Tag: Sustainability43
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Assessing Global Metrics for Agriculture
On October 1, I attended a symposium entitled “Going Beyond Rhetoric: Metrics for Assessing Global Agriculture,” hosted by the Earth Institute and convened at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. Fifteen stories in the air, we were surrounded by miles of urban landscape — Queens to the east, Manhattan to the west, and no…
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Plasma Gasification: A Solution to the Waste Disposal Dilemma?
Waste not, Want not? The source of this proverb is unknown, but I’m going to hazard a guess and say it wasn’t your average (modern) American. I say this because your average American runs through 56 tons of trash a year – including 500 plastic cups and 650 pounds of paper. If we were to…
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Nuclear Dark Ages? Or Nuclear Renaissance?
“I know that vibration wasn’t normal” Jack Lemmon famously uttered these words in the 70s blockbuster The China Syndrome in reference to unusual activity taking place at his nuclear reactor. Lemmon, a shift supervisor at the plant, uncovers alarming evidence that the plant is fundamentally unsound and demands that it be shut down. His concerns…
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Jeffrey Sachs talks about Columbia Climate Center in new video
Something that many people wonder about climate change, especially in light of the current economic crisis, is whether we can afford to focus on the climate when there are so many other pressing global issues like the economy, terrorism, and major public health crises. Part of our mission here at the Columbia Climate Center is…
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Climate & Terrorism – Linked?
Dennis Blair is a serious man. A retired, four-star admiral with a legendary knack for water skiing behind his warships, the multi-talented Blair currently serves as the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) under President Obama. This position oversees the 16 national intelligence agencies, coordinating their efforts while informing the policy makers – including the President,…
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Adaptive Strategies in Managing Climate Change Risk
With the threat of rising sea level due to thermal expansion (water increases volume as it gets warmer) and melting of land-based ice (such as glaciers and polar ice sheets), coastal cities are planning ways to minimize the impacts of flooding on city infrastructure. The Thames Barrier (pictured) is one such engineering solution. It is…
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ioby.org: Bringing Awareness and Support to Local Environmental Projects
If you’re anything like me, the effects of climate change and environmental degradation can often seem overwhelming. We can try to reduce our own carbon emissions through actions like taking public transportation and using less electricity, but it’s hard to see the impacts of those actions. What, I sometimes wonder, can I do to help…
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The Stuff of Sustainability
Recently, New York Times reporter, Leslie Kaufman wrote an excellent story on an interesting and important video called “The Story of Stuff”. Kaufman writes that: “The video is a cheerful but brutal assessment of how much Americans waste, and it has its detractors… The video was created by Annie Leonard, a former Greenpeace employee and…
