use, Columbia Climate School Dean Alexis Abramson has been able to uncover ways to significantly cut energy consumption and emissions. Watch the Video: “Engineering a Cooler Future Through Smarter Buildings

  • What Does It Mean for Soil To Be Healthy?

    What Does It Mean for Soil To Be Healthy?

    Yushu Xia’s research bridges field-based science and advanced modeling to inform more resilient land management strategies that benefit farmers, ranchers, communities and the planet.

  • Revitalizing Africa’s Soils

    Revitalizing Africa’s Soils

    To feed our burgeoning global population, the world has to at least double crop yields by 2050, by improving seeds of high yielding crops and cultivating healthy fertile soils. A new on-the-spot soil testing kit will help meet this challenge.

  • Investigating Impacts of Increased Fertilizer Use in Africa

    Investigating Impacts of Increased Fertilizer Use in Africa

    The rains came late this year in Kenya. I was there for several months in the winter and spring to conduct research for a post-doctoral fellowship, examining the consequences of increases in fertilizer use on soil fertility, maize yields, nitrogen gas emissions and nitrogen leaching losses.

  • Why Soil Matters

    Why Soil Matters

    Soil is the source of all life. Yet “we know more about soils of Mars than about soils of Africa,” says Pedro Sanchez, director of the Earth Institute’s Tropical Agriculture and the Rural Environment Program. To remedy this situation, the Earth Institute is taking part in an ambitious undertaking to map the world’s soils.

  • Getting to the Root of Africa’s Agriculture Challenges: TropAg and AfSIS Partner to Improve Soil Fertility

    Getting to the Root of Africa’s Agriculture Challenges: TropAg and AfSIS Partner to Improve Soil Fertility

    Agrium Incorporated and The Mosaic Company have partnered with the Earth Institute’s Tropical Agriculture and Rural Environment Program (TropAg) to improve soil measurement and fertility throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.  The program will link the Millennium Villages Project to the African Soil and Information Systems Project (AfSIS) with the aim of assessing nutrient depletion in soil and…

  • Is Biomass Really Renewable?

    Is Biomass Really Renewable?

    Ninety percent of all existing biomass power plants use wood residue and there are currently 115 power plants in development that will burn biomass to generate electricity. But just how renewable is biomass energy?