State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

201623

  • Presidential Politics: Water Supply and Contamination

    Presidential Politics: Water Supply and Contamination

    The federal government needs to develop and implement a plan to solve problems with our water infrastructure, pollution and growing scarcity. How will the next president act?

  • Study Warns of Surge in Heat-Related Deaths in New York City

    Study Warns of Surge in Heat-Related Deaths in New York City

    A new study projects that as many as 3,331 people a year could be dying from the heat during New York City summers by 2080 as a result of the warming climate. That compares to 638 heat-related deaths on average between 2000 and 2006.

  • Learning From Volkswagen’s $10 Billion Sustainability Mistake

    The market and government regulators are sending a message that is clear and ought not be misunderstood: people care about the environment and the quality of their air. If people did not support air pollution regulations they would not have cared about Volkswagen’s disregard of environmental law.

  • Wind-Blown Antarctic Sea Ice Helps Drive Ocean Circulation

    Wind-Blown Antarctic Sea Ice Helps Drive Ocean Circulation

    Antarctic sea ice is constantly on the move as powerful winds blow it away from the coast and out toward the open ocean. A new study shows how that ice migration may be more important for the global ocean circulation than anyone realized.

  • Carbon Pricing for the Climate: How It Could Work

    Carbon Pricing for the Climate: How It Could Work

    Most economists and policy experts agree that the most effective and cheapest way to curb the carbon dioxide emissions that are warming the planet is to “put a price on carbon.” How effective are carbon taxes and cap and trade programs?

  • Environmental Peace-Building in the Middle East

    Environmental Peace-Building in the Middle East

    The next part of our tour provided an excellent example of the challenges people working toward environmental peace-building in Israel, Jordan and Palestine face: a site that we were unable to visit.

  • Dead Pool: the Depletion of a Shared Natural Resource

    Dead Pool: the Depletion of a Shared Natural Resource

    The Dead Sea could soon enough become a dead “pool” of sea. But perhaps there’s another alternative.

  • Land and Conflict in East Jerusalem: the Role of Urban Planning

    Land and Conflict in East Jerusalem: the Role of Urban Planning

    Without an urban civil culture, it is impossible to promote political and economic participation, and a non-unified Jerusalem will remain.

  • Crossing Boundaries for the Environment

    Crossing Boundaries for the Environment

    It is not the concept of a borderless nature that should serve as a model to facilitate cross-border dialogue and cooperation. Rather, it is that nature’s systems are interconnected and their borders are open to exchange.

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

  • Presidential Politics: Water Supply and Contamination

    Presidential Politics: Water Supply and Contamination

    The federal government needs to develop and implement a plan to solve problems with our water infrastructure, pollution and growing scarcity. How will the next president act?

  • Study Warns of Surge in Heat-Related Deaths in New York City

    Study Warns of Surge in Heat-Related Deaths in New York City

    A new study projects that as many as 3,331 people a year could be dying from the heat during New York City summers by 2080 as a result of the warming climate. That compares to 638 heat-related deaths on average between 2000 and 2006.

  • Learning From Volkswagen’s $10 Billion Sustainability Mistake

    The market and government regulators are sending a message that is clear and ought not be misunderstood: people care about the environment and the quality of their air. If people did not support air pollution regulations they would not have cared about Volkswagen’s disregard of environmental law.

  • Wind-Blown Antarctic Sea Ice Helps Drive Ocean Circulation

    Wind-Blown Antarctic Sea Ice Helps Drive Ocean Circulation

    Antarctic sea ice is constantly on the move as powerful winds blow it away from the coast and out toward the open ocean. A new study shows how that ice migration may be more important for the global ocean circulation than anyone realized.

  • Carbon Pricing for the Climate: How It Could Work

    Carbon Pricing for the Climate: How It Could Work

    Most economists and policy experts agree that the most effective and cheapest way to curb the carbon dioxide emissions that are warming the planet is to “put a price on carbon.” How effective are carbon taxes and cap and trade programs?

  • Environmental Peace-Building in the Middle East

    Environmental Peace-Building in the Middle East

    The next part of our tour provided an excellent example of the challenges people working toward environmental peace-building in Israel, Jordan and Palestine face: a site that we were unable to visit.

  • Dead Pool: the Depletion of a Shared Natural Resource

    Dead Pool: the Depletion of a Shared Natural Resource

    The Dead Sea could soon enough become a dead “pool” of sea. But perhaps there’s another alternative.

  • Land and Conflict in East Jerusalem: the Role of Urban Planning

    Land and Conflict in East Jerusalem: the Role of Urban Planning

    Without an urban civil culture, it is impossible to promote political and economic participation, and a non-unified Jerusalem will remain.

  • Crossing Boundaries for the Environment

    Crossing Boundaries for the Environment

    It is not the concept of a borderless nature that should serve as a model to facilitate cross-border dialogue and cooperation. Rather, it is that nature’s systems are interconnected and their borders are open to exchange.