State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

20107

  • How Bloodthirsty Creatures of The Night See

    How Bloodthirsty Creatures of The Night See

    Beyond their eerie exterior and misunderstood persona, bats play complex, diverse and vital roles in the functioning of the world’s ecosystems.

  • ‘Small is Also Beautiful’ – Appropriate Technology Cuts Rice Farmers’ Water Use by 30 Percent in Punjab, India

    ‘Small is Also Beautiful’ – Appropriate Technology Cuts Rice Farmers’ Water Use by 30 Percent in Punjab, India

    Since the 1960s, farmers in Punjab, India have practiced some of the most intensive broad scale grain production in the world. As a result, the state has earned the nickname “the food bowl of India” for its out sized role in adopting and implementing Green Revolution technologies that in the last decades of the 20th…

  • Parched for Peace: A Miniseries on the Mideast Water Crisis

    Parched for Peace: A Miniseries on the Mideast Water Crisis

    For a vast majority of the past fifty years, oil and its abundance defined the Middle East. In coming years, however, that part of the world may well be defined by the dearth of a different natural resource: water.

  • Top Ten Lessons Learned on mHealth

    In the past 10 years I have witnessed a shift in the mhealth industry from solutions in search of problems, to a real demand for mHealth from within the health sector.  During this time, my research and work has taught me the art of capitalization—It’s critical to capitalize on what others have already accomplished, and…

  • Sachs Student Lecture: America’s Economic Crisis – Where Do We Go From Here?

    Sachs Student Lecture: America’s Economic Crisis – Where Do We Go From Here?

    Jeffrey D. Sachs will give his fifth annual student lecture on Tuesday, November 23 on Columbia University’s Morningside campus.

  • Answering Claims of the Climate Skeptics: An Introduction

    Answering Claims of the Climate Skeptics: An Introduction

    Despite a plethora of evidence that anthropogenic climate change is occurring, there remains a vocal minority of critics, both within the climate community and in the general public, who challenge this accepted position.

  • Welcome to Eco-Matters

    Welcome to Eco-Matters

    Welcome to Eco-Matters, a new blog born out of the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation from the Earth Institute, Columbia University.

  • Is Groundwater Depletion Causing Sea-level Rise?

    Is Groundwater Depletion Causing Sea-level Rise?

    A recent study from Yoshihide Wada and other researchers from Utrecht University attempted to assess the status of global groundwater depletion—that is, the amount of water that is being drawn out from underground reservoirs that is not being replaced by precipitation—and came up with some startling conclusions. Chief among them that depletion of groundwater may…

  • Using Mobile Phones to Help Prevent HIV Transmission to Children

    Using Mobile Phones to Help Prevent HIV Transmission to Children

    By Casey Iiams-Hauser and Yanis Ben Amor HIV infection in children occurs most often during pregnancy and labor or post-natally during breastfeeding. While new HIV infections among children have declined since 2002, a staggering 430,000 children were infected in 2008…

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

  • How Bloodthirsty Creatures of The Night See

    How Bloodthirsty Creatures of The Night See

    Beyond their eerie exterior and misunderstood persona, bats play complex, diverse and vital roles in the functioning of the world’s ecosystems.

  • ‘Small is Also Beautiful’ – Appropriate Technology Cuts Rice Farmers’ Water Use by 30 Percent in Punjab, India

    ‘Small is Also Beautiful’ – Appropriate Technology Cuts Rice Farmers’ Water Use by 30 Percent in Punjab, India

    Since the 1960s, farmers in Punjab, India have practiced some of the most intensive broad scale grain production in the world. As a result, the state has earned the nickname “the food bowl of India” for its out sized role in adopting and implementing Green Revolution technologies that in the last decades of the 20th…

  • Parched for Peace: A Miniseries on the Mideast Water Crisis

    Parched for Peace: A Miniseries on the Mideast Water Crisis

    For a vast majority of the past fifty years, oil and its abundance defined the Middle East. In coming years, however, that part of the world may well be defined by the dearth of a different natural resource: water.

  • Top Ten Lessons Learned on mHealth

    In the past 10 years I have witnessed a shift in the mhealth industry from solutions in search of problems, to a real demand for mHealth from within the health sector.  During this time, my research and work has taught me the art of capitalization—It’s critical to capitalize on what others have already accomplished, and…

  • Sachs Student Lecture: America’s Economic Crisis – Where Do We Go From Here?

    Sachs Student Lecture: America’s Economic Crisis – Where Do We Go From Here?

    Jeffrey D. Sachs will give his fifth annual student lecture on Tuesday, November 23 on Columbia University’s Morningside campus.

  • Answering Claims of the Climate Skeptics: An Introduction

    Answering Claims of the Climate Skeptics: An Introduction

    Despite a plethora of evidence that anthropogenic climate change is occurring, there remains a vocal minority of critics, both within the climate community and in the general public, who challenge this accepted position.

  • Welcome to Eco-Matters

    Welcome to Eco-Matters

    Welcome to Eco-Matters, a new blog born out of the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation from the Earth Institute, Columbia University.

  • Is Groundwater Depletion Causing Sea-level Rise?

    Is Groundwater Depletion Causing Sea-level Rise?

    A recent study from Yoshihide Wada and other researchers from Utrecht University attempted to assess the status of global groundwater depletion—that is, the amount of water that is being drawn out from underground reservoirs that is not being replaced by precipitation—and came up with some startling conclusions. Chief among them that depletion of groundwater may…

  • Using Mobile Phones to Help Prevent HIV Transmission to Children

    Using Mobile Phones to Help Prevent HIV Transmission to Children

    By Casey Iiams-Hauser and Yanis Ben Amor HIV infection in children occurs most often during pregnancy and labor or post-natally during breastfeeding. While new HIV infections among children have declined since 2002, a staggering 430,000 children were infected in 2008…