State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

water matters27

  • At AGU, Earth Institute’s Columbia Water Center Adds to the Abundance of Scientific Riches

    At AGU, Earth Institute’s Columbia Water Center Adds to the Abundance of Scientific Riches

    The annual American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting is an all-you-can-eat buffet of the most current scientific knowledge available on the planet. Name your pleasure: space, climate change, geomagnetism, nonlinear geophysics, volcanology, biogeosciences, etc. You have to be careful to indulge in moderation over the five-day event, or risk unseemly bloating. The Columbia Water Center contributed…

  • A Milestone Worthy of a Party: the Municipal Water Plan in Brazil

    A Milestone Worthy of a Party: the Municipal Water Plan in Brazil

    I recently returned from a trip to visit our project site in Ceará, Brazil. While our project has included infrastructure construction, the heart of our work is a municipal water plan (PAM) for Milhã, an area in the central region of the state.

  • GE Agrees to Phase 2 of Hudson River Cleanup

    GE Agrees to Phase 2 of Hudson River Cleanup

    Today the General Electric Company (GE) notified the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it will conduct Phase 2 of the Hudson River cleanup operation and pay for it.

  • Finding Sustainable Solutions As Water Crisis in India’s Food Bowl Grows

    Finding Sustainable Solutions As Water Crisis in India’s Food Bowl Grows

    The rapidly declining groundwater table in Punjab–one of the most agriculturally productive states and the heart of green revolution belt in northern India–is a disturbing trend.

  • Is New York City Ready for Drought?

    Is New York City Ready for Drought?

    All day long a flood of thousands scientists and students ebbs and flows across San Francisco’s 4th Street and Howard Avenue, coursing between the cavernous Moscone West and Moscone South convention buildings. The AGU is like a supercomputer of earth science, with human currents of data swapping information, heading from one talk to another, processing…

  • The Columbia Water Center’s New Projects Section

    The Columbia Water Center is pleased to announce the release of a greatly expanded and updated research projects section of its website. The new section includes an interactive map along with updated content on the Water Center’s projects around the world. Find out about our how we’re helping farmers save water with tensiometers in India,…

  • India’s Water Is Running Out

    India’s Water Is Running Out

    India is running “the largest water-mining project in the world”–and it cannot be sustained much longer, Columbia Water Center researcher Shama Perveen told an audience on Monday. That is mainly because farmers, who depend heavily on irrigation water drawn from underground aquifers, are using far more water than rainfall can replenish. Perveen’s talk, “Quantifying the…

  • Parched for Peace: The Fertile Crescent Might Be Barren

    Parched for Peace: The Fertile Crescent Might Be Barren

    This past October, the Levant Desalination Association and Nosstia, an organization of expat Syrian scientists, arranged a conference in the capital city of Damascus to discuss Syria’s water crisis.

  • Parched for Peace: A Slight Digression, Just for Kicks

    Parched for Peace: A Slight Digression, Just for Kicks

    Yesterday, FIFA announced that the 2022 World Cup would be held in Qatar, the first Middle Eastern country ever chosen to host the tournament.

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The first Earth Day in 1970 ignited a movement to stop polluting our planet. Today, our scientists and experts are tackling the most pressing challenges to achieve real-world impact. This Earth Day, join us in our commitment to realizing a just and sustainable future for our planet. Visit our Earth Day website for ideas, resources, and inspiration.

  • At AGU, Earth Institute’s Columbia Water Center Adds to the Abundance of Scientific Riches

    At AGU, Earth Institute’s Columbia Water Center Adds to the Abundance of Scientific Riches

    The annual American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting is an all-you-can-eat buffet of the most current scientific knowledge available on the planet. Name your pleasure: space, climate change, geomagnetism, nonlinear geophysics, volcanology, biogeosciences, etc. You have to be careful to indulge in moderation over the five-day event, or risk unseemly bloating. The Columbia Water Center contributed…

  • A Milestone Worthy of a Party: the Municipal Water Plan in Brazil

    A Milestone Worthy of a Party: the Municipal Water Plan in Brazil

    I recently returned from a trip to visit our project site in Ceará, Brazil. While our project has included infrastructure construction, the heart of our work is a municipal water plan (PAM) for Milhã, an area in the central region of the state.

  • GE Agrees to Phase 2 of Hudson River Cleanup

    GE Agrees to Phase 2 of Hudson River Cleanup

    Today the General Electric Company (GE) notified the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it will conduct Phase 2 of the Hudson River cleanup operation and pay for it.

  • Finding Sustainable Solutions As Water Crisis in India’s Food Bowl Grows

    Finding Sustainable Solutions As Water Crisis in India’s Food Bowl Grows

    The rapidly declining groundwater table in Punjab–one of the most agriculturally productive states and the heart of green revolution belt in northern India–is a disturbing trend.

  • Is New York City Ready for Drought?

    Is New York City Ready for Drought?

    All day long a flood of thousands scientists and students ebbs and flows across San Francisco’s 4th Street and Howard Avenue, coursing between the cavernous Moscone West and Moscone South convention buildings. The AGU is like a supercomputer of earth science, with human currents of data swapping information, heading from one talk to another, processing…

  • The Columbia Water Center’s New Projects Section

    The Columbia Water Center is pleased to announce the release of a greatly expanded and updated research projects section of its website. The new section includes an interactive map along with updated content on the Water Center’s projects around the world. Find out about our how we’re helping farmers save water with tensiometers in India,…

  • India’s Water Is Running Out

    India’s Water Is Running Out

    India is running “the largest water-mining project in the world”–and it cannot be sustained much longer, Columbia Water Center researcher Shama Perveen told an audience on Monday. That is mainly because farmers, who depend heavily on irrigation water drawn from underground aquifers, are using far more water than rainfall can replenish. Perveen’s talk, “Quantifying the…

  • Parched for Peace: The Fertile Crescent Might Be Barren

    Parched for Peace: The Fertile Crescent Might Be Barren

    This past October, the Levant Desalination Association and Nosstia, an organization of expat Syrian scientists, arranged a conference in the capital city of Damascus to discuss Syria’s water crisis.

  • Parched for Peace: A Slight Digression, Just for Kicks

    Parched for Peace: A Slight Digression, Just for Kicks

    Yesterday, FIFA announced that the 2022 World Cup would be held in Qatar, the first Middle Eastern country ever chosen to host the tournament.