As the world population grows toward 10 billion, consumption of water, food and energy is expanding at a rate that cannot be maintained without depleting the planet’s resources. If we fail to address these two issues together, we face a grim future of economic, social and environmental ills, warns a new report prepared by a group of scientists and other experts for the Royal Society.
by Kaci Fowler Originally from Germany, Philipp Petermann comes to the Earth Institute through an exchange program between Columbia University and the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris, or Sciences Po, a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France. In May, Philipp will graduate with a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science [...]
The people living on the northeast coast of Japan had learned to expect large earthquakes. But despite being one of the best-prepared nations, they were caught off-guard by the force of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami that devastated their coastline and led to the meltdown of reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. [...]
Rare earth metals play an important role in our envisaged carbon-free future, but their availability in the future is under question for different political and availability issues, which is worrying for planned reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
After finally reaching the Mongla and our boat, we settled into our new home. It is a similar design, but much larger than the one we used in September. As we ate dinner and explored the ship, it started the overnight journey to the southeastern part of the Sundarbans where the wildlife is most plentiful. [...]
We spent a day on the islands (chars) in the Brahmaputra River seeing the geology and talking to the residents. Then after an evening of feasting and dancing in our new Saris and lungis, we hit the road for the trip to the Sundarbans.
To help my students in a class on hazards of Bangladesh better understand the country, I am taking them there to experience Bangladesh for themselves.
Can we manage the needs of 9 billion people for water, food and energy without depleting our resources and ruining the environment? “The solutions,” says Tim Fox, “are all within the capability of existing technology.”
International maritime trade represents a unique example of global cooperation. With the help of a growing number of renewable energy technologies, the global community can work towards progress in this limited area and use it as a model for addressing emissions in other areas of the global economy.
Cutting energy use in a home or small business can save consumers plenty of money, so how come more private citizens aren’t doing it? Speakers at an Earth Institute-sponsored panel said in part it’s because the information people need is not accessible enough.
State of the Planet is a forum for discussion on varying viewpoints. The opinions expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Earth Institute or Columbia University.
