State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Surface Water8

  • Update: Youth-led Project H2O Continues to Inspire

    Update: Youth-led Project H2O Continues to Inspire

    We first reported about the project by a group of Puerto Rican high school students, Project H2O (Help to Others), and the documentary film about the project being made by the parents of one of the students, in August 2010. The students are continuing to develop Project H2O in their school, in an educational phase…

  • Fracking Panel Comes to NYC

    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…

  • Of Earthquakes and Nuclear Reactors

    Of Earthquakes and Nuclear Reactors

    As Japan’s nuclear meltdown catastrophe continues in the wake of the March 11 magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami, Japanese power company executives and officials face an increasingly challenging situation. Tuesday morning, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) — the company operating the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant — dumped more than 11,000 gallons of radioactive seawater into…

  • Colonel Qaddafi and the Great Man-made River

    Colonel Qaddafi and the Great Man-made River

    Behind the political impetus at work determining the fate of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi and the future of Libya lurks another issue: water.

  • Fracking: What Lies Beneath?

    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…

  • Maori Values; Modern Solutions

    Maori Values; Modern Solutions

    New Zealand’s longest river is also its most polluted, but Maori tribesmen have help to offer that goes beyond technology.

  • Wild Oysters Deemed ‘Functionally Extinct’

    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…

  • In the Arctic More Than Elsewhere, Things Are Heating Up

    In the Arctic More Than Elsewhere, Things Are Heating Up

    According to a new international study, water flowing into the Arctic Ocean from the North Atlantic is the warmest it has been in the past 2,000 years.

  • Michigan Case Demonstrates Growing Importance of Courts for Water Issues

    Michigan Case Demonstrates Growing Importance of Courts for Water Issues

    According to a recent report by Deutsche Bank, the number of US lawsuits related directly or indirectly to climate change rose by nearly 300% between 2009 and 2010. In addition to cases focused more broadly on climate change, there have also been a growing number of cases focused specifically on water regulations. Examples of the…

  • Update: Youth-led Project H2O Continues to Inspire

    Update: Youth-led Project H2O Continues to Inspire

    We first reported about the project by a group of Puerto Rican high school students, Project H2O (Help to Others), and the documentary film about the project being made by the parents of one of the students, in August 2010. The students are continuing to develop Project H2O in their school, in an educational phase…

  • Fracking Panel Comes to NYC

    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…

  • Of Earthquakes and Nuclear Reactors

    Of Earthquakes and Nuclear Reactors

    As Japan’s nuclear meltdown catastrophe continues in the wake of the March 11 magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami, Japanese power company executives and officials face an increasingly challenging situation. Tuesday morning, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) — the company operating the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant — dumped more than 11,000 gallons of radioactive seawater into…

  • Colonel Qaddafi and the Great Man-made River

    Colonel Qaddafi and the Great Man-made River

    Behind the political impetus at work determining the fate of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi and the future of Libya lurks another issue: water.

  • Fracking: What Lies Beneath?

    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…

  • Maori Values; Modern Solutions

    Maori Values; Modern Solutions

    New Zealand’s longest river is also its most polluted, but Maori tribesmen have help to offer that goes beyond technology.

  • Wild Oysters Deemed ‘Functionally Extinct’

    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…

  • In the Arctic More Than Elsewhere, Things Are Heating Up

    In the Arctic More Than Elsewhere, Things Are Heating Up

    According to a new international study, water flowing into the Arctic Ocean from the North Atlantic is the warmest it has been in the past 2,000 years.

  • Michigan Case Demonstrates Growing Importance of Courts for Water Issues

    Michigan Case Demonstrates Growing Importance of Courts for Water Issues

    According to a recent report by Deutsche Bank, the number of US lawsuits related directly or indirectly to climate change rose by nearly 300% between 2009 and 2010. In addition to cases focused more broadly on climate change, there have also been a growing number of cases focused specifically on water regulations. Examples of the…