State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Tag: water matters8

  • When Environmental Oversight Takes a Back Seat

    When Environmental Oversight Takes a Back Seat

    The government of Peru faces significant pressure to encourage growth and investment in the mining sector, but this has also put pressure on the government’s ability to properly assess environmental impacts.

  • Californians Are Ready for Recycled Water

    Californians Are Ready for Recycled Water

    Water reuse is a proven technology that can produce a drought-proof sustainable water supply. Yet historically, there has been some reluctance to adopt it here in the United States. Xylem commissioned a poll to try to better understand perceptions about recycled water in drought-stricken California. And the findings were eye-opening.

  • Watch: Building Solutions for Water Challenges

    Watch: Building Solutions for Water Challenges

    From aging and leaky pipes to pollution and shrinking aquifers, America’s water infrastructure faces a growing set of challenges. A new video describes how the America’s Water Initiative, a program based at the Columbia Water Center, is trying to address those issues.

  • Flint Crisis Opens Door on Water Problems Around U.S.

    Flint Crisis Opens Door on Water Problems Around U.S.

    Experts from the Columbia Water Center, the Earth Institute and affiliates talk about the municipal water crisis in Flint, Mich., the nature of the crisis and what it means for America’s Water.

  • India Steps Up on Climate Change

    India Steps Up on Climate Change

    As a nation still in its developing phase, with 1.25 billion citizens and counting, India can’t afford to forego even part of its industrial progress. But we also cannot go on developing without taking into account the emissions produced by industries that are major contributors to global warming.

  • Climate Through A Different Lens: Poverty, Inequality, Sustainability

    Climate Through A Different Lens: Poverty, Inequality, Sustainability

    Technology has brought us low-cost global communication, and also enabled a global economy. It has also brought us closer and further from each other. We now know more about other cultures. We also see the differences, and sharpen our sense of inequities. Perhaps, this, rather than a control of greenhouse gases, needs to be the…

  • With El Niño, Be Careful What You Wish for

    With El Niño, Be Careful What You Wish for

    In Southern California, a strong El Niño usually signals rain. Given that California is now in the throes of a severe drought, it seems like that should be a good thing, even if it comes with risk of floods. But the reality of climate is more complex and counter-intuitive than it first appears.

  • Making Agriculture Sustainable in One of India’s Poorest States

    Making Agriculture Sustainable in One of India’s Poorest States

    Jharkhand, India is one of the nation’s poorest and most most food-insecure states, with over 45 percent of the population living below the poverty line. Can a research team devise sustainable ways to improve livelihoods, productivity and sustainable water use?

  • Learning from a River’s History to Prepare for the Future

    Learning from a River’s History to Prepare for the Future

    Researchers from eight universities, including Columbia University, are using tree ring and glacier analysis to reconstruct the climate history of the Missouri River Basin in order to give policymakers and water managers better decision-making tools to manage the river.

  • When Environmental Oversight Takes a Back Seat

    When Environmental Oversight Takes a Back Seat

    The government of Peru faces significant pressure to encourage growth and investment in the mining sector, but this has also put pressure on the government’s ability to properly assess environmental impacts.

  • Californians Are Ready for Recycled Water

    Californians Are Ready for Recycled Water

    Water reuse is a proven technology that can produce a drought-proof sustainable water supply. Yet historically, there has been some reluctance to adopt it here in the United States. Xylem commissioned a poll to try to better understand perceptions about recycled water in drought-stricken California. And the findings were eye-opening.

  • Watch: Building Solutions for Water Challenges

    Watch: Building Solutions for Water Challenges

    From aging and leaky pipes to pollution and shrinking aquifers, America’s water infrastructure faces a growing set of challenges. A new video describes how the America’s Water Initiative, a program based at the Columbia Water Center, is trying to address those issues.

  • Flint Crisis Opens Door on Water Problems Around U.S.

    Flint Crisis Opens Door on Water Problems Around U.S.

    Experts from the Columbia Water Center, the Earth Institute and affiliates talk about the municipal water crisis in Flint, Mich., the nature of the crisis and what it means for America’s Water.

  • India Steps Up on Climate Change

    India Steps Up on Climate Change

    As a nation still in its developing phase, with 1.25 billion citizens and counting, India can’t afford to forego even part of its industrial progress. But we also cannot go on developing without taking into account the emissions produced by industries that are major contributors to global warming.

  • Climate Through A Different Lens: Poverty, Inequality, Sustainability

    Climate Through A Different Lens: Poverty, Inequality, Sustainability

    Technology has brought us low-cost global communication, and also enabled a global economy. It has also brought us closer and further from each other. We now know more about other cultures. We also see the differences, and sharpen our sense of inequities. Perhaps, this, rather than a control of greenhouse gases, needs to be the…

  • With El Niño, Be Careful What You Wish for

    With El Niño, Be Careful What You Wish for

    In Southern California, a strong El Niño usually signals rain. Given that California is now in the throes of a severe drought, it seems like that should be a good thing, even if it comes with risk of floods. But the reality of climate is more complex and counter-intuitive than it first appears.

  • Making Agriculture Sustainable in One of India’s Poorest States

    Making Agriculture Sustainable in One of India’s Poorest States

    Jharkhand, India is one of the nation’s poorest and most most food-insecure states, with over 45 percent of the population living below the poverty line. Can a research team devise sustainable ways to improve livelihoods, productivity and sustainable water use?

  • Learning from a River’s History to Prepare for the Future

    Learning from a River’s History to Prepare for the Future

    Researchers from eight universities, including Columbia University, are using tree ring and glacier analysis to reconstruct the climate history of the Missouri River Basin in order to give policymakers and water managers better decision-making tools to manage the river.