State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Climate201

  • Did New Zealand Dust Influence the Last Ice Age?

    Did New Zealand Dust Influence the Last Ice Age?

    Bess Koffman, a postdoctoral researcher at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, recently traveled to New Zealand to collect dust ground-up by glaciers during the last ice age. In this photo essay, she explains how she collected the dust, what analysis looks like in the lab and what she hopes to learn.

  • Warming Hiatus? Hangout and Find Out

    Warming Hiatus? Hangout and Find Out

    Wondering about the slowdown in global warming? Need a little context? Try visiting a Google hangout session with physical and social scientists and science communicators on March 20 at 11 a.m. EDT.

  • Helping Consumers See the Green Behind Fuel Economy

    Helping Consumers See the Green Behind Fuel Economy

    New research from the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions sheds light on how best to present information on U.S. fuel economy labels. Consumers choose fuel-efficient vehicles more frequently when fuel economy is expressed in terms of the cost of gas on a long term, 100,000-mile scale. The scale currently used on the U.S. fuel…

  • Diminishing Ice Intensifies Spotlight on Arctic

    Diminishing Ice Intensifies Spotlight on Arctic

    As the arctic region loses ice in a changing climate, the economic and social tradeoffs are unclear. How will we balance economic, social and environmental functions? The Center on Global Energy Policy and the Consulate General of Canada in New York will examine these questions in a discussion on March 26: “Understanding the Arctic Resource…

  • Mongol Empire Rode Wave of Mild Climate, Says Study

    But Warming Now May Be Tipping Region Into Unparalleled Drought

  • Mekong Delta and Three Gorges Dam: World’s First Climate Change Resettlements?

    Mekong Delta and Three Gorges Dam: World’s First Climate Change Resettlements?

    Many resettlers are economically better off, but the dislocations remain significant, especially for older resettlers, who have a harder time getting work in the newly developed industrial sector. Although the plight of some resettlers has been quite difficult (one older man competed fiercely to serve as a porter for us for the royal sum of…

  • Climate Scientist Is First Woman to Win Geology’s Storied Wollaston Medal

    A climate scientist who has suggested how mountain building can lower Earth’s thermostat and why ice ages sometimes wax and wane at different speeds has been awarded one of geology’s oldest and most coveted prizes: the British Wollaston Medal. The first woman to win a Wollaston in the prize’s 183-year history, Maureen Raymo, a researcher…

  • Joanne Johnson and Lamont-Doherty, Collaborating on Glacial Research

    Joanne Johnson and Lamont-Doherty, Collaborating on Glacial Research

    New research about West Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier suggests the glacier’s recent and rapid thinning and melting may continue for decades or centuries to come. British Antarctic Survey’s Joanne Johnson’s research, done in collaboration with scientists at Lamont-Doherty, might not have been possible without Lamont’s effort to promote women scientists.

  • Has Global Warming Stalled? How Long Will It Last?

    Has Global Warming Stalled? How Long Will It Last?

    Climate Scientist Lisa Goddard talks about what may be behind the recent slowdown in global warming, and some of the nuances of predicting just how the climate will change.

Composite banner with modern building at night and portrait of Dean Alexis Abramson that reads "Science for the Planet"

By studying thousands of buildings and analyzing their electricity use, Columbia Climate School Dean Alexis Abramson has been able to uncover ways to significantly cut energy consumption and emissions. Watch the Video: “Engineering a Cooler Future Through Smarter Buildings

  • Did New Zealand Dust Influence the Last Ice Age?

    Did New Zealand Dust Influence the Last Ice Age?

    Bess Koffman, a postdoctoral researcher at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, recently traveled to New Zealand to collect dust ground-up by glaciers during the last ice age. In this photo essay, she explains how she collected the dust, what analysis looks like in the lab and what she hopes to learn.

  • Warming Hiatus? Hangout and Find Out

    Warming Hiatus? Hangout and Find Out

    Wondering about the slowdown in global warming? Need a little context? Try visiting a Google hangout session with physical and social scientists and science communicators on March 20 at 11 a.m. EDT.

  • Helping Consumers See the Green Behind Fuel Economy

    Helping Consumers See the Green Behind Fuel Economy

    New research from the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions sheds light on how best to present information on U.S. fuel economy labels. Consumers choose fuel-efficient vehicles more frequently when fuel economy is expressed in terms of the cost of gas on a long term, 100,000-mile scale. The scale currently used on the U.S. fuel…

  • Diminishing Ice Intensifies Spotlight on Arctic

    Diminishing Ice Intensifies Spotlight on Arctic

    As the arctic region loses ice in a changing climate, the economic and social tradeoffs are unclear. How will we balance economic, social and environmental functions? The Center on Global Energy Policy and the Consulate General of Canada in New York will examine these questions in a discussion on March 26: “Understanding the Arctic Resource…

  • Mongol Empire Rode Wave of Mild Climate, Says Study

    But Warming Now May Be Tipping Region Into Unparalleled Drought

  • Mekong Delta and Three Gorges Dam: World’s First Climate Change Resettlements?

    Mekong Delta and Three Gorges Dam: World’s First Climate Change Resettlements?

    Many resettlers are economically better off, but the dislocations remain significant, especially for older resettlers, who have a harder time getting work in the newly developed industrial sector. Although the plight of some resettlers has been quite difficult (one older man competed fiercely to serve as a porter for us for the royal sum of…

  • Climate Scientist Is First Woman to Win Geology’s Storied Wollaston Medal

    A climate scientist who has suggested how mountain building can lower Earth’s thermostat and why ice ages sometimes wax and wane at different speeds has been awarded one of geology’s oldest and most coveted prizes: the British Wollaston Medal. The first woman to win a Wollaston in the prize’s 183-year history, Maureen Raymo, a researcher…

  • Joanne Johnson and Lamont-Doherty, Collaborating on Glacial Research

    Joanne Johnson and Lamont-Doherty, Collaborating on Glacial Research

    New research about West Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier suggests the glacier’s recent and rapid thinning and melting may continue for decades or centuries to come. British Antarctic Survey’s Joanne Johnson’s research, done in collaboration with scientists at Lamont-Doherty, might not have been possible without Lamont’s effort to promote women scientists.

  • Has Global Warming Stalled? How Long Will It Last?

    Has Global Warming Stalled? How Long Will It Last?

    Climate Scientist Lisa Goddard talks about what may be behind the recent slowdown in global warming, and some of the nuances of predicting just how the climate will change.