water matters20
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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.
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Squeezing the Last Drops out of Sicily
If you were to drive south from Palermo, Sicily toward Monreale, you would be ringed in by green mountains, the sparkling white of ancient and modern buildings and the azure Mediterranean Sea receding behind you. Continuing south through the island’s mountainous interior, you would pass verdant agricultural fields on your way past Corleone, the namesake…
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Water-Saving Project in Punjab, India Reaches Out to Farmers Through Cooperatives
After working with over 500 farmers last year to conduct a field experiment on the use of tensiometers to reduce irrigation in rice fields, this year they will be working with about 5,000. As part of this expansion, our program partners at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) are working with Cooperative Societies, a network of…
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The Push to Dam China’s Rivers
China already has half the world’s large hydroelectric dams (25,800), but along the Yangtze River and its tributaries, 100 large dams are either being planned or built and 43 additional dams are in the works.
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Giving the Earth a Cool Shower–Is Massive Irrigation Hiding the Greenhouse Effect Around the World?
According to research published in Climate Dynamics by Benjamin I. Cook, Michael Puma and Nir Krakauer, it is possible that massive irrigation is masking expected warming trends from Greenhouse Gasses .
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Attack of the Warzone Water Bottles
Using bottled water in war zones uses oil and pollutes the environment. But Defense officials are looking to move toward sustainability.
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Ohio and Mississippi River Floods in Photos
Heavy rains over the American South and Midwest have deluged the region, causing unprecedented flood damage. View photos of the event from around the web.
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Post bin Laden, Working Toward Afghanistan’s Water Security
Osama bin Laden is history, but decades of war and civil strife pose challenges to Afghanistan’s water infrastructure.
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Earth, Water and Sky –A Conversation with Pierre Gentine, a new Columbia Water Center Scientist
Columbia Water Center welcomes Pierre Gentine, Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics at Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, as an affiliate researcher. Pierre’s groundbreaking research on the way soil moisture interacts with the atmosphere has implications for many of CWCs initiatives—from developing more efficient irrigation systems, to water resource management, to understanding floods.…

By studying thousands of buildings and analyzing their electricity use, Columbia Climate School Dean Alexis Abramson has been able to uncover ways to significantly cut energy consumption and emissions. Watch the Video: “Engineering a Cooler Future Through Smarter Buildings“
