State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Climate165

  • The Connection Between Climate and Public Health

    The Connection Between Climate and Public Health

    International Research Institute for Climate and Society and the Mailman School of Public Health will hold a two-day meeting to talk about how climate influences issues of public health, from heat waves to infectious diseases. The event will be livestreamed, and you also can follow it on Twitter at #healthclimate2016.

  • Miracle on the Potomac: The New Bipartisan Law Regulating Toxics

    The new law is far from perfect, but it is a major improvement over the ineffectual 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act. Under that law, only five of the over 80,000 chemicals now in use have been banned or substantially restricted in use.

  • The Plate Tectonics Revolution: It Was All About the Data

    The Plate Tectonics Revolution: It Was All About the Data

    The young scientists who led the plate tectonics revolution 50 years ago showed how asking the right questions and having access to a wide range of shared data could open doors to an entirely new understanding of our planet.

  • The False Trade-Off Between Economic Growth and Environmental Protection

    The investment in environmental clean-up often stimulates other upgrades that enable businesses to more effectively compete in a global economy. Moreover, a clean environment reduces illness and that reduces the need for expensive health care.

  • John Imbrie, a Pioneer of Paleoceanography

    John Imbrie, a Pioneer of Paleoceanography

    Imbrie, a former head of the Department of Geological Sciences, helped confirmed connections between changes in Earth’s orbit and the timing of the ice ages and was a co-founder of CLIMAP, an international effort to use sediment cores to map Earth’s climate at the height of the last ice age.

  • Iron Fertilization Won’t Work in Equatorial Pacific, Study Suggests

    Iron Fertilization Won’t Work in Equatorial Pacific, Study Suggests

    Over the past half-million years, the equatorial Pacific Ocean has seen five spikes in the amount of iron-laden dust blown in from the continents. In theory, those bursts should have turbo-charged the growth of carbon-capturing algae, but a new study shows that the excess iron had little to no effect.

  • Study Downgrades Groundwater Contribution to Sea Level Rise

    Study Downgrades Groundwater Contribution to Sea Level Rise

    Some research suggests that, along with melting ice sheets and glaciers, the water pumped from underground for irrigation and other uses, on the rise worldwide, could contribute substantially to rising sea levels over the next 50 years. A new study published in Nature Climate Change says the magnitude is substantially lower.

  • As Predicted: A Rising Tide of Migration

    As Predicted: A Rising Tide of Migration

    “With sea levels on the rise, several island nations are scrambling to stay above water and ensure citizens will have a place to go when the ocean engulfs their homeland. The humanitarian-crisis phase of climate change has officially begun.”

  • Learning from El Niño as La Niña Odds Rise

    Learning from El Niño as La Niña Odds Rise

    Although El Niño is weakening, its ramifications continue to be felt around the world. Drought and resulting food insecurity is one of the major implications for southeast Asia, eastern and southern Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. Sixty million are in need of emergency relief today, according to the United Nations.

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

  • The Connection Between Climate and Public Health

    The Connection Between Climate and Public Health

    International Research Institute for Climate and Society and the Mailman School of Public Health will hold a two-day meeting to talk about how climate influences issues of public health, from heat waves to infectious diseases. The event will be livestreamed, and you also can follow it on Twitter at #healthclimate2016.

  • Miracle on the Potomac: The New Bipartisan Law Regulating Toxics

    The new law is far from perfect, but it is a major improvement over the ineffectual 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act. Under that law, only five of the over 80,000 chemicals now in use have been banned or substantially restricted in use.

  • The Plate Tectonics Revolution: It Was All About the Data

    The Plate Tectonics Revolution: It Was All About the Data

    The young scientists who led the plate tectonics revolution 50 years ago showed how asking the right questions and having access to a wide range of shared data could open doors to an entirely new understanding of our planet.

  • The False Trade-Off Between Economic Growth and Environmental Protection

    The investment in environmental clean-up often stimulates other upgrades that enable businesses to more effectively compete in a global economy. Moreover, a clean environment reduces illness and that reduces the need for expensive health care.

  • John Imbrie, a Pioneer of Paleoceanography

    John Imbrie, a Pioneer of Paleoceanography

    Imbrie, a former head of the Department of Geological Sciences, helped confirmed connections between changes in Earth’s orbit and the timing of the ice ages and was a co-founder of CLIMAP, an international effort to use sediment cores to map Earth’s climate at the height of the last ice age.

  • Iron Fertilization Won’t Work in Equatorial Pacific, Study Suggests

    Iron Fertilization Won’t Work in Equatorial Pacific, Study Suggests

    Over the past half-million years, the equatorial Pacific Ocean has seen five spikes in the amount of iron-laden dust blown in from the continents. In theory, those bursts should have turbo-charged the growth of carbon-capturing algae, but a new study shows that the excess iron had little to no effect.

  • Study Downgrades Groundwater Contribution to Sea Level Rise

    Study Downgrades Groundwater Contribution to Sea Level Rise

    Some research suggests that, along with melting ice sheets and glaciers, the water pumped from underground for irrigation and other uses, on the rise worldwide, could contribute substantially to rising sea levels over the next 50 years. A new study published in Nature Climate Change says the magnitude is substantially lower.

  • As Predicted: A Rising Tide of Migration

    As Predicted: A Rising Tide of Migration

    “With sea levels on the rise, several island nations are scrambling to stay above water and ensure citizens will have a place to go when the ocean engulfs their homeland. The humanitarian-crisis phase of climate change has officially begun.”

  • Learning from El Niño as La Niña Odds Rise

    Learning from El Niño as La Niña Odds Rise

    Although El Niño is weakening, its ramifications continue to be felt around the world. Drought and resulting food insecurity is one of the major implications for southeast Asia, eastern and southern Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. Sixty million are in need of emergency relief today, according to the United Nations.