State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

201011

  • Deutsche Bank and Earth Institute Debunk Climate Skeptics

    To address global warming skeptics, the Earth Institute’s Columbia Climate Center authored a report in partnership with Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisors to examine many of the claims and counter-claims against climate change science. The report concludes that despite the noise generated by misinformation, a vast body of scientific research affirms that human-made climate change…

  • Haiti Regeneration Initiative Team Resumes Research

    Haiti Regeneration Initiative Team Resumes Research

    Post-earth quake, the project team for the Haiti Regeneration Initiative (HRI) resumes fieldwork in the Haitian countryside. Program coordinator Alex Fischer is interviewed.

  • Earth Institute Receives $1 Million From MacArthur Foundation for Sexual and Reproductive Health Initiative

    Earth Institute Receives $1 Million From MacArthur Foundation for Sexual and Reproductive Health Initiative

    NEW YORK, September 1 – The Earth Institute, Columbia University is pleased to announce a $1 million grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to help improve the health of mothers and children in poor, rural communities within the Millennium Villages project (MVP). These funds will support activities to increase access to…

  • Eli Kintisch on Geoengineering and ‘Jumping the Shark’

    Eli Kintisch on Geoengineering and ‘Jumping the Shark’

    By Elizabeth Robinson As little as five years ago, geoengineering was fringe science. But now, with CO2 concentrations still rising in spite of our knowledge of the consequences, geoengineering is increasingly viewed as an option for coping with the possibility of catastrophic climate change. On Friday, September 24th, the Columbia Climate Center hosted an event…

  • Peruvians Fight for Their Right to Water

    Peruvians Fight for Their Right to Water

    On September 17, one man was killed and 18 others injured when police attempted to break up demonstrators protesting an irrigation project recently approved by the Peruvian government.

  • Climate News Roundup: Weeks of 9/20 and 9/27

    Climate News Roundup: Weeks of 9/20 and 9/27

    Deep in Ecuador’s rainforest, a plan to forego an oil bonanza, Yale 360 An ambitious plan to prevent drilling for oil in Ecuador’s Yasuni National Park would facilitate payments from the international community to the government of Ecuador. The park is rich in biodiversity, and is the home of several remote groups of indigenous peoples.…

  • Another Superfund Site in New York City: Newtown Creek to Get a Makeover

    Another Superfund Site in New York City: Newtown Creek to Get a Makeover

    The March designation of the Gowanus Canal in New York City as a SuperFund clean up site was an important step forward, and is now being followed by another leap: on Monday Newtown Creek, which runs between Queens and Brooklyn received the same designation.

  • $3.8 Million Raised for Millennium Cities Initiative

    The Earth Institute successfully completed a $1.9 million landmark challenge grant, awarded by the Tides Foundation, to benefit the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI). Because of the Tides challenge and our generous donors, a total of $3.8 million has been raised to support the project’s work to help targeted mid-sized cities across sub-Saharan Africa promote sustainable…

  • The Earth Institute Raises $3.8 Million to Support the Millennium Cities Initiative

    The Earth Institute Raises $3.8 Million to Support the Millennium Cities Initiative

    The Earth Institute successfully completed a $1.9 million landmark challenge grant, awarded by the Tides Foundation, to benefit the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI). Because of the Tides challenge and our generous donors, a total of $3.8 million has been raised to support the project’s work to help targeted mid-sized cities across sub-Saharan Africa promote sustainable…

Photo of the Earth from space with the text "Lamont at AGU25" on top.

AGU25, the premier Earth and space science conference, takes place December 15-19, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. This year’s theme—Where Science Connects Us—puts in focus how science depends on connection, from the lab to the field to the ballot box. Once again, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School scientists, experts, students, and educators are playing an active role, sharing our research and helping shape the future of our planet. #AGU25 Learn More

  • Deutsche Bank and Earth Institute Debunk Climate Skeptics

    To address global warming skeptics, the Earth Institute’s Columbia Climate Center authored a report in partnership with Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisors to examine many of the claims and counter-claims against climate change science. The report concludes that despite the noise generated by misinformation, a vast body of scientific research affirms that human-made climate change…

  • Haiti Regeneration Initiative Team Resumes Research

    Haiti Regeneration Initiative Team Resumes Research

    Post-earth quake, the project team for the Haiti Regeneration Initiative (HRI) resumes fieldwork in the Haitian countryside. Program coordinator Alex Fischer is interviewed.

  • Earth Institute Receives $1 Million From MacArthur Foundation for Sexual and Reproductive Health Initiative

    Earth Institute Receives $1 Million From MacArthur Foundation for Sexual and Reproductive Health Initiative

    NEW YORK, September 1 – The Earth Institute, Columbia University is pleased to announce a $1 million grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to help improve the health of mothers and children in poor, rural communities within the Millennium Villages project (MVP). These funds will support activities to increase access to…

  • Eli Kintisch on Geoengineering and ‘Jumping the Shark’

    Eli Kintisch on Geoengineering and ‘Jumping the Shark’

    By Elizabeth Robinson As little as five years ago, geoengineering was fringe science. But now, with CO2 concentrations still rising in spite of our knowledge of the consequences, geoengineering is increasingly viewed as an option for coping with the possibility of catastrophic climate change. On Friday, September 24th, the Columbia Climate Center hosted an event…

  • Peruvians Fight for Their Right to Water

    Peruvians Fight for Their Right to Water

    On September 17, one man was killed and 18 others injured when police attempted to break up demonstrators protesting an irrigation project recently approved by the Peruvian government.

  • Climate News Roundup: Weeks of 9/20 and 9/27

    Climate News Roundup: Weeks of 9/20 and 9/27

    Deep in Ecuador’s rainforest, a plan to forego an oil bonanza, Yale 360 An ambitious plan to prevent drilling for oil in Ecuador’s Yasuni National Park would facilitate payments from the international community to the government of Ecuador. The park is rich in biodiversity, and is the home of several remote groups of indigenous peoples.…

  • Another Superfund Site in New York City: Newtown Creek to Get a Makeover

    Another Superfund Site in New York City: Newtown Creek to Get a Makeover

    The March designation of the Gowanus Canal in New York City as a SuperFund clean up site was an important step forward, and is now being followed by another leap: on Monday Newtown Creek, which runs between Queens and Brooklyn received the same designation.

  • $3.8 Million Raised for Millennium Cities Initiative

    The Earth Institute successfully completed a $1.9 million landmark challenge grant, awarded by the Tides Foundation, to benefit the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI). Because of the Tides challenge and our generous donors, a total of $3.8 million has been raised to support the project’s work to help targeted mid-sized cities across sub-Saharan Africa promote sustainable…

  • The Earth Institute Raises $3.8 Million to Support the Millennium Cities Initiative

    The Earth Institute Raises $3.8 Million to Support the Millennium Cities Initiative

    The Earth Institute successfully completed a $1.9 million landmark challenge grant, awarded by the Tides Foundation, to benefit the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI). Because of the Tides challenge and our generous donors, a total of $3.8 million has been raised to support the project’s work to help targeted mid-sized cities across sub-Saharan Africa promote sustainable…