Category: Urbanization
Researchers from the Earth Institute’s Center for Research on Environmental Decisions will present their work at the 2012 American Geophysical Union Conference in San Francisco this week. Psychology doctoral candidate Katherine Thompson will present a poster entitled “The Psychology of Hazard Risk Perception”; and visiting research scholar Diana Reckien will present a poster entitled “Realities of Weather Extremes on Daily Life in Urban India—How Quantified Impacts Infer Sensible Adaptation Options.”
Category> Climate, Natural Disasters, Urbanization
Tags> American Geophysical Union, american geophysical union 2012, Climate, CRED, India, natural hazards, psychology, Weather
In a live webcast this afternoon from Hunter College, Earth Institute scientists Cynthia Rosenzweig and Klaus Jacob will join a panel on “Hurricane Sandy and Challenges to the NY Metropolitan Region.”
Category> Climate, Ecosystems, Natural Disasters, Urbanization
Tags> Adaptation, climate change, Hurricane Sandy, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, nasa goddard institute for space studies, New York City, sustainability
During Hurricane Sandy the seas rose a record 14-feet in lower Manhattan. Water flooded city streets, subways, tunnels and even sewage treatment plants. It is unclear how much sewage may have been released as plants lost power or were forced to divert untreated wastewater into the Hudson River. Four days after Sandy, the environmental group [...]
Category> Earth Sciences, Ecosystems, Natural Disasters, Urbanization, Water
Tags> Hudson River, Hurricane Sandy, hurricanes, lamont doherty earth observatory, urban infrastructure, Water Quality
As New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo acknowledged last Tuesday, “We have a new reality when it comes to these weather patterns; we have an old infrastructure, we have old systems. That is not a good combination.” This is exactly why the flood insurance market, as a tool for change, is of interest to the mayor’s office, and should be considered more widely by other coastal cities.
Category> Natural Disasters, Urbanization
Tags> flood insurance, Hurricane Sandy, New York City
For years before Hurricane Sandy charged ashore on Monday, researchers from the Earth Institute knew what was coming. As the region struggles to recover from this “superstorm,” we asked some of them to consider the lessons we can learn as we move forward.
Category> Climate, Earth Sciences, Energy, Natural Disasters, Urbanization
Tags> center for climate systems research, Center for Sustainable Urban Development, Climate Policy, Communicating Climate, disaster preparedness, Global Warming, Hurricane Sandy, Infrastructure, International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, NASA-GISS, New York City, Sustainable Development
MCI’s signature School2School Connectivity Project (S2S), a partnership with global communications giants Ericsson and Airtel Ghana, the City of Kumasi, Ghana, the Kumasi Metropolitan Education Directorate, Columbia University Teachers College and selected New York City public and private schools to teach the uses of the computer and the Internet in the teaching of the STEM [...]
Category> Poverty / Economic Development, Urbanization
Tags> Kumasi, millennium cities, Millennium Cities Initiative, school connectivity, School2School, Teachers College
In sub-Saharan Africa, only 63 percent of girls complete their schooling, according to the World Bank. Yet our own research in the Millennium Cities indicates that girls who continue their education will have far greater opportunities, and they will be in a better position to care for themselves and their families. To celebrate the United Nations’ International Day of the Girl, by “Standing Up for Girls” and their right to a quality education, a number of the Millennium Cities and Millennium Villages Project sites held rallies, marched and participated in debates on girls’ issues.
Category> Gender Equality, General Earth Institute, Millennium Villages, Poverty / Economic Development, Urbanization
Tags> Connect To Learn, gender equality, girls education, International Day of the Girl, Millennium Cities Initiative, Millennium Villages Project, Stand Up for Girls
Two Masters in Development Practice students, Paloma Ruiz Gonzalez and Marianna Costa Checa, used their MDP practicum this past summer to assist the Millennium Cities Initiative in mapping and surveying all health facilities in the Millennium City of Kisumu, Kenya, at the request of the city government and local health officials.
Category> Global Health, Poverty / Economic Development, Urbanization
Tags> Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, emergency obstetrics, Maternal Health, Millennium Cities Initiative, Millennium Development Goals, neonatal health
Can mushrooms help clean up oil spills? Can oysters filter sewage pollution? Industrial waste is being injected into the planet’s soil and water as a result of human activity. Pioneers in the field of conservation and sustainability are employing nature’s own biological task force to help clean up.
Category> Ecosystems, Urbanization, Water
Tags> Bioremediation, conservation, eco matters, ecology, ecosystem services, Environment, Fungi, Fungus, gowanus canal, International Coastal Cleanup, kate orff, marine ecology, newton creek, Oysters, paul stamets, Pollution, Surface Water, Sustainable Development, Wastewater, Water, water pollution
A city effort to clean-up polluted Newtown Creek by aerating the water to boost oxygen levels is having an unintended effect: it is releasing sewage bacteria and other particles into the air above the site, researchers say in a new study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. The researchers found bacteria types in the air consistent with the sewage and oil pollution in the creek. The study is one of the first to establish a link between water pollution and air-quality, raising new questions about the health risks posed by dirty water.
Category> Earth Sciences, Ecosystems, Urbanization, Water
Tags> Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
