Author: Renee Cho

Renee Cho is a staff blogger for the Earth Institute and a freelance environmental writer who has written for www.insideclimatenews.com, E Magazine and On Earth. Previously, Renee was Communications Coordinator for Riverkeeper, the Hudson River environmental organization. She is currently in the certificate program at Columbia University’s Center for Environmental Research and Conservation.

Making Green Behavior Automatic

by | 5.23.2013 at 5:15pm
Photo: Intel Free Press

A default is defined as an option that applies if the chooser does nothing. The good news is that setting greener choices as defaults can automatically nudge people into more sustainable behavior.

A Sustainable Strategy to Deal with Urban Poverty

by | 5.3.2013 at 5:10pm
Photo credit: Fernando Arias

When architect Fernando Arias first arrived in Kumasi, Ghana last year, he saw unpaved roads, trash burning, garbage everywhere, and shoeless children running all around. He knew he needed to act on their behalf.

Green Films for Earth Day 2013

by | 4.18.2013 at 1:24pm | 1 Comment
Texas wind farmer Cliff Etheredge. Photo credit: Peter Byck

Mothers, carbon, trash, vanishing ice and “secret lives”: Watch a movie for Earth Day and learn.

Phosphorus: Essential to Life—Are We Running Out?

by | 4.1.2013 at 2:32pm
Fertilizing a corn field in Iowa. Photo credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture

Phosphorus is essential to human health and vital for food production. But are we using up phosphorus faster than we can economically extract it?

NY State Prepares for Natural Disasters: A Q&A with Cynthia Rosenzweig

by | 3.13.2013 at 8:48pm
Flooded tunnel in NYC. Photo credit: Ruanon

Cynthia Rosenzweig of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies talks about the work of the New York State Ready Commission, set up after Hurricane Sandy to study how the state can better prepare for natural disasters.

Improving Seeds to Meet Future Challenges

by | 2.8.2013 at 6:18pm
Perennial rice seeds.

Scientists and agronomists are racing to develop seeds that are higher yielding, more nutritious, and both drought and climate resilient to meet the challenge of feeding the world in the future.

What Obama Can and Should Do About Climate Change

by | 1.17.2013 at 4:02pm | 3 Comments
Photo: Talk Radio News Service

As President Obama embarks on his second term, many Americans are hoping that the extreme weather of 2012 will mark a sea change and finally goad him into making meaningful efforts to deal with climate change.

How the Warming Arctic Affects Us All

by | 12.6.2012 at 12:47pm | 1 Comment
Photo: NASA Goddard Photo and Video

The Arctic may seem remote, but the overall rate of global warming, our climate and weather, sea levels, and many ecosystems and species will be affected by the warming that is occurring there.

The Future of Transportation: More Safety, Savings and Sustainability

by | 11.16.2012 at 3:39pm | 1 Comment
GM's "pod car"  Photo: lotprocars

Though driverless cars sound like something out of the “The Jetsons,” they are just one of many innovations already under way in the realm of personal transportation.

Getting Better Prepared for the Next Big Storm

by | 11.12.2012 at 3:56pm
Long Beach Island

Super Storm Sandy was an unusually powerful and destructive storm because of a rare constellation of factors, but scientists predict that we can expect more extreme weather events due to the effects of climate change. Has the super storm made us take warnings about extreme weather more seriously?