State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

201436

  • Faculty Profile: Scott Barrett

    Faculty Profile: Scott Barrett

    Scott Barrett, the first Lenfest-Earth Institute Professor of Natural Resource Economics, remembers the exact day when he became interested in researching and creating theoretical models about major issues that require global cooperation for their resolution. It was September 17, 1987, the day of the adoption of the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty designed to protect…

  • Climate Scientist Is First Woman to Win Geology’s Storied Wollaston Medal

    A climate scientist who has suggested how mountain building can lower Earth’s thermostat and why ice ages sometimes wax and wane at different speeds has been awarded one of geology’s oldest and most coveted prizes: the British Wollaston Medal. The first woman to win a Wollaston in the prize’s 183-year history, Maureen Raymo, a researcher…

  • Joanne Johnson and Lamont-Doherty, Collaborating on Glacial Research

    Joanne Johnson and Lamont-Doherty, Collaborating on Glacial Research

    New research about West Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier suggests the glacier’s recent and rapid thinning and melting may continue for decades or centuries to come. British Antarctic Survey’s Joanne Johnson’s research, done in collaboration with scientists at Lamont-Doherty, might not have been possible without Lamont’s effort to promote women scientists.

  • Solar Heartbeat

    Solar Heartbeat

    Upon our little spinning rock, Cosmic rays and debris knock. Through great fields and waves we race, Not empty, our broad path through space!

  • Has Global Warming Stalled? How Long Will It Last?

    Has Global Warming Stalled? How Long Will It Last?

    Climate Scientist Lisa Goddard talks about what may be behind the recent slowdown in global warming, and some of the nuances of predicting just how the climate will change.

  • Using Technology for Development in NYC

    Using Technology for Development in NYC

    Very little has been discussed on how information and communication technologies can provide opportunity to middle and lower-income citizens in developed countries and cities, such as New York City and its five boroughs. New data released by the Census Bureau shows that even as the recession has ended, the city’s poverty rate continues to increase…

  • Driving Sustainability in China

    Driving Sustainability in China

    In China, measuring sustainability is in a preliminary but progressive stage, and the government is playing a leading role in driving Chinese companies to go green. Behind the encouraging numbers, however, lie some less attractive facts.

  • Tangail and the Start of the Field School

    Tangail and the Start of the Field School

    Feb. 21 is Language Day in Bangladesh. It is a holiday, now adopted by the UN as International Mother Language Day. It commemorates a day in 1952 when a crowd of Bengali students protesting Pakistan’s adoption of “Urdu and only Urdu as the official language of Pakistan” were fired upon by the police. It marks…

  • Con Ed Agrees to Climate Change Plan

    Con Ed Agrees to Climate Change Plan

    In a groundbreaking agreement, Consolidated Edison, one of New York’s major utility companies, will incorporate plans to protect the power system from the effects of climate change as part of a new multi-year rate plan.

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

  • Faculty Profile: Scott Barrett

    Faculty Profile: Scott Barrett

    Scott Barrett, the first Lenfest-Earth Institute Professor of Natural Resource Economics, remembers the exact day when he became interested in researching and creating theoretical models about major issues that require global cooperation for their resolution. It was September 17, 1987, the day of the adoption of the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty designed to protect…

  • Climate Scientist Is First Woman to Win Geology’s Storied Wollaston Medal

    A climate scientist who has suggested how mountain building can lower Earth’s thermostat and why ice ages sometimes wax and wane at different speeds has been awarded one of geology’s oldest and most coveted prizes: the British Wollaston Medal. The first woman to win a Wollaston in the prize’s 183-year history, Maureen Raymo, a researcher…

  • Joanne Johnson and Lamont-Doherty, Collaborating on Glacial Research

    Joanne Johnson and Lamont-Doherty, Collaborating on Glacial Research

    New research about West Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier suggests the glacier’s recent and rapid thinning and melting may continue for decades or centuries to come. British Antarctic Survey’s Joanne Johnson’s research, done in collaboration with scientists at Lamont-Doherty, might not have been possible without Lamont’s effort to promote women scientists.

  • Solar Heartbeat

    Solar Heartbeat

    Upon our little spinning rock, Cosmic rays and debris knock. Through great fields and waves we race, Not empty, our broad path through space!

  • Has Global Warming Stalled? How Long Will It Last?

    Has Global Warming Stalled? How Long Will It Last?

    Climate Scientist Lisa Goddard talks about what may be behind the recent slowdown in global warming, and some of the nuances of predicting just how the climate will change.

  • Using Technology for Development in NYC

    Using Technology for Development in NYC

    Very little has been discussed on how information and communication technologies can provide opportunity to middle and lower-income citizens in developed countries and cities, such as New York City and its five boroughs. New data released by the Census Bureau shows that even as the recession has ended, the city’s poverty rate continues to increase…

  • Driving Sustainability in China

    Driving Sustainability in China

    In China, measuring sustainability is in a preliminary but progressive stage, and the government is playing a leading role in driving Chinese companies to go green. Behind the encouraging numbers, however, lie some less attractive facts.

  • Tangail and the Start of the Field School

    Tangail and the Start of the Field School

    Feb. 21 is Language Day in Bangladesh. It is a holiday, now adopted by the UN as International Mother Language Day. It commemorates a day in 1952 when a crowd of Bengali students protesting Pakistan’s adoption of “Urdu and only Urdu as the official language of Pakistan” were fired upon by the police. It marks…

  • Con Ed Agrees to Climate Change Plan

    Con Ed Agrees to Climate Change Plan

    In a groundbreaking agreement, Consolidated Edison, one of New York’s major utility companies, will incorporate plans to protect the power system from the effects of climate change as part of a new multi-year rate plan.