http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu Fri, 24 May 2013 19:28:34 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/11/19/after-sandy-testing-the-waters/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/11/19/after-sandy-testing-the-waters/#comments Mon, 19 Nov 2012 15:32:45 +0000 Kim Martineau http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/?p=32394 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 [...]]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/11/19/after-sandy-testing-the-waters/feed/ 3 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/07/15/16268/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/07/15/16268/#comments Fri, 15 Jul 2011 14:15:34 +0000 Benjamin Preston http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/?p=16268 Time and time again, marketing teams have proven that people will buy pretty much anything. So many examples exist that the topic was enough for Brooks Jackson to write an entire book about it. One of the more recent flim-flam schemes is selling organic water. Wait a tick, did I just say that? Yes, I [...]]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/07/15/16268/feed/ 7 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/02/08/recruiting-tiny-organisms-to-detect-water-pollution/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/02/08/recruiting-tiny-organisms-to-detect-water-pollution/#comments Tue, 08 Feb 2011 20:41:13 +0000 Renee Cho http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/?p=11330 Climate change has huge implications for water pollution, so with increasing climate change effects and the concern that many regions on the planet are approaching peak water, timely water pollution detection is critical.]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/02/08/recruiting-tiny-organisms-to-detect-water-pollution/feed/ 0 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/02/02/solving-urbanization-challenges-by-design-%e2%80%93-the-science-of-green-roofs-part-2/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/02/02/solving-urbanization-challenges-by-design-%e2%80%93-the-science-of-green-roofs-part-2/#comments Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:10:10 +0000 Lakis Polycarpou http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/?p=10545 Patricia J. Culligan is a professor of civil engineering and engineering mechanics at Columbia University and the Vice Dean of Academic Affairs for Columbia Engineering. In part two of this interview she talks about the challenge of quantifying the economic benefits of green roofs, the potential for rooftop agriculture, and what it means to "solve urbanization challenges by design."]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/02/02/solving-urbanization-challenges-by-design-%e2%80%93-the-science-of-green-roofs-part-2/feed/ 1 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/01/31/solving-urbanization-challenges-by-design-%e2%80%93-the-science-of-green-roofs/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/01/31/solving-urbanization-challenges-by-design-%e2%80%93-the-science-of-green-roofs/#comments Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:17:16 +0000 Lakis Polycarpou http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/?p=10540 Patricia J. Culligan, professor of civil engineering and engineering mechanics, discusses her work with the Columbia University Green Roof Consortium to quantify the benefits of green roofs.]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/01/31/solving-urbanization-challenges-by-design-%e2%80%93-the-science-of-green-roofs/feed/ 4 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2010/12/23/fluoridation-of-water-communist-conspiracy-genuine-threat-or-both/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2010/12/23/fluoridation-of-water-communist-conspiracy-genuine-threat-or-both/#comments Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:00:22 +0000 Lakis Polycarpou http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/?p=10057 Who can forget the scene from Kubrick’s classic movie Dr. Strangelove of screws-loose General Jack D. Ripper pontificating to straight-laced British group captain Lionel Mandrake about the dangers of fluoride in water...]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2010/12/23/fluoridation-of-water-communist-conspiracy-genuine-threat-or-both/feed/ 2 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2010/09/01/in-support-of-the-neglected-drinking-fountain/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2010/09/01/in-support-of-the-neglected-drinking-fountain/#comments Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:20:15 +0000 Julia Apland Hitz http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/?p=6083 The Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association built the first public drinking fountain in London in 1859, as an answer to some of the pressing problems of their times. Drinking fountains are also part of the answer to some of our own problems.]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2010/09/01/in-support-of-the-neglected-drinking-fountain/feed/ 3 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2010/07/13/no-more-pavement-the-problem-of-impervious-surfaces/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2010/07/13/no-more-pavement-the-problem-of-impervious-surfaces/#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:18:16 +0000 Lakis Polycarpou http://blogs-admin.ei.columbia.edu/?p=4896 Recent research, according to the New York Times, indicates that urban areas are about to get hotter – much hotter. Not exactly what blistering New Yorkers want to hear after one of the more brutal, record-breaking heat waves in memory. Of course climatologists (and most of the rest of us) have known for a long [...]]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2010/07/13/no-more-pavement-the-problem-of-impervious-surfaces/feed/ 7 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2010/07/06/jamaica-bay-a-refuge-for-wildlife-in-new-york-city-gets-protection/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2010/07/06/jamaica-bay-a-refuge-for-wildlife-in-new-york-city-gets-protection/#comments Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:26:03 +0000 Julia Apland Hitz http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/water/?p=3405 The good news is that the migratory birds and resident marine life of Jamaica Bay may be getting a reprieve. In February, Mayor Bloomberg, the State Environmental Council and the Natural Resources Defense Council announced an agreement that would improve water quality and preserve the wetlands of Jamaica Bay. The Jamaica Bay Watershed Protection Plan commits to restoring degraded marshlands and reducing nitrogen discharge into the bay by 50 percent over the next ten years at a cost of $115 million to the city alone. Federal funds and resources are expected to supplement the project.]]> http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2010/07/06/jamaica-bay-a-refuge-for-wildlife-in-new-york-city-gets-protection/feed/ 4 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2010/06/23/a-visit-to-gowanus/ http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2010/06/23/a-visit-to-gowanus/#comments Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:08:34 +0000 Lakis Polycarpou http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/water/?p=3218 http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2010/06/23/a-visit-to-gowanus/feed/ 2