State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Water Quality3

  • The Problem of Lawns

    In the United States, lawns are so ubiquitous that they seem to be almost a basic human right. That’s a serious problem, given the enormous resources that our North American lawn-fetish consumes.

  • 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.

  • Reflections on Haiti

    Earlier this month, I was lucky enough to travel to Haiti to install a weather monitoring station, as well as conduct streamflow measurements and water quality assessments with Water Center employee Lior Asaf.  Traveling to Haiti gave me my first exposure to how water and climate issues are affecting poor and developing countries, as well…

  • Water you drinking?

    With Jenni’s recent post on “Water Human Rights: Pollution,” I started to question the safety and current state of the public water system here in the United States. Charles Duhigg’s New York Times article confirmed my suspicions of the potentially dangerous quality of water in the US municipal water system. The Clean Water Act of 1972 and…

  • Reclaimed Water: Safe to Drink?

    People often cringe at the thought of water that was once wastewater being treated and used as drinking water. However, in Tampa, Florida, voters will be deciding next year on whether to use reclaimed water as part of the city’s drinking water. Reclaimed water, also known as recycled water, is highly treated wastewater that is…

  • U.S., Canada, re-opening negotiations on Great Lakes water quality

    On Saturday, June 13, 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with her Canadian counterpart, Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon, in Niagara Falls to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the Boundary Waters Treaty.  While the Treaty governs all international waters shared by Canada and the USA, its primary application is to Great Lakes’ policy.  As part of the…

  • Obama’s Clean Water Initiatives

    From U.S. News: Obama Likely to Boost Water Quality Rules After Years of Lax Regulation [The Clean Water Act] Passed in 1972, the law was interpreted by both Congress and the courts for nearly 30 years as protecting virtually all federal waters. But in 2001, and again in 2006, the Supreme Court handed down rulings…

  • Is the Hudson Swimmable? New Program Aims to Test the Waters

    Ongoing Work By Scientists Will Supply Data to the Public

  • More Than 1,000 to Get Their Feet Wet in Hudson Estuary Project

    For many residents of New York City and upstate communities, the Hudson River is such a constant presence that it can sometimes fade into the background of daily life. On Wednesday, October 12, however, Earth Institute researchers contributed to the efforts of volunteers and students from Troy to Brooklyn in putting the Hudson front-and-center by…

  • The Problem of Lawns

    In the United States, lawns are so ubiquitous that they seem to be almost a basic human right. That’s a serious problem, given the enormous resources that our North American lawn-fetish consumes.

  • 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.

  • Reflections on Haiti

    Earlier this month, I was lucky enough to travel to Haiti to install a weather monitoring station, as well as conduct streamflow measurements and water quality assessments with Water Center employee Lior Asaf.  Traveling to Haiti gave me my first exposure to how water and climate issues are affecting poor and developing countries, as well…

  • Water you drinking?

    With Jenni’s recent post on “Water Human Rights: Pollution,” I started to question the safety and current state of the public water system here in the United States. Charles Duhigg’s New York Times article confirmed my suspicions of the potentially dangerous quality of water in the US municipal water system. The Clean Water Act of 1972 and…

  • Reclaimed Water: Safe to Drink?

    People often cringe at the thought of water that was once wastewater being treated and used as drinking water. However, in Tampa, Florida, voters will be deciding next year on whether to use reclaimed water as part of the city’s drinking water. Reclaimed water, also known as recycled water, is highly treated wastewater that is…

  • U.S., Canada, re-opening negotiations on Great Lakes water quality

    On Saturday, June 13, 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with her Canadian counterpart, Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon, in Niagara Falls to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the Boundary Waters Treaty.  While the Treaty governs all international waters shared by Canada and the USA, its primary application is to Great Lakes’ policy.  As part of the…

  • Obama’s Clean Water Initiatives

    From U.S. News: Obama Likely to Boost Water Quality Rules After Years of Lax Regulation [The Clean Water Act] Passed in 1972, the law was interpreted by both Congress and the courts for nearly 30 years as protecting virtually all federal waters. But in 2001, and again in 2006, the Supreme Court handed down rulings…

  • Is the Hudson Swimmable? New Program Aims to Test the Waters

    Ongoing Work By Scientists Will Supply Data to the Public

  • More Than 1,000 to Get Their Feet Wet in Hudson Estuary Project

    For many residents of New York City and upstate communities, the Hudson River is such a constant presence that it can sometimes fade into the background of daily life. On Wednesday, October 12, however, Earth Institute researchers contributed to the efforts of volunteers and students from Troy to Brooklyn in putting the Hudson front-and-center by…