State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Climate160

  • At the Jersey Shore, Signs of a Comet, and a Climate Crisis

    Do 55-Million-Year-Old Deposits Hint at Cause of an Abrupt Change?

  • Shareholders Turn Up the Heat on Climate Change

    Shareholders Turn Up the Heat on Climate Change

    2016 was a hot year for climate change shareholder resolutions hitting the boardrooms of oil and gas companies. Although more familiar climate news headlines have carried calls to “keep it in the ground” and divest investment portfolios from fossil fuels, a patient strategy has been quietly gaining momentum: shareholder engagement on climate change.

  • Ancient Leaves Link Loss of Antarctic Ice to a CO2 Spike

    Ancient Leaves Link Loss of Antarctic Ice to a CO2 Spike

    Twenty-three million years ago, the Antarctic Ice Sheet began to shrink, going from an expanse larger than today’s to one about half its modern size. Ancient fossilized leaves retrieved from a lake bed in New Zealand now show for the first time that carbon dioxide levels increased dramatically over a relatively short period of time…

  • Protecting Indigenous Land Rights Makes Good Economic Sense

    Protecting Indigenous Land Rights Makes Good Economic Sense

    Indigenous peoples and other communities hold and manage 50 to 65 percent of the world’s land, yet governments recognize only 10 percent as legally belonging to these groups, with another 8 percent designated by governments for communities. That’s bad economic policy.

  • Melting Glaciers Help Spur a Message on Climate

    Melting Glaciers Help Spur a Message on Climate

    On Oct. 5, several small mountain countries with glaciers—Austria, Bolivia, and Nepal—undertook an important step in advancing global action on climate change. They helped the Paris Climate Agreement reach the threshold to enter into force and become legally binding.

  • Climate Change Has Doubled Western U.S. Forest Fires, Says Study

    More Aridity Is Sending Thousands of Square Miles Up in Flames

  • Trade Deals and the Paris Climate Agreement

    Trade Deals and the Paris Climate Agreement

    With the approval of the Paris Climate Agreement comes a key question: Do our trade and investment agreements—current and proposed—create the space, send the right signals, and clear the path for the U.S. and other countries to meet their Paris commitments?

  • Rising Temperatures Load the Dice for Megadrought Risk

    Rising Temperatures Load the Dice for Megadrought Risk

    As the American Southwest grows hotter, the risk of severe, long-lasting megadroughts rises, passing 90 percent this century if greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current pace, a new study from scientists at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory says. Aggressively reducing emissions can cut that risk.

  • Mapping Risks and Building Resilience, from Plot to Plate

    Mapping Risks and Building Resilience, from Plot to Plate

    Michael Puma, an associate research scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and a Center for Climate and Life Fellow, works to improve understanding of the fragility of the global food system and how it might respond to major disruptions.

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

  • At the Jersey Shore, Signs of a Comet, and a Climate Crisis

    Do 55-Million-Year-Old Deposits Hint at Cause of an Abrupt Change?

  • Shareholders Turn Up the Heat on Climate Change

    Shareholders Turn Up the Heat on Climate Change

    2016 was a hot year for climate change shareholder resolutions hitting the boardrooms of oil and gas companies. Although more familiar climate news headlines have carried calls to “keep it in the ground” and divest investment portfolios from fossil fuels, a patient strategy has been quietly gaining momentum: shareholder engagement on climate change.

  • Ancient Leaves Link Loss of Antarctic Ice to a CO2 Spike

    Ancient Leaves Link Loss of Antarctic Ice to a CO2 Spike

    Twenty-three million years ago, the Antarctic Ice Sheet began to shrink, going from an expanse larger than today’s to one about half its modern size. Ancient fossilized leaves retrieved from a lake bed in New Zealand now show for the first time that carbon dioxide levels increased dramatically over a relatively short period of time…

  • Protecting Indigenous Land Rights Makes Good Economic Sense

    Protecting Indigenous Land Rights Makes Good Economic Sense

    Indigenous peoples and other communities hold and manage 50 to 65 percent of the world’s land, yet governments recognize only 10 percent as legally belonging to these groups, with another 8 percent designated by governments for communities. That’s bad economic policy.

  • Melting Glaciers Help Spur a Message on Climate

    Melting Glaciers Help Spur a Message on Climate

    On Oct. 5, several small mountain countries with glaciers—Austria, Bolivia, and Nepal—undertook an important step in advancing global action on climate change. They helped the Paris Climate Agreement reach the threshold to enter into force and become legally binding.

  • Climate Change Has Doubled Western U.S. Forest Fires, Says Study

    More Aridity Is Sending Thousands of Square Miles Up in Flames

  • Trade Deals and the Paris Climate Agreement

    Trade Deals and the Paris Climate Agreement

    With the approval of the Paris Climate Agreement comes a key question: Do our trade and investment agreements—current and proposed—create the space, send the right signals, and clear the path for the U.S. and other countries to meet their Paris commitments?

  • Rising Temperatures Load the Dice for Megadrought Risk

    Rising Temperatures Load the Dice for Megadrought Risk

    As the American Southwest grows hotter, the risk of severe, long-lasting megadroughts rises, passing 90 percent this century if greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current pace, a new study from scientists at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory says. Aggressively reducing emissions can cut that risk.

  • Mapping Risks and Building Resilience, from Plot to Plate

    Mapping Risks and Building Resilience, from Plot to Plate

    Michael Puma, an associate research scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and a Center for Climate and Life Fellow, works to improve understanding of the fragility of the global food system and how it might respond to major disruptions.