News from the Columbia Climate School

Author: Kevin Krajick9

Kevin Krajick is the former 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. (Kevin’s permanent personal contact: krk4@columbia.edu)

A Morning That Shook the World: The Seismology of 9/11

Seismologist Won-Young Kim heard the first reports of the World Trade Center attacks while driving to work. Soon, he would be enmeshed in helping figure out exactly what happened, and when.
Warfare, Not Climate, Is Driving Resurgent Hunger in Africa, Says Study

A 2009-2018 analysis of 14 countries teases out the factors behind reversals in food security. Conflict, not drought, is behind much of it.
Some Past Sea Levels May Not Have Been as High as Thought, Says Study of Rising and Sinking Landmasses

A time similar to our own saw catastrophic sea-level rise. But exactly how catastrophic?
New York City’s Hidden Old-Growth Forests

Scientists are uncovering centuries of climate data and human history from giant old timbers saved from demolished structures.
More Carbon Emissions Will Kill More People. Here’s How Many.

Current methods to calculate the so-called social cost of carbon largely leave out how many future people our emissions will kill. This study tries to correct that.
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory: Milestones in Climate Science

Much of the modern understanding of climate change is underpinned by pioneering studies done at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Here’s a timeline of significant studies.
Scientists Track the Sudden Disappearance of an Antarctic Ice-Shelf Lake

A rarely seen phenomenon may not bode well for the future survival of the ice.
Food Systems Offer Huge Opportunities to Cut Emissions, Study Finds

Researchers drilling into the many moving parts of food systems say that greenhouse-gas emissions have been systematically underestimated.
Declining Biodiversity in Wild Amazon Fisheries Threatens Human Diet

New research suggests that declines in wild fish species may compromise nutrition in an already poor region. Substituting cultivated species may not help.

A Morning That Shook the World: The Seismology of 9/11

Seismologist Won-Young Kim heard the first reports of the World Trade Center attacks while driving to work. Soon, he would be enmeshed in helping figure out exactly what happened, and when.
Warfare, Not Climate, Is Driving Resurgent Hunger in Africa, Says Study

A 2009-2018 analysis of 14 countries teases out the factors behind reversals in food security. Conflict, not drought, is behind much of it.
Some Past Sea Levels May Not Have Been as High as Thought, Says Study of Rising and Sinking Landmasses

A time similar to our own saw catastrophic sea-level rise. But exactly how catastrophic?
New York City’s Hidden Old-Growth Forests

Scientists are uncovering centuries of climate data and human history from giant old timbers saved from demolished structures.
More Carbon Emissions Will Kill More People. Here’s How Many.

Current methods to calculate the so-called social cost of carbon largely leave out how many future people our emissions will kill. This study tries to correct that.
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory: Milestones in Climate Science

Much of the modern understanding of climate change is underpinned by pioneering studies done at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Here’s a timeline of significant studies.
Scientists Track the Sudden Disappearance of an Antarctic Ice-Shelf Lake

A rarely seen phenomenon may not bode well for the future survival of the ice.
Food Systems Offer Huge Opportunities to Cut Emissions, Study Finds

Researchers drilling into the many moving parts of food systems say that greenhouse-gas emissions have been systematically underestimated.
Declining Biodiversity in Wild Amazon Fisheries Threatens Human Diet

New research suggests that declines in wild fish species may compromise nutrition in an already poor region. Substituting cultivated species may not help.