State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Author: Columbia Climate School50

Columbia Climate School Avatar

  • Seeing the Forest and the Trees

    Study finds that loss of tree diversity affects the ability of tropical forests to sequester carbon

  • Reducing the Impact of Mother Nature

    During live Q&A, expert in natural disasters explains ways to mitigate damage

  • More Than 1,000 to Get Their Feet Wet in Hudson Estuary Project

    For many residents of New York City and upstate communities, the Hudson River is such a constant presence that it can sometimes fade into the background of daily life. On Wednesday, October 12, however, Earth Institute researchers contributed to the efforts of volunteers and students from Troy to Brooklyn in putting the Hudson front-and-center by…

  • Devastating Droughts in the American West Not Isolated Events

    Droughts that last several years are a recurring feature of the American West. They are also potentially costly natural disasters with impacts ranging from declining agricultural production, reduced water availability, increased forest fires, variable river flows, and declining fisheries. The Dust Bowl drought of the 1930s, which was memorialized in some of the greatest works…

  • Emerging Scientists Set Sights on Fixing World’s Problems

    In 2002, Christian Webersik spent months on and off in war-torn Somalia, conducting interviews with both the elite and the layperson for his research on the link between armed conflict and natural resources. “You can see how different political sides tried to monopolize natural resources to finance their militia,” says Webersik. His work suggests it…

  • How an Ecologist Moved to the Center of Sustainable Development

    Economists, physicians and a range of social scientists have long found an easy place at the table when it comes to promoting sustainable development in the poorest areas of the world. But an agroecologist? “Agroecologists always feel a little outcast when working on development issues,” says Fabrice De Clerck, an Earth Institute Fellow with the…

  • Mapping the Risks of Hurricane Disasters

    The Natural Disaster Hotspots report released earlier this year showed that the U.S. Gulf Coast is among the world’s most at-risk regions in terms of human mortality and economic loss due to storms like Katrina and Rita. The study, which was produced by researchers from the Center for Hazards and Risk Research, The International Research…

  • Study Reconciles Long-Standing Contradiction of Deep-Earth Dynamics

    New databases give researchers a look into processes inside the Earth’s mantle

  • Deep Magmatic Plumbing of Mid-Ocean Ridges Revealed

    New images suggest that the Earth’s lower oceanic crust is generated from multiple magma sources

  • Seeing the Forest and the Trees

    Study finds that loss of tree diversity affects the ability of tropical forests to sequester carbon

  • Reducing the Impact of Mother Nature

    During live Q&A, expert in natural disasters explains ways to mitigate damage

  • More Than 1,000 to Get Their Feet Wet in Hudson Estuary Project

    For many residents of New York City and upstate communities, the Hudson River is such a constant presence that it can sometimes fade into the background of daily life. On Wednesday, October 12, however, Earth Institute researchers contributed to the efforts of volunteers and students from Troy to Brooklyn in putting the Hudson front-and-center by…

  • Devastating Droughts in the American West Not Isolated Events

    Droughts that last several years are a recurring feature of the American West. They are also potentially costly natural disasters with impacts ranging from declining agricultural production, reduced water availability, increased forest fires, variable river flows, and declining fisheries. The Dust Bowl drought of the 1930s, which was memorialized in some of the greatest works…

  • Emerging Scientists Set Sights on Fixing World’s Problems

    In 2002, Christian Webersik spent months on and off in war-torn Somalia, conducting interviews with both the elite and the layperson for his research on the link between armed conflict and natural resources. “You can see how different political sides tried to monopolize natural resources to finance their militia,” says Webersik. His work suggests it…

  • How an Ecologist Moved to the Center of Sustainable Development

    Economists, physicians and a range of social scientists have long found an easy place at the table when it comes to promoting sustainable development in the poorest areas of the world. But an agroecologist? “Agroecologists always feel a little outcast when working on development issues,” says Fabrice De Clerck, an Earth Institute Fellow with the…

  • Mapping the Risks of Hurricane Disasters

    The Natural Disaster Hotspots report released earlier this year showed that the U.S. Gulf Coast is among the world’s most at-risk regions in terms of human mortality and economic loss due to storms like Katrina and Rita. The study, which was produced by researchers from the Center for Hazards and Risk Research, The International Research…

  • Study Reconciles Long-Standing Contradiction of Deep-Earth Dynamics

    New databases give researchers a look into processes inside the Earth’s mantle

  • Deep Magmatic Plumbing of Mid-Ocean Ridges Revealed

    New images suggest that the Earth’s lower oceanic crust is generated from multiple magma sources