State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

water matters18

  • JM Eagle CEO Walter Wang Tours Millennium Villages in East Africa

    JM Eagle CEO Walter Wang Tours Millennium Villages in East Africa

    JM Eagle CEO Walter Wang visited Millennium Villages in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda to see the impact of clean and reliable water systems made possible through his company’s donations.

  • Good to the Last Drop: Mobile Tech to Advance Water Infrastructure in Africa

    Good to the Last Drop: Mobile Tech to Advance Water Infrastructure in Africa

    The Earth Institute, in conjuction with several corporate partners, hopes to use mobile technology to revolutionize the way utilities are monitored, metered, and maintained to ensure clean water supplies and reliable energy.

  • Maintaining the Superiority of NYC’s Drinking Water

    Maintaining the Superiority of NYC’s Drinking Water

    New York City is world-renowned for its clean and delicious drinking water. The NYC watershed delivers roughly 1.2 billion gallons of unfiltered water each day to 9 million New Yorkers. But in 2013, the Croton Water Filtration Plant, currently under construction in the Bronx, will begin filtering 1.2 million cubic meters or 10% of New…

  • A Human Right to Water – Can it Make a Difference?

    A Human Right to Water – Can it Make a Difference?

    Despite the UN’s 2010 resolution on the human right to water, debate continues over how useful a rights approach really is. Even if we identify water as a human right, where the state is the principal duty-bearer, will it improve access to water for communities in need?

  • Cooling the Former Frontier: Using Water to Save Energy

    Cooling the Former Frontier: Using Water to Save Energy

    AC units have become more efficient over the years, but energy consumption during hot summer months can increase significantly, boosting both the amount of money spent on electricity and the volume of greenhouse gasses emitted in the energy production process.

  • The Year of Drought and Flood

    The Year of Drought and Flood

    It seems that this year the world is experiencing a crisis of both too little water and too much. And while these crises often occur simultaneously in different regions, they also happen in the same places as short, fierce bursts of rain punctuate long dry spells.

  • Somali Drought; Harbinger of Hard Times

    Somali Drought; Harbinger of Hard Times

    For all its problems, Southern California has been a wonderful home for a lot of people over the past 100 or so years. It has nice beaches, good roads, plenty of places to eat, and, for now, a reliable supply of drinking water. Now imagine the L.A. riots had spread across the entire region, plunging…

  • The Fairytale of “Organic” Water

    The Fairytale of “Organic” Water

    Time and time again, marketing teams have proven that people will buy pretty much anything. So many examples exist that the topic was enough for Brooks Jackson to write an entire book about it. One of the more recent flim-flam schemes is selling organic water. Wait a tick, did I just say that? Yes, I…

  • Fracking Gains Ground in New York

    Fracking Gains Ground in New York

    Fracking is back in the news again, and in a big way. On July 1, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, backed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration, released its recommendations regarding the controversial natural gas extraction technique. Amidst the din of statewide protests, the agency supported fracking in most of the state’s portion…

Overhead view of Columbia campus with text Columbia Climate School Class Day 2026: Congratulations Graduates

Congratulations to our Columbia Climate School Class of 2026 and all of our 2026 Columbia University graduates! Learn more about our May 15 Climate School Class Day celebration. 💙 #Columbia2026 #ColumbiaClimate2026

  • JM Eagle CEO Walter Wang Tours Millennium Villages in East Africa

    JM Eagle CEO Walter Wang Tours Millennium Villages in East Africa

    JM Eagle CEO Walter Wang visited Millennium Villages in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda to see the impact of clean and reliable water systems made possible through his company’s donations.

  • Good to the Last Drop: Mobile Tech to Advance Water Infrastructure in Africa

    Good to the Last Drop: Mobile Tech to Advance Water Infrastructure in Africa

    The Earth Institute, in conjuction with several corporate partners, hopes to use mobile technology to revolutionize the way utilities are monitored, metered, and maintained to ensure clean water supplies and reliable energy.

  • Maintaining the Superiority of NYC’s Drinking Water

    Maintaining the Superiority of NYC’s Drinking Water

    New York City is world-renowned for its clean and delicious drinking water. The NYC watershed delivers roughly 1.2 billion gallons of unfiltered water each day to 9 million New Yorkers. But in 2013, the Croton Water Filtration Plant, currently under construction in the Bronx, will begin filtering 1.2 million cubic meters or 10% of New…

  • A Human Right to Water – Can it Make a Difference?

    A Human Right to Water – Can it Make a Difference?

    Despite the UN’s 2010 resolution on the human right to water, debate continues over how useful a rights approach really is. Even if we identify water as a human right, where the state is the principal duty-bearer, will it improve access to water for communities in need?

  • Cooling the Former Frontier: Using Water to Save Energy

    Cooling the Former Frontier: Using Water to Save Energy

    AC units have become more efficient over the years, but energy consumption during hot summer months can increase significantly, boosting both the amount of money spent on electricity and the volume of greenhouse gasses emitted in the energy production process.

  • The Year of Drought and Flood

    The Year of Drought and Flood

    It seems that this year the world is experiencing a crisis of both too little water and too much. And while these crises often occur simultaneously in different regions, they also happen in the same places as short, fierce bursts of rain punctuate long dry spells.

  • Somali Drought; Harbinger of Hard Times

    Somali Drought; Harbinger of Hard Times

    For all its problems, Southern California has been a wonderful home for a lot of people over the past 100 or so years. It has nice beaches, good roads, plenty of places to eat, and, for now, a reliable supply of drinking water. Now imagine the L.A. riots had spread across the entire region, plunging…

  • The Fairytale of “Organic” Water

    The Fairytale of “Organic” Water

    Time and time again, marketing teams have proven that people will buy pretty much anything. So many examples exist that the topic was enough for Brooks Jackson to write an entire book about it. One of the more recent flim-flam schemes is selling organic water. Wait a tick, did I just say that? Yes, I…

  • Fracking Gains Ground in New York

    Fracking Gains Ground in New York

    Fracking is back in the news again, and in a big way. On July 1, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, backed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration, released its recommendations regarding the controversial natural gas extraction technique. Amidst the din of statewide protests, the agency supported fracking in most of the state’s portion…