State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Surface Water13

  • Losing your glaciers? Build your own.

    Scientific American has an interesting photo piece by Gaia Vince about a place in the Himalayas that is adapting to climate change by creating its own glaciers.

  • Peak Water?

    Today, a growing number of scientists argue that global peak oil may be upon us—an argument that would seem to be supported by the increasingly heroic measures oil companies are taking (such as the ultra-deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico) to keep up with global oil demand. Many underground aquifers and even some surface…

  • The chaal and local groundwater management in India: When progress isn’t progress

    I recently came across an article in the Tehelka blog, which made me want to learn more. It was about a traditional water management system in the Uttarakhand region in northern India that has worked for years, but is being destroyed by funding meant to ‘modernize’ it.

  • The Economist: Special Report on Water, a primer for the water crisis

    The Economist has released a Special Report on Water, dated May 22nd, 2010, written by John Grimond. The 18 page report contains 9 short but substantial articles giving an overview of global water issues.

  • Irrigation project success in Mali

    Columbia Water Center is working in Mali, Africa, as part of its PepsiCo Foundation funded project to improve rural water use and livelihoods. The Mali component of the project aims to develop an effective irrigation system to improve agricultural productivity and food security.

  • Environmental Regeneration in Haiti: the Water Problem

    Columbia Water Center research scientist Lior Asaf is working in Haiti to understand the existing environmental conditions, and look for ways to improve people’s lives for the long term. One part of the project focuses on the Port Piment watershed basin on the southwestern end of the island.

  • The True Cost of Water: NYC Event May 6

    The Green Policy and Environmental Policy Discussion Group of the The New York Academy of Science and the Columbia Water Center are sponsoring a panel discussion on The True Cost of Water on May 6. The focus of this panel discussion is the importance of economic optimization of water usage in the present and in…

  • Rainfall forecasting key to efficient hydropower in Ethiopia

    Hydropower is a tremendous potential energy source for many developing countries, but managing water reserves to maximize energy production is a tricky business. Let too much water out of the reservoir and you may not have enough later. Let out too little, and you aren’t producing all the energy that you could. Paul Block presented…

  • CWC’s new Great Lakes Column

      The Columbia Water Center is leading intellectual inquiry into the assessment, prediction and solution of the growing scarcity of fresh water. Although the CWC is looking at water issues across the globe, up until now, little attention at the Center has been focused on the Great Lakes. Some past student projects have explored in-depth…

  • Losing your glaciers? Build your own.

    Scientific American has an interesting photo piece by Gaia Vince about a place in the Himalayas that is adapting to climate change by creating its own glaciers.

  • Peak Water?

    Today, a growing number of scientists argue that global peak oil may be upon us—an argument that would seem to be supported by the increasingly heroic measures oil companies are taking (such as the ultra-deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico) to keep up with global oil demand. Many underground aquifers and even some surface…

  • The chaal and local groundwater management in India: When progress isn’t progress

    I recently came across an article in the Tehelka blog, which made me want to learn more. It was about a traditional water management system in the Uttarakhand region in northern India that has worked for years, but is being destroyed by funding meant to ‘modernize’ it.

  • The Economist: Special Report on Water, a primer for the water crisis

    The Economist has released a Special Report on Water, dated May 22nd, 2010, written by John Grimond. The 18 page report contains 9 short but substantial articles giving an overview of global water issues.

  • Irrigation project success in Mali

    Columbia Water Center is working in Mali, Africa, as part of its PepsiCo Foundation funded project to improve rural water use and livelihoods. The Mali component of the project aims to develop an effective irrigation system to improve agricultural productivity and food security.

  • Environmental Regeneration in Haiti: the Water Problem

    Columbia Water Center research scientist Lior Asaf is working in Haiti to understand the existing environmental conditions, and look for ways to improve people’s lives for the long term. One part of the project focuses on the Port Piment watershed basin on the southwestern end of the island.

  • The True Cost of Water: NYC Event May 6

    The Green Policy and Environmental Policy Discussion Group of the The New York Academy of Science and the Columbia Water Center are sponsoring a panel discussion on The True Cost of Water on May 6. The focus of this panel discussion is the importance of economic optimization of water usage in the present and in…

  • Rainfall forecasting key to efficient hydropower in Ethiopia

    Hydropower is a tremendous potential energy source for many developing countries, but managing water reserves to maximize energy production is a tricky business. Let too much water out of the reservoir and you may not have enough later. Let out too little, and you aren’t producing all the energy that you could. Paul Block presented…

  • CWC’s new Great Lakes Column

      The Columbia Water Center is leading intellectual inquiry into the assessment, prediction and solution of the growing scarcity of fresh water. Although the CWC is looking at water issues across the globe, up until now, little attention at the Center has been focused on the Great Lakes. Some past student projects have explored in-depth…