State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

201139

  • Basic Health Care Doesn’t Have to Be of Basic Quality

    Basic Health Care Doesn’t Have to Be of Basic Quality

    While coordinating a Community Health Worker (CHW)-based asthma management program in New York City, I learned of the Millennium Villages Project (MVP), its CHW program, and of the opportunity to help build community health systems in sub-Saharan Africa. My diverse experience in healthcare gave me a unique understanding of the need for highly performing CHW…

  • Dealing with Mother Nature

    Dealing with Mother Nature

    Working in the poles we are constantly reminded of our dependence on meteorology, and this project has dealt us a variety of different weather considerations. The most obvious is the weather we experience at the base. Storm season in Thule lasts from the 15th of September to the 14th of May; in other words encompassing…

  • Switchyard Project: Sampling Success

    Switchyard Project: Sampling Success

    The past 1½ weeks have been very successful. Our team from Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory was able to obtain water samples from eight stations, while the team from the University of Washington has already broken their all-time record of the past years of 18 stations. Today (May 7) is actually the first day we can’t fly…

  • Clean Water vs. Cheap Energy: Can We Have Both?

    Clean Water vs. Cheap Energy: Can We Have Both?

    The social fabric of a water quality debate: Anti-fracking protesters converge on Albany… again. A battle of wills between advocates of clean water and cheap energy ensues.

  • Transporting Ice From Greenland’s Deep Interior

    Transporting Ice From Greenland’s Deep Interior

    The North East Ice Stream is a fast-flowing glacier transporting ice from deep in the interior of the Greenland Ice Sheet out to the coast (see image showing a deep penetration into central Greenland). When it reaches the coastline it feeds 79 N Glacier. This area is heavily crevassed, evidence of the rapid ice flow.…

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 5/01

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 5/01

    California Gambles on Carbon Trade, New York Times, May 1 California state regulators are working to prepare for the January 1rst start of the multibillion-dollar carbon market, which will be the first in the U.S., after a lawsuit delayed the process. The courts are still a challenge with opponents striking from both the left and…

  • Climate Clock is Ticking for Pinot Noir

    Climate Clock is Ticking for Pinot Noir

    New studies of temperature records, grape harvests, and climate fluctuations over the Atlantic Ocean are yielding insights into how climate change might impact the production on Pinot Noir.

  • How China Is Dealing With Its Water Crisis

    How China Is Dealing With Its Water Crisis

    Recently I traveled to Southeast Yunnan in China to see the spectacular Yuan Yang rice terraces, flooded and ready for spring planting. Rice is a very water-hungry crop and China is the world’s largest producer of rice and grain. Yet China is facing a perilous water crisis.

  • Switchyard Project: Rescue Operation

    Switchyard Project: Rescue Operation

    Four people who tried to ski from the North Pole to Greenland got stuck on the ice and ran out of food. Since our team was out on the ice for sampling close to their location, we stopped sampling and picked them up.

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

  • Basic Health Care Doesn’t Have to Be of Basic Quality

    Basic Health Care Doesn’t Have to Be of Basic Quality

    While coordinating a Community Health Worker (CHW)-based asthma management program in New York City, I learned of the Millennium Villages Project (MVP), its CHW program, and of the opportunity to help build community health systems in sub-Saharan Africa. My diverse experience in healthcare gave me a unique understanding of the need for highly performing CHW…

  • Dealing with Mother Nature

    Dealing with Mother Nature

    Working in the poles we are constantly reminded of our dependence on meteorology, and this project has dealt us a variety of different weather considerations. The most obvious is the weather we experience at the base. Storm season in Thule lasts from the 15th of September to the 14th of May; in other words encompassing…

  • Switchyard Project: Sampling Success

    Switchyard Project: Sampling Success

    The past 1½ weeks have been very successful. Our team from Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory was able to obtain water samples from eight stations, while the team from the University of Washington has already broken their all-time record of the past years of 18 stations. Today (May 7) is actually the first day we can’t fly…

  • Clean Water vs. Cheap Energy: Can We Have Both?

    Clean Water vs. Cheap Energy: Can We Have Both?

    The social fabric of a water quality debate: Anti-fracking protesters converge on Albany… again. A battle of wills between advocates of clean water and cheap energy ensues.

  • Transporting Ice From Greenland’s Deep Interior

    Transporting Ice From Greenland’s Deep Interior

    The North East Ice Stream is a fast-flowing glacier transporting ice from deep in the interior of the Greenland Ice Sheet out to the coast (see image showing a deep penetration into central Greenland). When it reaches the coastline it feeds 79 N Glacier. This area is heavily crevassed, evidence of the rapid ice flow.…

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 5/01

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 5/01

    California Gambles on Carbon Trade, New York Times, May 1 California state regulators are working to prepare for the January 1rst start of the multibillion-dollar carbon market, which will be the first in the U.S., after a lawsuit delayed the process. The courts are still a challenge with opponents striking from both the left and…

  • Climate Clock is Ticking for Pinot Noir

    Climate Clock is Ticking for Pinot Noir

    New studies of temperature records, grape harvests, and climate fluctuations over the Atlantic Ocean are yielding insights into how climate change might impact the production on Pinot Noir.

  • How China Is Dealing With Its Water Crisis

    How China Is Dealing With Its Water Crisis

    Recently I traveled to Southeast Yunnan in China to see the spectacular Yuan Yang rice terraces, flooded and ready for spring planting. Rice is a very water-hungry crop and China is the world’s largest producer of rice and grain. Yet China is facing a perilous water crisis.

  • Switchyard Project: Rescue Operation

    Switchyard Project: Rescue Operation

    Four people who tried to ski from the North Pole to Greenland got stuck on the ice and ran out of food. Since our team was out on the ice for sampling close to their location, we stopped sampling and picked them up.