State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

water matters35

  • Losing your glaciers? Build your own.

    Scientific American has an interesting photo piece by Gaia Vince about a place in the Himalayas that is adapting to climate change by creating its own glaciers.

  • Peak Water?

    Today, a growing number of scientists argue that global peak oil may be upon us—an argument that would seem to be supported by the increasingly heroic measures oil companies are taking (such as the ultra-deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico) to keep up with global oil demand. Many underground aquifers and even some surface…

  • Your friendly neighborhood Sinkhole: a sign of things to come?

    Your old infrastructure is going to eat you alive. Well, maybe not you, exactly, but it is eating some people alive. I’m talking about the astounding sinkhole that formed in Guatemala City over the weekend.

  • Beyond Market Economics?

    Bottled water – “one of the least green and least defensible ripoffs on the market.” Is this a routine quote from one of the usual suspects of anti-bottled water campaigners? Surprisingly, no. It’s from the Economist – the journalistic bastion of free market economics – and is is included in their new special report on…

  • The Garden on the Tibibas Plain, Mali: Women’s ag. project takes off

    What follows are excerpts from a report by Severin Oman on a Women’s Community Garden project in Mali, West Africa, sponsored by the Earth Institute Millennium Village Project (MVP) and the Columbia Water Center. The project is located within the Tiby, Mali, Millennium Village cluster.

  • The chaal and local groundwater management in India: When progress isn’t progress

    I recently came across an article in the Tehelka blog, which made me want to learn more. It was about a traditional water management system in the Uttarakhand region in northern India that has worked for years, but is being destroyed by funding meant to ‘modernize’ it.

  • The Economist: Special Report on Water, a primer for the water crisis

    The Economist has released a Special Report on Water, dated May 22nd, 2010, written by John Grimond. The 18 page report contains 9 short but substantial articles giving an overview of global water issues.

  • Irrigation project success in Mali

    Columbia Water Center is working in Mali, Africa, as part of its PepsiCo Foundation funded project to improve rural water use and livelihoods. The Mali component of the project aims to develop an effective irrigation system to improve agricultural productivity and food security.

  • Water and Energy – an Integrated Approach

    In the news, electricity and resource use seems to get the most exposure – people are looking at emissions, global warming, and oil and coal dependence.  One thing that is for certain is that electricity use needs to decrease if we are to decreased our dependence on oil, our CO2 emissions, and become a greener…

  • Losing your glaciers? Build your own.

    Scientific American has an interesting photo piece by Gaia Vince about a place in the Himalayas that is adapting to climate change by creating its own glaciers.

  • Peak Water?

    Today, a growing number of scientists argue that global peak oil may be upon us—an argument that would seem to be supported by the increasingly heroic measures oil companies are taking (such as the ultra-deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico) to keep up with global oil demand. Many underground aquifers and even some surface…

  • Your friendly neighborhood Sinkhole: a sign of things to come?

    Your old infrastructure is going to eat you alive. Well, maybe not you, exactly, but it is eating some people alive. I’m talking about the astounding sinkhole that formed in Guatemala City over the weekend.

  • Beyond Market Economics?

    Bottled water – “one of the least green and least defensible ripoffs on the market.” Is this a routine quote from one of the usual suspects of anti-bottled water campaigners? Surprisingly, no. It’s from the Economist – the journalistic bastion of free market economics – and is is included in their new special report on…

  • The Garden on the Tibibas Plain, Mali: Women’s ag. project takes off

    What follows are excerpts from a report by Severin Oman on a Women’s Community Garden project in Mali, West Africa, sponsored by the Earth Institute Millennium Village Project (MVP) and the Columbia Water Center. The project is located within the Tiby, Mali, Millennium Village cluster.

  • The chaal and local groundwater management in India: When progress isn’t progress

    I recently came across an article in the Tehelka blog, which made me want to learn more. It was about a traditional water management system in the Uttarakhand region in northern India that has worked for years, but is being destroyed by funding meant to ‘modernize’ it.

  • The Economist: Special Report on Water, a primer for the water crisis

    The Economist has released a Special Report on Water, dated May 22nd, 2010, written by John Grimond. The 18 page report contains 9 short but substantial articles giving an overview of global water issues.

  • Irrigation project success in Mali

    Columbia Water Center is working in Mali, Africa, as part of its PepsiCo Foundation funded project to improve rural water use and livelihoods. The Mali component of the project aims to develop an effective irrigation system to improve agricultural productivity and food security.

  • Water and Energy – an Integrated Approach

    In the news, electricity and resource use seems to get the most exposure – people are looking at emissions, global warming, and oil and coal dependence.  One thing that is for certain is that electricity use needs to decrease if we are to decreased our dependence on oil, our CO2 emissions, and become a greener…