State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

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  • Forecasting for the In-Between

    Forecasting for the In-Between

    We can do a good job forecasting the weather for a week or two, and we can settle on what the climate is likely to do season to season, a month to a year into the future. But what about in-between?

  • Faculty Profile: Klaus S. Lackner

    Faculty Profile: Klaus S. Lackner

    Editor’s Note: In the time since this article was written, Klaus S. Lackner has moved on to another position and is no longer affiliated with the Earth Institute. To address the exponential rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations since the Industrial Revolution, Professor Klaus S. Lackner, director of the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy at…

  • Sustainable Development Fall 2016 Workshop Briefings

    By Chandler Precht On December 9, 2016, students in the Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development presented practical solutions to sustainability issues and challenges faced by real world clients. Under the guidance of Professor Stuart Gaffin and Professor Radley Horton, the Capstone Workshop offers students a chance to convey the knowledge and theories gained throughout their time in the…

  • Increasing Tornado Outbreaks: Is Climate Change Responsible?

    Increasing Tornado Outbreaks: Is Climate Change Responsible?

    In a paper published in the journal Science, researchers looked at increasing trends in the severity of tornado outbreaks, measured by the number of tornadoes per outbreak. They found that these trends are increasing fastest for the most extreme outbreaks.

  • My Trip to the Bottom of the Sea

    My Trip to the Bottom of the Sea

    What’s it like to travel to the bottom of the sea? Lamont graduate student Bridgit Boulahanis describes the bioluminescence and colorful sea life as she explores a seamount by mini submarine in the Pacific Ocean.

  • A Front Row Seat on the Ocean Floor

    A Front Row Seat on the Ocean Floor

    Ocean scientists are, in their hearts, explorers. Our group aboard the R/V Atlantis may be more infected with the exploration bug than most. The first goal of our expedition makes that clear: We aim to map regions of the seafloor never before seen by human eyes.

  • Faculty Profile: Robert S. Chen

    Faculty Profile: Robert S. Chen

    When satellite images revealed rapid collapse of several ice shelves in Antarctica in early 2008, it triggered warning bells for Robert Chen. “My first scientific paper as a graduate student, published in 1980 and co-authored with climatologist Steve Schneider, was about the potential collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet,” says Chen. “Many believed that…

  • Alumna Planting ‘Seeds’ for Sustainable Education in Africa

    Alumna Planting ‘Seeds’ for Sustainable Education in Africa

    “What I enjoy the most is that I get to have to opportunity to solve real-life problems that affect hundreds of children and women that are part of our education and community development programs.”

  • Climate Justice Advocate Strives to Create Solutions

    Climate Justice Advocate Strives to Create Solutions

    “Climate adaptation often serves to reinforce existing power structures by focusing on technocratic solutions and empowering experts and policymakers. My research and career goals are framed by this understanding, and I seek to center political and social mechanisms in questions of adaptation.”

  • Forecasting for the In-Between

    Forecasting for the In-Between

    We can do a good job forecasting the weather for a week or two, and we can settle on what the climate is likely to do season to season, a month to a year into the future. But what about in-between?

  • Faculty Profile: Klaus S. Lackner

    Faculty Profile: Klaus S. Lackner

    Editor’s Note: In the time since this article was written, Klaus S. Lackner has moved on to another position and is no longer affiliated with the Earth Institute. To address the exponential rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations since the Industrial Revolution, Professor Klaus S. Lackner, director of the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy at…

  • Sustainable Development Fall 2016 Workshop Briefings

    By Chandler Precht On December 9, 2016, students in the Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development presented practical solutions to sustainability issues and challenges faced by real world clients. Under the guidance of Professor Stuart Gaffin and Professor Radley Horton, the Capstone Workshop offers students a chance to convey the knowledge and theories gained throughout their time in the…

  • Increasing Tornado Outbreaks: Is Climate Change Responsible?

    Increasing Tornado Outbreaks: Is Climate Change Responsible?

    In a paper published in the journal Science, researchers looked at increasing trends in the severity of tornado outbreaks, measured by the number of tornadoes per outbreak. They found that these trends are increasing fastest for the most extreme outbreaks.

  • My Trip to the Bottom of the Sea

    My Trip to the Bottom of the Sea

    What’s it like to travel to the bottom of the sea? Lamont graduate student Bridgit Boulahanis describes the bioluminescence and colorful sea life as she explores a seamount by mini submarine in the Pacific Ocean.

  • A Front Row Seat on the Ocean Floor

    A Front Row Seat on the Ocean Floor

    Ocean scientists are, in their hearts, explorers. Our group aboard the R/V Atlantis may be more infected with the exploration bug than most. The first goal of our expedition makes that clear: We aim to map regions of the seafloor never before seen by human eyes.

  • Faculty Profile: Robert S. Chen

    Faculty Profile: Robert S. Chen

    When satellite images revealed rapid collapse of several ice shelves in Antarctica in early 2008, it triggered warning bells for Robert Chen. “My first scientific paper as a graduate student, published in 1980 and co-authored with climatologist Steve Schneider, was about the potential collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet,” says Chen. “Many believed that…

  • Alumna Planting ‘Seeds’ for Sustainable Education in Africa

    Alumna Planting ‘Seeds’ for Sustainable Education in Africa

    “What I enjoy the most is that I get to have to opportunity to solve real-life problems that affect hundreds of children and women that are part of our education and community development programs.”

  • Climate Justice Advocate Strives to Create Solutions

    Climate Justice Advocate Strives to Create Solutions

    “Climate adaptation often serves to reinforce existing power structures by focusing on technocratic solutions and empowering experts and policymakers. My research and career goals are framed by this understanding, and I seek to center political and social mechanisms in questions of adaptation.”