water matters
Water Matters, the blog of the Columbia Water Center, focuses on the assessment, understanding and resolution of the potentially global crisis of freshwater scarcity.
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The Paradox of AI and Climate
AI is a two-sided coin, with tremendous potential to benefit the environment while also requiring an immense amount of water and energy. How will these two opposing dynamics balance out—or can they?
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New Study Reveals Hidden “Chemical Currency” Fueling the Ocean’s Carbon Cycle
This research identifies a diverse set of molecules released by marine phytoplankton that fuel microbial life and help drive Earth’s carbon cycle.
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Vast Freshwater Reserves Found Beneath Salinity-Stressed Coastal Bangladesh
Drinking water is often scarce in Bangladesh. These researchers have tapped into a potential solution.
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A Disaster Expert Explains Why the Texas Floods Were So Devastating
A warning system, which might involve integrating older technology like weather radios with new AI products and local knowledge, is key to preventing future loss of life.
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How AI Is Revolutionizing the Recycling Industry
Modern waste facilities are incorporating AI into their systems, using robots guided by AI vision systems and machine learning algorithms, high resolution cameras, hyperspectral imaging, near-infrared sensors and predictive analytics.
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Leveraging the Power of Open Source Data To Map the World’s Oceans
In honor of World Oceans Day, marine geophysicist Vicki Ferrini discusses the current state of ocean research, and the important role international collaboration plays in this field.
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Science for the Planet: Tackling the Invisible Threat of Nanoplastics
Beizhan Yan, an environmental geochemist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, has come up with new methods to detect and analyze tiny plastic particles to better understand their impact on human and environmental health.
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Mangroves, Tigers and Shopping
The last part of our trip was a whirlwind of seeing multiple sites in the Sundarbans mangrove forest and its wildlife, more interviews with villagers, historic and cultural sites and shopping, followed by tearful goodbyes.
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Poets and Polders
Continuing on our journey, we visited the shrine and former home of Bangladeshi cultural icons, continued our interviews, and boarded a boat to take us to the embanked islands known as polders.
You Asked invites you to share your most pressing questions about climate, science, and sustainability. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School experts will respond with clear, evidence-based answers. Pose your questions and story ideas!
