Two new programs in Ethiopia and Tanzania will adapt modern technology such as an innovative “lab-in-a-box,” smartphones and web-based communications, along with training for agricultural extension workers, to broaden the reach of Africa’s “Green Revolution.”
It’s said that practice makes perfect, and that saying couldn’t be truer than for health care workers trying to save newborn lives in low-income settings. Without frequent retraining and refresher workshops, such skills deteriorate over time. The need for these workshops is especially strong in Ethiopia, where the infant mortality rate is 77.12 deaths per 1,000 babies, placing it among the worst worldwide.
Earth Institute scientists explore how the physical world works on every continent — over and under the arctic ice, in the grasslands of Mongolia, on volcanoes in Patagonia, over subduction zones in Papua New Guinea, and on the streets of New York City.
The Africa Soil Information Service has upgraded its website with a new layout, easier navigation and updates on project activities. A growing set of features provides information for managing soil and land in Africa, including an interactive map tool that allows you to choose layers and areas of interest that can be downloaded.
From fossil teeth to carbon traces of plants in the soil, scientists are studying how changes in climate may have influenced early human evolution in Africa. Researchers from around the world gathered for a symposium held recently at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Watch the videos.
“The use of stone to make stone that can cut flesh is important,” Richard Leakey said. “We’re not empirical things, we’re thinkers. … What was it that triggered that response?”
Soil is the source of all life. Yet “we know more about soils of Mars than about soils of Africa,” says Pedro Sanchez, director of the Earth Institute’s Tropical Agriculture and the Rural Environment Program. To remedy this situation, the Earth Institute is taking part in an ambitious undertaking to map the world’s soils.
The new Africa Monitoring System aims to help land managers and policy makers identify and tackle tradeoffs between intensified food production on the African continent and the vital services provided by healthy ecosystems.
Across sub-Saharan Africa, where MCI is working to help selected secondary cities attain the Millennium Development Goals, more than 150 million adults, or 38% of the adult population, lack basic literacy skills. Fortunately, a number of organizations are working hard to change this. LitWorld, a NY-based NGO dedicated to improving global literacy and a long-time MCI partner, held its third annual World Read Aloud Day on March 7, which presented an opportunity to engage in literacy-building exercises and advocate for global learning opportunities. Students from several Millennium Cities participated, joining others around the world to honor learning and literacy.
[Last updated: Dec. 13, 2012] Journalists may join Earth Institute research field expeditions, which take place on every continent and every ocean. Below: selected projects, in rough chronological order. (Work in and around New York listed separately at bottom.) While in the field, researchers may be available by phone or email, depending on site. Some expeditions [...]
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.
