Water Scarcity17
-
The True Cost of Water: NYC Event May 6
The Green Policy and Environmental Policy Discussion Group of the The New York Academy of Science and the Columbia Water Center are sponsoring a panel discussion on The True Cost of Water on May 6. The focus of this panel discussion is the importance of economic optimization of water usage in the present and in…
-
Addressing urban water scarcity in developing countries: Chennai, India
Ensuring an adequate water supply isn’t only an issue for large urban centers like New York or Los Angeles. It’s also a vital concern of the growing populations of cities in the developing world. Veena Srinivasan, of the Department of Environmental Earth System Science, Stanford University, shared her work on ‘The integrated water paradigm: a…
-
Cool Dip: New play about Africa and water conservation at Playwrights Horizons
Playing now through April 11th, Kia Corthron’s A COOL DIP IN THE BARREN SAHARAN CRICK tells the story of an African preacher-in-training, Abebe, who arrives in a drought-stricken American town to further his studies in water conservation and religion. Hosted by a mother and daughter haunted by tragedy, Abebe must prepare to battle the personal…
-
Water Footprinting – My Water Footprint
As an employee of the Columbia Water Center as well as a student studying Earth and Environmental Engineering (and focusing specifically on water resources), I consider myself a fairly water conscientious person. I take fast showers, turn off the sink when brushing my teeth, and drink primarily tap water to reduce my water footprint. However,…
-
Creating a Sustainable Water Future
The concept of sustainable development encompasses not only environmental sustainability, but also economic sustainability, and sociopolitical sustainability. There may be no bigger an issue when taking into account the three aspects of sustainable development than the issue of global water scarcity and the growing gap between water supply and demand. Water is arguably our most…
-
World Water Day – Let’s All Pull Together
Today, Monday, March 22 is World Water Day. It’s great to see the heightened attention to water issues, even if just for the day. The Huffington Post is featuring numerous WWD-related articles and in a recent check, “World Water Day” was the 75th most popular Google search.  Virtually every WWD article I’ve seen cites similar statistics, which…
-
Water Scarcity Conflicts Loom, but also Potential Cooperation
Regions likely to become drier because of climate change include Central Asia and northern Africa. Up to 250 million people in Africa could suffer extra stress on water supplies by 2020, according to the U.N. panel of climate experts.
-
Water Human Rights: Pollution
In my previous blogs, I have been discussing different ways in which the human right to clean water is violated. I have already discussed how economic scarcity occurs, and this week I will be discussing pollution of water. Pollution issues are largely leading to contamination of the water supplies around the world. There are countless…
-
Osmotic power — prospect of sustainable energy, or water liability?
Today, Statkraft, a company in Norway, opened the world’s first osmotic power plant—a model of a sustainable energy system which uses osmosis to harness the energy of fresh water’s natural movement toward salt water through a membrane. The idea for power generated through the movement of water, due to osmosis through a specially designed membrane,…
Congratulations to our Columbia Climate School MA in Climate & Society Class of 2024! Learn about our May 10 Class Day celebration. #ColumbiaClimate2024