News from the Columbia Climate School

Author: Kevin Krajick19

Kevin Krajick was from 2007-2025 the senior editor for science news at the Earth Institute and the Columbia Climate School. He grew up in the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley of upstate New York, where he worked at his high-school newspaper. He has since reported from all 50 U.S. states and 30-some countries, writing about science, medicine, crime, immigration and other issues. His work has appeared in National Geographic, Newsweek, The New Yorker, Science, Smithsonian and many other publications. He was a finalist for the National Magazine Award for Public Service for his reporting on organized crime’s links to the toxic waste-disposal industry. He is two-time winner of the American Geophysical Union’s Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism, and his work has been featured repeatedly in the yearly book “Best American Science and Nature Writing.” His 2001 book “Barren Lands” is the true account of how two prospectors discovered vast deposits of diamonds in Canada’s remote far north. Krajick holds degrees in comparative literature and journalism from Columbia University. He lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with his family.

North Korea’s 2017 Bomb Test Set Off Later Earthquakes, New Analysis Finds

Using newly refined analysis methods, scientists have discovered that a North Korean nuclear bomb test last fall set off aftershocks over a period of eight months on a previously unmapped earthquake fault nearby.
Lead Is Poisoning Children on U.S. Military Bases, Says Report

An extensive investigation by the Reuters news agency has found that many children living on U.S. military bases may be exposed to hazardous levels of lead in decaying family housing.
James Hansen’s Climate Warning, 30 Years Later

Three decades after Hansen first warned Congress about global warming, the overwhelming scientific consensus is that he was right—and most would say that far too little has been done to address the threat.
Increasing Heat Is Driving Off Clouds That Dampen California Wildfires

Sunny California may be getting too sunny. Increasing summer temperatures brought on by a combination of intensifying urbanization and warming climate are driving off once-common morning cloud cover in southern coastal areas of the state, leading to increased risk of wildfires.
How Australia Got Planted

A new study has uncovered when and why the native vegetation that today dominates much of Australia first expanded across the continent.
In India, Dirty Air Kills as Easily in the Country as in the City

A forthcoming study of northern India suggests that people living in rural areas are as likely to die prematurely from the effects of poor air quality as those living in cities.
Photo Essay: How High Could Seas Rise?

Columbia scientists recently visited the Caribbean island of Barbados, whose fossilized coral reefs contain an exquisite record of how the ocean has risen and fallen in the past.
How High Can Seas Rise? On a Tropical Isle, the Answers Are Not Always Obvious.

To help predict the future of sea level rise, scientists are studying ancient corals on the island of Barbados.
In Ancient Rocks, Scientists See a Climate Cycle Working Across Deep Time

A gradual shift in Earth’s orbit that repeats every 405,000 years plays a role in natural climate swings.

North Korea’s 2017 Bomb Test Set Off Later Earthquakes, New Analysis Finds

Using newly refined analysis methods, scientists have discovered that a North Korean nuclear bomb test last fall set off aftershocks over a period of eight months on a previously unmapped earthquake fault nearby.
Lead Is Poisoning Children on U.S. Military Bases, Says Report

An extensive investigation by the Reuters news agency has found that many children living on U.S. military bases may be exposed to hazardous levels of lead in decaying family housing.
James Hansen’s Climate Warning, 30 Years Later

Three decades after Hansen first warned Congress about global warming, the overwhelming scientific consensus is that he was right—and most would say that far too little has been done to address the threat.
Increasing Heat Is Driving Off Clouds That Dampen California Wildfires

Sunny California may be getting too sunny. Increasing summer temperatures brought on by a combination of intensifying urbanization and warming climate are driving off once-common morning cloud cover in southern coastal areas of the state, leading to increased risk of wildfires.
How Australia Got Planted

A new study has uncovered when and why the native vegetation that today dominates much of Australia first expanded across the continent.
In India, Dirty Air Kills as Easily in the Country as in the City

A forthcoming study of northern India suggests that people living in rural areas are as likely to die prematurely from the effects of poor air quality as those living in cities.
Photo Essay: How High Could Seas Rise?

Columbia scientists recently visited the Caribbean island of Barbados, whose fossilized coral reefs contain an exquisite record of how the ocean has risen and fallen in the past.
How High Can Seas Rise? On a Tropical Isle, the Answers Are Not Always Obvious.

To help predict the future of sea level rise, scientists are studying ancient corals on the island of Barbados.
In Ancient Rocks, Scientists See a Climate Cycle Working Across Deep Time

A gradual shift in Earth’s orbit that repeats every 405,000 years plays a role in natural climate swings.