water matters19
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Clean Water for Fiji
Corporate giant Fiji Water makes millions of dollars every year selling bottled water, but only 47 percent of Fiji Islanders have access to clean drinking water. That may change.
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Cape May, New Jersey’s Battle Against Nature
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers battles an encroaching ocean, but how long will their funding hold out?
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New Water-Smart Communities Prepare For a Water Scarce Future
A recent study by the Stockholm Environment Institute warns that the American Southwest is exhausting its water resources, and if water use isn’t reduced, “The cumulative water shortfall for the Southwest for the next century, without adaptation, will be 1,815 million acre feet” due to population and economic growth. Climate change will, of course, make…
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Toxic Waters in the Gilded State
To those who have never been, the Golden State is known for luxurious palm tree-lined avenues, sun-drenched beaches, and picturesque mountains. But not all parts of California were created equal. The state’s San Joaquin Valley hosts a scene entirely different from the images of Malibu beaches depicted in travel brochures. It is the non-glittering core…
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Can Water Scarcity Bring Down a Government? Yemen Spirals Out of Control
According to The New York Times, Yemen, a nation of 24 million people that sits at the southern and southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is “on the brink of an economic collapse so dire it could take years to recover.”
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Making Room for Rivers: A Different Approach to Flood Control
Over time, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal engineering and construction agency, has spent over $123 billion on flood control infrastructure that hasn’t always adequately protected us. Now, with the devastation of the spring floods in the Midwest, some are calling for a new approach to flood control that makes room for our…
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A Right, a Need, or an Economic Good? Debating our Relationship to Water
Debates about the human right to water, and the role of the state or private companies in ensuring access, illustrate that water provision is anything but apolitical.
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The Uncertainties of Groundwater and Climate in India: An Interview with Chandra Kiran Krishnamurthy
Since he arrived at the Columbia Water Center at its founding in 2008, Chandra Kiran Krishnamurthy has been unswervingly focused on two questions. First, how will groundwater depletion and climate change affect agriculture in India? And given the dire nature of the crisis, what can we do to help people adapt?
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Hitting the Green in Cuba–Again
In a somewhat distressing development, the New York Times reports that the Cuban golf industry will soon be back in business after a 50-year hiatus that started when Fidel Castro first came to power.
AGU25, the premier Earth and space science conference, takes place December 15-19, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. This year’s theme—Where Science Connects Us—puts in focus how science depends on connection, from the lab to the field to the ballot box. Once again, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School scientists, experts, students, and educators are playing an active role, sharing our research and helping shape the future of our planet. #AGU25 Learn More
