2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001
12/13/02
This November, Governor Pataki announced plans to establish a real-time observation and monitoring system for the Hudson River, which will help to protect this historic waterway. The nearly $1 million monitoring project, Hudson Riverscope, is the first incubator research project of the Rivers and Estuaries Center on the Hudson.
12/13/02
Researchers from the Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Earth
Institute at Columbia University, the Tyndall Centre
for Climate Change Research at the University of East
Anglia, and other institutions conclude that the increase
in the incidence of malaria in East Africa parallels
warming trends over the last several decades. The new
findings challenge the results of a study, "Climate
Change and Resurgence of Malaria in the East African
Highlands," which was previously published in the journal
Nature.
12/03/02
Jacqueline Floyd and her colleagues,
all from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory,
are introducing groundbreaking research results in the field
of plate tectonics. Their study is featured as the November
29, 2002 cover story in the scientific journal Science.
11/27/02
Columbia University/UNESCO
Joint Program on Biosphere and Society (CUBES) Field Coordinator Ben
Lane recently returned from Kenya, where he traveled for seven days
with Maasai herdsmen as they held discussions with ranchers from New
Mexico and grasslands experts about rangeland management. Here, Lane
speaks about the trip, and just what the Maasai and American ranchers
have to learn from each other.
11/15/02
For his enormous contribution to
the development of sciences and education in Mongolia, The
National University of Mongolia appointed Dr. Gordon Jacoby,
a senior research scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Institute,
as an Honorary Professor of Life Sciences.
11/12/02
Lamont-Doherty's Dee Breger recently
received the 2002 Whiting Memorial Award from the International
Society for Philosophical Enquiry (ISPE). The award consists
of a significant grant and a crystal plaque noting her contributions
to both worlds of science and art.
11/06/02
Centerinitiatives provide new vision-addressing critical health
issues in resource-poor countries to stimulate social and
economic development
New
York, NY-Economic progress in developing countries depends
on healthy citizens and environments. The Mailman School of
Public Health and The Earth Institute at Columbia University
are launching the Center for Global Health and Economic Development
(CGHED), as a joint venture based at the Mailman School, to
mobilize global health programs that help resource-poor countries
address the burden of disease.
11/01/02
WASHINGTON
- Advances in detection devices and methods of analysis have
allowed seismologists to identify virtually all events that
might be nuclear explosions of possible military significance
under the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), according
to Prof. Lynn R. Sykes of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty
Earth Observatory. Writing in the 29 October issue of Eos,
published by the American Geophysical Union, Sykes analyzes
72 questionable events since 1960.
10/30/02
An
increased frequency of extreme precipitation events has been
observed over the last 100 years in the United States. Global
climate models project that similar trends may continue and
even strengthen over the coming decades, due to climate change.
Now, a study using computer climate and crop model simulations
predicts that U.S. agricultural production losses due to excess
rainfall may double in the next 30 years, resulting in an
estimated $3 billion per year in damages.
10/29/02
In the midst of President Bush's rally cry for war, Earth
Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs argues that, in the war against
want, no less than in the war against terror, actions speak
louder than words.
10/23/02
Scientists say human effects can be a positive factor for life on Earth.
A
team of scientists from Columbia's Center for International
Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) and the New York-based
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has produced a new, comprehensive
map of the world, showing how human beings directly influence
more than three quarters of the earth's landmass. Published
in the latest issue of the scientific journal BioScience,
the map should serve as a wake-up call that humans are stewards
of the natural world, whether we like it or not -- something
that should be viewed as an opportunity, the authors say.
10/16/02
Pedro
Sanchez, recipient of the 2002 World Food Prize, is joining
the Earth Institute at Columbia University as Director of
Tropical Agriculture. The Earth Institute is the world's pioneer
academic center for mobilizing the sciences and public policy
to build a sustainable future, especially for the world's
poor.
10/04/02
NASA
researchers Surabi Menon and James Hansen used resources at
the Goddard Institute for Space Studies at Columbia University
to discover that large amounts of black carbon particles,
or soot, as well as other pollutants have been observed to
cause changes in precipitation and temperature over China.
10/03/02
Global Initiatives Rely on Recent Advances in Genomic Mapping of
Malaria Parasite and Mosquito, as well as Major Investment
in Prevention, Control and New Technologies
With
the stunning completion of the mapping of the genomes of the
main malaria parasite and the mosquito that spreads it, Earth
Institute Director Jeffrey D. Sachs renews his call for a
worldwide effort to control malaria in the October 4, 2002
issue of Science.
09/25/02
Mild winter conditions in Europeare not due to the gulf stream, suggesting that ocean circulation
plays less of a role in climate change than thought.
New
research shows that the Gulf Stream has little effect on the
contrast in winter temperatures between Europe and eastern
North America, dispelling a long-held assumption. Instead,
atmospheric circulation, augmented by the Rocky Mountains,
plays a larger role, say Dr. Richard Seager of Columbia University's
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Dr. David Battisti of the
University of Washington, and their colleagues.
09/25/02
Columbiauniversity biosphere 2 rainforest site for drought experiment
-- collaborative global climate change experiment underway
TUCSON -- In a major collaborative research initiative, an
international group of 14 scientists from a range of disciplines
have gathered at Columbia University Biosphere 2 Center for
an El Niño experiment in the Laboratory's Rainforest
-- an acre tropical habitat, supporting a complex patchwork
of vegetation that is a functional model of the Amazon Rainforest.
09/06/02
Surprisingfinding of arsenic study provides opportunity to save lives
Researchers
at the Earth Institute at Columbia University will announce
in the August issue of the World Health Organization Bulletin
the surprising results of a field survey of arsenic-poisoned
drinking water in Bangladesh: 88 percent of people living
in the researchers' survey area are less than 100 meters away
from safe wells, even though these good wells account for
only fifty percent of all the wells in their study area.
08/26/02
Steven
Cohen, director of the graduate program in earth science and
policy management at Columbia's School of International and
Public Affairs and the Earth Institute, recently published
an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times proposing waste-to-energy
plants as a long-term solution to New York City's garbage
problem.
08/12/02
Niño is back, and some abnormal weather can be expected
in the coming six to nine months. A team of Columbia climate
experts at the International Research Institute for Climate
Prediction has identified the warm Pacific ocean surface temperatures
indicating that the climate phenomenon has indeed returned
(see Image A below). IRI researchers are now engaged in the
delicate task of forecasting which locations are most vulnerable
to the extremes that can accompany an El Niño, and
what people in those locations can do to prepare.
08/12/02
(Toronto)
Dr. Pedro Sanchez, a native Cuban and graduate of Cornell
University in the United States, has been selected to receive
the $250,000 World Food Prize in 2002.
07/22/02
TUCSON
-- Dr. Koji Nakanishi, Columbia's Centennial Professor of
Chemistry and Director of Research, Biosphere 2 Center Chemistry
Unit, joined, this week, fellow chemists from Columbia, Cornell
and Stevens Institute of Technology to plan an upcoming Chemistry
of the Biosphere Symposium at Biosphere 2 Center.
07/18/02
NewResearch Shows That Ross Sea Waters Are Freshening
Columbia University scientists are reporting in the journal
Science that salinity levels in the Ross Sea have experienced
a large decline in recent decades. Once the saltiest body
of water in the Antarctic, this distinction now goes to its
distant neighbor, the Weddell Sea.
07/11/02
ResearchIndicates Unexpected Role of Tropical Pacific Ocean in Global
Climate Change
El
Niño has always been associated with warming of tropical
Pacific surface waters and global temperatures. However, new
research publishing in the journal Science shows that
conditions resembling El Niño were the norm during
the last ice age, 18,000 plus years ago, when global temperatures
were dramatically cooler than they are today.
07/01/02
Columbia University trains professionals to apply
climate information to agriculture
When scientists at the Columbia Earth Institute's State of
the Planet conference last month claimed that they had the
technical means to end world hunger, climate prediction science
was part of the solution.
06/18/02
Sixbiologically and culturally significant locations to receive
assistance
On
June 21 at The the United Nations, the The Earth Institute
at Columbia University and the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere
Programme (MAB) will formally announce The Columbia University/UNESCO
Joint Program on Biosphere and Society (CUBES). CUBES
is the first joint partnership between Columbia University
and the United Nations. Its mission is to assist local communities
around the globe in adapting to rapid environmental and societal
change and to share information between societies facing similar
challenges.
06/12/02
Recognizing
the achievements of scientists and engineers in the success
of New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg will present the
2002 Mayor's Awards for Excellence in Science and Technology
on Thursday, June 13, to five Columbia professors for their
breakthrough research in neurobiology, applied mathematics,
biochemistry and physics. The Columbia winners were honored
in four of five categories and captured more awards than any
other institution in the city for a second straight year. By
Suzanne Trimel.
05/28/02
A
Columbia University scientist studying an active seafloor
volcano in the Pacific Ocean has determined that there is
a correlation between the hundreds of micro earthquakes she
recorded and the ocean tides.
05/23/02
Scientists
speaking at Columbia University expressed optimism that the
technical means now exist to end worldwide starvation in the
next generation. A hopeful view prevailed among the 26 speakers
addressing an audience of more than 400 gathered at Columbia
University's second State of the Planet Conference on May
13 and 14 to discuss the role of science in achieving sustainability.
05/16/02
Columbia Scientists Link the Rise of the GiantJurassic Dinosaurs With an Explosive Extraterrestrial Collision
An
asteroid or comet impact on Earth may have paved the way for
the sudden rise of the great Jurassic dinosaurs, according
to a paper to be published this week in the journal Science.
Dr. Paul Olsen from the Columbia Earth Institute's Lamont-Doherty
Earth Observatory and an international team of scientists
reached their conclusion from an examination of a number of
clues - iridium, skeletal remains, footprints, and fern spores
- that create a picture of life at the dawn of the Jurassic
period.
04/24/02
Three
teams of Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory seismologists are
in Plattsburgh, New York, this week assessing damage due to
the largest earthquake to hit the New York State and New England
in the last 19 years.
04/22/02
This
week
Science News features Lamont's ideas for safely exploring
the past buried in Lake Vostok. A new web animation illustrates
the point.
04/11/02
Dr. Miguel Piñedo-Vasquez to assume scientificleadership of program
Small
farmers can be a key to conservation of biodiversity and preservation
of the environment. Biodiversity conservation can improve
the incomes of the rural poor. These are the simple but radical
ideas of a United Nations University initiative called People,
Land Management, and Environmental Change (PLEC).
04/05/02
Harvard University Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs has been named director
of the Columbia University Earth Institute, effective July
1, 2002. Sachs, who serves as an economic advisor to governments
in Latin America, Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union,
Asia and Africa as well as to the United Nations, is widely
considered one of the most important economists in the world.
04/05/02
USC Prize Carries $200,000 Award
Two
scientists who study geological clues from the past for insight
into the environmental problems of the present have been selected
to share the 2002 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement.
04/04/02
A study led by Columbia researchers published in the March issue
of Wetlands, the journal of the Society of Wetland Scientists,
supports observations that the salt marshes of New York City's
Jamaica Bay near John F. Kennedy International Airport are
eroding rapidly, and in the coming decades may disappear altogether
with rising sea levels as a result of global warming. by Suzanne Trimel
04/01/02
Two-year research project bears fruit
When
IRI climate scientist Jennifer Phillips arrived in the mountains
of Machakos, Kenya in late February, the first question she
heard from the farmers was whether there might be an El Niño
event this year, and what might that mean for them. Phillips
also encountered local journalists starting up an organization
aimed at helping the public understand and learn how to respond
to climate information.
03/21/02
Since the 1996 discovery of a liquid lake, sealed for millions of
years beneath two miles of solid ice, scientists have speculated
about the novel life forms existing within. Located in the
Antarctic, Lake Vostok is a pristine, ancient global environment
that has sparked an international effort to develop exploratory
methods without introducing modern contaminants. The potential
is monumental for gained knowledge on microbial evolution,
the discovery of new organisms and enzymes with potential
value to society, and the ability to correlate data with that
of other planets under similar conditions.
03/08/02
Building
on a 70-year tradition in environmental economics, Columbia
University has established The Center for Economy, Environment
& Society. The Center formally integrates economic research
with environmental and social sciences, furthering Columbias
goal of understanding Earth to enhance sustainability.
03/05/02
Lunch explores ways of getting the planning messagetaken on board
There
was standing room only at SIPA last Friday as over a hundred
people gathered at a working lunch to discuss the effects
of climate change on the New York Metropolitan area.
02/22/02
With
New York City facing a $4 billion budget deficit, its
time to start looking in the garbage for cost savings, according
to the Columbia University Earth Institute in its report,
"Life After Fresh Kills: Moving Beyond New York Citys
Current Waste Management Plan."
02/18/02
New "Under the Glass Adventure" is the most comprehensivetour inside the 3.1-acre living Laboratory, to date
TUCSON
-- Columbia University's Biosphere 2 Center expands accessibility
inside its $150 million world-renowned living Laboratory with
the "World of Discovery Tour," the Centers
most comprehensive tour to date, it was announced today by
Biosphere 2 Center President and Executive Director Dr. Barry
Osmond.
02/14/02
Researchers and decision-makers discuss the roleof climate extremes and trends in planning processes.
"As
the New York metropolitan region moves forward after the September
11 tragedy, we should pay attention to opportunities to minimize
our vulnerability to climate change," states Cynthia
Rosenzweig, a climate scientist with the Columbia Earth Institute
and a principal author of the newly released Metro East Coast
(MEC) report, Climate Change and a Global City: The Potential
Consequences of Climate Variability and Change.
02/14/02
Columbia
University scientists are predicting a return to normal rain
levels this spring for the drought-stricken Horn of Africa.
Representatives of Columbias International Research
Institute for Climate Prediction (IRI) will be presenting
their forecasts at the annual Climate Outlook Forum in Eldoret,
Kenya, which will take place from February 18-22, 2002.
02/01/02
In
the last part of the 20th century, significant
advances have been achieved in fields such as climate forecasting,
biotechnology, water management,
global carbon cycling, and ecosystem dynamics that have had
profound relevance in the lives of many of the world's peoples.
01/31/02
Finland
leads the world in environmental sustainability, according
to a study by Columbia, Yale and the World Economic Forum.
The study, which ranked the United States 51st, was released
at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.