State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Agriculture39

  • A Model for Improving Climate Services in Africa

    A Model for Improving Climate Services in Africa

    A groundbreaking set of new online climate data maps for Ethiopia gives users free access to 30 years of rainfall and temperature data for the entire country at the click of a button. This is unprecedented anywhere in Africa.

  • Climate Services: Global Framework

    Climate Services: Global Framework

    Jerry Lengoasa, Deputy Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization — How do we bridge the gap between those who have the knowledge and those who don’t, those who have the capacity and those who don’t have the capacity, and the capability?

  • Climates Services: Must Help Us Understand Risks

    Climates Services: Must Help Us Understand Risks

    The point is setting priorities right, and for an agency like the World Food Programme, our focus is of course vulnerable people in the most vulnerable countries, countries where climate change is a multiplier of hunger risk. –- WFP’s Carlo Scaramella, in the fifth in a series of video interviews.

  • A Climate Tipping Point for World Food Prices?

    A Climate Tipping Point for World Food Prices?

    Increased growing-season heat due to climate change in coming decades could push staple U.S. crops off a cliff, and cause world food prices to jump, a Columbia University economist told a press briefing at a top scientific meeting this week. In a panel organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, economist Wolfram…

  • Can Intensive Farming Save Tropical Forests?

    Can Intensive Farming Save Tropical Forests?

    With 7 billion people on the planet and some 40 percent of earth’s land surface already covered with croplands and pastures, the only remaining frontiers for agricultural expansion are dwindling tropical forests. Some see high-yield industrial-scale farming as a way to take the pressure off; the theory goes that if more produce can be grown…

  • U.S., 5 Nations to Cut Methane, Soot Emissions

    U.S., 5 Nations to Cut Methane, Soot Emissions

    The United States and five other countries agreed this week to fund an effort to cut emissions of methane, soot and other pollutants to start to slow the rate of human-induced climate change.

  • Climate Services: Think Local

    Climate Services: Think Local

    “I think we have to get a lot more humble about what we can do with our science, and what is actually going to be useful with our science.” — US AID’s Edward Carr talks about the importance of climate services to local communities, for the first in a series of video interviews.

  • Opening the Door to More Rooftop Farming?

    Opening the Door to More Rooftop Farming?

    The NYC Department of City Planning has proposed new zoning rules to make it easier to retrofit buildings for energy efficiency – including a provision on rooftop greenhouses.

  • The End of Traffic: Goals of an Ecopreneur

    The End of Traffic: Goals of an Ecopreneur

    Savraj Singh Danjal, an ecopreneur based in New Jersey, has some practical solutions for your home energy bill — and for traffic, congestion, your view of the night sky, and how to keep your coffee warm.

Photo of the Earth from space with the text "Lamont at AGU25" on top.

AGU25, the premier Earth and space science conference, takes place December 15-19, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. This year’s theme—Where Science Connects Us—puts in focus how science depends on connection, from the lab to the field to the ballot box. Once again, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School scientists, experts, students, and educators are playing an active role, sharing our research and helping shape the future of our planet. #AGU25 Learn More

  • A Model for Improving Climate Services in Africa

    A Model for Improving Climate Services in Africa

    A groundbreaking set of new online climate data maps for Ethiopia gives users free access to 30 years of rainfall and temperature data for the entire country at the click of a button. This is unprecedented anywhere in Africa.

  • Climate Services: Global Framework

    Climate Services: Global Framework

    Jerry Lengoasa, Deputy Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization — How do we bridge the gap between those who have the knowledge and those who don’t, those who have the capacity and those who don’t have the capacity, and the capability?

  • Climates Services: Must Help Us Understand Risks

    Climates Services: Must Help Us Understand Risks

    The point is setting priorities right, and for an agency like the World Food Programme, our focus is of course vulnerable people in the most vulnerable countries, countries where climate change is a multiplier of hunger risk. –- WFP’s Carlo Scaramella, in the fifth in a series of video interviews.

  • A Climate Tipping Point for World Food Prices?

    A Climate Tipping Point for World Food Prices?

    Increased growing-season heat due to climate change in coming decades could push staple U.S. crops off a cliff, and cause world food prices to jump, a Columbia University economist told a press briefing at a top scientific meeting this week. In a panel organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, economist Wolfram…

  • Can Intensive Farming Save Tropical Forests?

    Can Intensive Farming Save Tropical Forests?

    With 7 billion people on the planet and some 40 percent of earth’s land surface already covered with croplands and pastures, the only remaining frontiers for agricultural expansion are dwindling tropical forests. Some see high-yield industrial-scale farming as a way to take the pressure off; the theory goes that if more produce can be grown…

  • U.S., 5 Nations to Cut Methane, Soot Emissions

    U.S., 5 Nations to Cut Methane, Soot Emissions

    The United States and five other countries agreed this week to fund an effort to cut emissions of methane, soot and other pollutants to start to slow the rate of human-induced climate change.

  • Climate Services: Think Local

    Climate Services: Think Local

    “I think we have to get a lot more humble about what we can do with our science, and what is actually going to be useful with our science.” — US AID’s Edward Carr talks about the importance of climate services to local communities, for the first in a series of video interviews.

  • Opening the Door to More Rooftop Farming?

    Opening the Door to More Rooftop Farming?

    The NYC Department of City Planning has proposed new zoning rules to make it easier to retrofit buildings for energy efficiency – including a provision on rooftop greenhouses.

  • The End of Traffic: Goals of an Ecopreneur

    The End of Traffic: Goals of an Ecopreneur

    Savraj Singh Danjal, an ecopreneur based in New Jersey, has some practical solutions for your home energy bill — and for traffic, congestion, your view of the night sky, and how to keep your coffee warm.