State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Climate171

  • Gearing Up for Our First Cores

    Gearing Up for Our First Cores

    As they get to know their ship, the scientists aboard the JOIDES Resolution prepare to drill their first sediment cores along the Natal Valley off the coast of southern Africa.

  • The Sustainable City

    By concentrating human population in cities, we will make it possible to preserve land for wilderness, ecosystem maintenance and agriculture. People will travel to these places and will experience nature, but only a fortunate few will live close to nature.

  • Fast-Building Storms Play Key Role in Tropical Cyclone Risk

    Fast-Building Storms Play Key Role in Tropical Cyclone Risk

    In studying climate and tropical cyclones, researchers find a weather phenomenon at play.

  • Setting Off for Two Months at Sea

    Setting Off for Two Months at Sea

    Sidney Hemming and the scientists aboard the JOIDES Resolution conduct the final preparations for their research cruise off southern Africa and introduce a girls’ school group from Mauritius to science at sea.

  • El Niño and Global Warming—What’s the Connection?

    El Niño and Global Warming—What’s the Connection?

    The United Nations has declared 2015 the hottest year since record keeping began. It was also a year marked by the occurrence of a “super” El Niño. Are the warming temperatures and El Niño connected?

  • Without the Montreal Protocol, More Intense Tropical Cyclones

    Without the Montreal Protocol, More Intense Tropical Cyclones

    Using one of the most advanced atmospheric computer models available, scientists compared our expected future with a scenario in which ozone-depleting substances had never been regulated.

  • A New Global Team Tracks Temperature Change Through Time

    A New Global Team Tracks Temperature Change Through Time

    A new international consortium of scientists is bringing the history of temperature fluctuations across the entire Northern Hemisphere to life.

  • A Prize-Winner Explains His Work

    A Prize-Winner Explains His Work

    Nicolás Young studies glaciers and ice sheets, and how they’ve changed in the past. His work earned him the Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists last fall, which came with a $30,000 prize. You can hear him talk about his research in this new video, produced by the Blavatnik Family Foundation.

  • Uncovering the Stories of Southern Africa’s Climate Past

    Uncovering the Stories of Southern Africa’s Climate Past

    Sidney Hemming is preparing to spend two months at sea studying global ocean circulation and southern Africa’s climate variability over the past 5 million years.

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

  • Gearing Up for Our First Cores

    Gearing Up for Our First Cores

    As they get to know their ship, the scientists aboard the JOIDES Resolution prepare to drill their first sediment cores along the Natal Valley off the coast of southern Africa.

  • The Sustainable City

    By concentrating human population in cities, we will make it possible to preserve land for wilderness, ecosystem maintenance and agriculture. People will travel to these places and will experience nature, but only a fortunate few will live close to nature.

  • Fast-Building Storms Play Key Role in Tropical Cyclone Risk

    Fast-Building Storms Play Key Role in Tropical Cyclone Risk

    In studying climate and tropical cyclones, researchers find a weather phenomenon at play.

  • Setting Off for Two Months at Sea

    Setting Off for Two Months at Sea

    Sidney Hemming and the scientists aboard the JOIDES Resolution conduct the final preparations for their research cruise off southern Africa and introduce a girls’ school group from Mauritius to science at sea.

  • El Niño and Global Warming—What’s the Connection?

    El Niño and Global Warming—What’s the Connection?

    The United Nations has declared 2015 the hottest year since record keeping began. It was also a year marked by the occurrence of a “super” El Niño. Are the warming temperatures and El Niño connected?

  • Without the Montreal Protocol, More Intense Tropical Cyclones

    Without the Montreal Protocol, More Intense Tropical Cyclones

    Using one of the most advanced atmospheric computer models available, scientists compared our expected future with a scenario in which ozone-depleting substances had never been regulated.

  • A New Global Team Tracks Temperature Change Through Time

    A New Global Team Tracks Temperature Change Through Time

    A new international consortium of scientists is bringing the history of temperature fluctuations across the entire Northern Hemisphere to life.

  • A Prize-Winner Explains His Work

    A Prize-Winner Explains His Work

    Nicolás Young studies glaciers and ice sheets, and how they’ve changed in the past. His work earned him the Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists last fall, which came with a $30,000 prize. You can hear him talk about his research in this new video, produced by the Blavatnik Family Foundation.

  • Uncovering the Stories of Southern Africa’s Climate Past

    Uncovering the Stories of Southern Africa’s Climate Past

    Sidney Hemming is preparing to spend two months at sea studying global ocean circulation and southern Africa’s climate variability over the past 5 million years.