State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

water matters23

  • White Paper Release: Addressing the Water Crisis in Gujarat, India

    White Paper Release: Addressing the Water Crisis in Gujarat, India

    In honor of World Water Day, Columbia Water Center is releasing a new White Paper: Addressing the Water Crisis in Gujarat, India. The paper presents the results of Columbia Water Center’s study of the severe groundwater crisis in the Mehsana region of Northern Gujarat, India. The study concludes that the current pattern of groundwater exploitation…

  • The State of Water in America

    The State of Water in America

    Guest Post By Colin Sabol, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for ITT’s Fluid and Motion Control division Today, World Water Day, is a day designed to draw attention to the state of one of the world’s most precious resources. This is a global issue with many regional and local implications. Here in America,…

  • Ethanol’s Impacts on Our Water Resources

    Ethanol’s Impacts on Our Water Resources

    Ninety-five percent of ethanol in the U.S. comes from corn, but corn-based ethanol is controversial because of the amount of land required to grow the crops, and because of its effect on food prices and water resources.

  • A Solution to the Problem of Lawns?

    A Solution to the Problem of Lawns?

    Given the growing intensity of the global water crisis, to spend such enormous amounts of water on something that for practical purposes does little more than enslave millions of American homeowners by chaining them to their lawnmowers and sprinklers every Saturday…

  • Changing Litterbugs One Wave at a Time

    Changing Litterbugs One Wave at a Time

    As the mid-Pacific trash island grows, forces are at work to change people’s minds about how they may be adding to it.

  • New York Times Raises Concerns about Hydrofracking

    New York Times Raises Concerns about Hydrofracking

    An article in the New York Times has prompted debate over the effects of hydrofracking, a means of obtaining natural gas, on drinking water supplies.

  • The Fog Collectors: Harvesting Water From Thin Air

    The Fog Collectors: Harvesting Water From Thin Air

    Today nearly two people in ten have no source of safe drinking water according to the U.N. But in some desert areas, where there is very little rain, fog and dew are abundant sources of humidity that are being harvested to produce fresh water.

  • Irrigation Management and Global Water Supply

    Irrigation Management and Global Water Supply

    The Columbia Water Center hosted Marshall English last week to talk about the role crop irrigation plays in water resource planning and problem solving.

  • Maori Values; Modern Solutions

    Maori Values; Modern Solutions

    New Zealand’s longest river is also its most polluted, but Maori tribesmen have help to offer that goes beyond technology.

Photo of the Earth from space with the text "Lamont at AGU25" on top.

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

  • White Paper Release: Addressing the Water Crisis in Gujarat, India

    White Paper Release: Addressing the Water Crisis in Gujarat, India

    In honor of World Water Day, Columbia Water Center is releasing a new White Paper: Addressing the Water Crisis in Gujarat, India. The paper presents the results of Columbia Water Center’s study of the severe groundwater crisis in the Mehsana region of Northern Gujarat, India. The study concludes that the current pattern of groundwater exploitation…

  • The State of Water in America

    The State of Water in America

    Guest Post By Colin Sabol, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for ITT’s Fluid and Motion Control division Today, World Water Day, is a day designed to draw attention to the state of one of the world’s most precious resources. This is a global issue with many regional and local implications. Here in America,…

  • Ethanol’s Impacts on Our Water Resources

    Ethanol’s Impacts on Our Water Resources

    Ninety-five percent of ethanol in the U.S. comes from corn, but corn-based ethanol is controversial because of the amount of land required to grow the crops, and because of its effect on food prices and water resources.

  • A Solution to the Problem of Lawns?

    A Solution to the Problem of Lawns?

    Given the growing intensity of the global water crisis, to spend such enormous amounts of water on something that for practical purposes does little more than enslave millions of American homeowners by chaining them to their lawnmowers and sprinklers every Saturday…

  • Changing Litterbugs One Wave at a Time

    Changing Litterbugs One Wave at a Time

    As the mid-Pacific trash island grows, forces are at work to change people’s minds about how they may be adding to it.

  • New York Times Raises Concerns about Hydrofracking

    New York Times Raises Concerns about Hydrofracking

    An article in the New York Times has prompted debate over the effects of hydrofracking, a means of obtaining natural gas, on drinking water supplies.

  • The Fog Collectors: Harvesting Water From Thin Air

    The Fog Collectors: Harvesting Water From Thin Air

    Today nearly two people in ten have no source of safe drinking water according to the U.N. But in some desert areas, where there is very little rain, fog and dew are abundant sources of humidity that are being harvested to produce fresh water.

  • Irrigation Management and Global Water Supply

    Irrigation Management and Global Water Supply

    The Columbia Water Center hosted Marshall English last week to talk about the role crop irrigation plays in water resource planning and problem solving.

  • Maori Values; Modern Solutions

    Maori Values; Modern Solutions

    New Zealand’s longest river is also its most polluted, but Maori tribesmen have help to offer that goes beyond technology.