News from the Columbia Climate School

Author: Kevin Krajick7

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.

Balancing Act: Can Precariously Perched Boulders Signal New York’s Earthquake Risk?

Long ago, melting glaciers dropped giant boulders onto surfaces in the New York City exurbs, and many seem to remain in their original, delicately balanced positions. Can they be used to judge the maximum sizes of past earthquakes?
Dinosaurs Took Over Amid Ice, Not Warmth, Says a New Study of Ancient Mass Extinction

There is new evidence that ancient high latitudes, to which early dinosaurs were largely relegated, regularly froze over, and that the creatures adapted—an apparent key to their later dominance.
In Sediments Below Antarctic Ice, Scientists Discover a Giant Groundwater System

For the first time, scientists have mapped in detail water locked in a deep basin far under the Antarctic ice. The discovery could have implications for how the continent reacts to, or even contributes to, climate change.
At a Melting Glacier, a Landslide, Then Tsunami, Signal Climate-Related Threat

A peculiar seismic signal was the first indication of a gigantic landslide and subsequent tsunami in the remote mountains of British Columbia. It detected what may be a growing climate-related threat.
Water Content Controls the Depth of Magma Storage Under Many Volcanoes, Says Study

Research into volcanoes in the Aleutian Islands and elsewhere overturns the conventional understanding of what controls the depth at which rising magma is stored.
A Slow-Motion Section of the San Andreas Fault May Not Be So Harmless After All

The central section of the great fault spanning California, thought to be creeping along harmlessly at the moment, has experienced big quakes in the past, says a new study.
Talking With Bill Ryan, Detective of the Deeps

Marine geologist William B.F. Ryan discusses once seemingly unlikely theories about the evolution of oceans and seas, the hunt for the wreck of the Titanic, the Biblical Flood, and more.
Lisa Goddard: Led Global Efforts to Advance Near-Term Climate Forecasting

Lisa Goddard, longtime director of the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, has died.
Can We Feed Billions of Ourselves Without Wrecking the Planet?

A new Earth Institute primer lays out the basics of achieving sustainable agriculture on a global scale.

Balancing Act: Can Precariously Perched Boulders Signal New York’s Earthquake Risk?

Long ago, melting glaciers dropped giant boulders onto surfaces in the New York City exurbs, and many seem to remain in their original, delicately balanced positions. Can they be used to judge the maximum sizes of past earthquakes?
Dinosaurs Took Over Amid Ice, Not Warmth, Says a New Study of Ancient Mass Extinction

There is new evidence that ancient high latitudes, to which early dinosaurs were largely relegated, regularly froze over, and that the creatures adapted—an apparent key to their later dominance.
In Sediments Below Antarctic Ice, Scientists Discover a Giant Groundwater System

For the first time, scientists have mapped in detail water locked in a deep basin far under the Antarctic ice. The discovery could have implications for how the continent reacts to, or even contributes to, climate change.
At a Melting Glacier, a Landslide, Then Tsunami, Signal Climate-Related Threat

A peculiar seismic signal was the first indication of a gigantic landslide and subsequent tsunami in the remote mountains of British Columbia. It detected what may be a growing climate-related threat.
Water Content Controls the Depth of Magma Storage Under Many Volcanoes, Says Study

Research into volcanoes in the Aleutian Islands and elsewhere overturns the conventional understanding of what controls the depth at which rising magma is stored.
A Slow-Motion Section of the San Andreas Fault May Not Be So Harmless After All

The central section of the great fault spanning California, thought to be creeping along harmlessly at the moment, has experienced big quakes in the past, says a new study.
Talking With Bill Ryan, Detective of the Deeps

Marine geologist William B.F. Ryan discusses once seemingly unlikely theories about the evolution of oceans and seas, the hunt for the wreck of the Titanic, the Biblical Flood, and more.
Lisa Goddard: Led Global Efforts to Advance Near-Term Climate Forecasting

Lisa Goddard, longtime director of the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, has died.
Can We Feed Billions of Ourselves Without Wrecking the Planet?

A new Earth Institute primer lays out the basics of achieving sustainable agriculture on a global scale.