State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Climate204

  • Scientists Speak Out on Climate: Is Anyone Listening?

    Scientists Speak Out on Climate: Is Anyone Listening?

    In the light of recent varied efforts to focus public attention on the risks of climate change, we asked Earth Institute scientists what they want the public to understand about the issue and how they see their roles.

  • From Theory to Reality: Closing the Carbon Loop

    From Theory to Reality: Closing the Carbon Loop

    Carbon capture, storage and reuse has the potential to help us reduce CO2 emissions and combat global warming. The Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy is bringing together experts from an array of fields to assess the state of the technology April 14-16.

  • Climate Change: a Matter of Public Health

    Climate Change: a Matter of Public Health

    People have tried to cast climate change as an environmental issue, a social justice issue and a development issue. Madeleine Thomson of the International Research Institute for Climate and Society argues climate change can be understood much better if we consider it an issue of global public health.

  • Student Research Showcase 2014

    Student Research Showcase 2014

    The Earth Institute, Columbia University was proud to support student research in the areas of environment and sustainable development at the annual Student Research Showcase on April 25, 2014. Student interns, research assistants and travel grant recipients, and their Faculty and Research Advisors, were honored for their research contributions that ranged in topics from biodiversity,…

  • IPCC Says Managing Risks of Climate Change is Critical

    IPCC Says Managing Risks of Climate Change is Critical

    Among the key findings of the WGII AR5 Report chapter on human security, a topic highlighted in the Report for the first time, is that societies in conflict are more vulnerable to climate change.

  • The Isthmus of Panama: Out of the Deep Earth

    The Isthmus of Panama: Out of the Deep Earth

    The creation of the narrow isthmus that joins North and South America changed not just the world map, but the circulation of oceans, the course of biologic evolution, and probably global climate. Scientists try to decipher the story behind its formation.

  • Photo Essay: Exploring the Rocks That Join the Americas

    Photo Essay: Exploring the Rocks That Join the Americas

    The formation of the slender land bridge that joins South America and North America was a pivotal event in earth’s history. At its narrowest along the isthmus of Panama, it changed not just the world map, but the circulation of oceans, the course of biologic evolution, and global climate. Cornelia Class, a geochemist at Columbia…

  • FutureCoast: A Voicemail Vision of Climate-to-Be

    FutureCoast: A Voicemail Vision of Climate-to-Be

    Melting glaciers, collapsing sea ice, water supplies under stress, increases in storm frequency, impacts on food supply — are we reading a synopsis of the IPCC report or messages from the future delivered through a software glitch? People around the world are posing this question.

  • Warming Climate May Spread Drying to a Third of Earth, Says Study

    Heat, Not Just Rainfall, Plays into New Projections

Banner with images representing environmental issues and text "You Asked: Our Scientists and Experts Answer Your Burning Questions."

You Asked invites you to share your most pressing questions about climate, science, and sustainability. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School experts will respond with clear, evidence-based answers. Pose your questions and story ideas!

  • Scientists Speak Out on Climate: Is Anyone Listening?

    Scientists Speak Out on Climate: Is Anyone Listening?

    In the light of recent varied efforts to focus public attention on the risks of climate change, we asked Earth Institute scientists what they want the public to understand about the issue and how they see their roles.

  • From Theory to Reality: Closing the Carbon Loop

    From Theory to Reality: Closing the Carbon Loop

    Carbon capture, storage and reuse has the potential to help us reduce CO2 emissions and combat global warming. The Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy is bringing together experts from an array of fields to assess the state of the technology April 14-16.

  • Climate Change: a Matter of Public Health

    Climate Change: a Matter of Public Health

    People have tried to cast climate change as an environmental issue, a social justice issue and a development issue. Madeleine Thomson of the International Research Institute for Climate and Society argues climate change can be understood much better if we consider it an issue of global public health.

  • Student Research Showcase 2014

    Student Research Showcase 2014

    The Earth Institute, Columbia University was proud to support student research in the areas of environment and sustainable development at the annual Student Research Showcase on April 25, 2014. Student interns, research assistants and travel grant recipients, and their Faculty and Research Advisors, were honored for their research contributions that ranged in topics from biodiversity,…

  • IPCC Says Managing Risks of Climate Change is Critical

    IPCC Says Managing Risks of Climate Change is Critical

    Among the key findings of the WGII AR5 Report chapter on human security, a topic highlighted in the Report for the first time, is that societies in conflict are more vulnerable to climate change.

  • The Isthmus of Panama: Out of the Deep Earth

    The Isthmus of Panama: Out of the Deep Earth

    The creation of the narrow isthmus that joins North and South America changed not just the world map, but the circulation of oceans, the course of biologic evolution, and probably global climate. Scientists try to decipher the story behind its formation.

  • Photo Essay: Exploring the Rocks That Join the Americas

    Photo Essay: Exploring the Rocks That Join the Americas

    The formation of the slender land bridge that joins South America and North America was a pivotal event in earth’s history. At its narrowest along the isthmus of Panama, it changed not just the world map, but the circulation of oceans, the course of biologic evolution, and global climate. Cornelia Class, a geochemist at Columbia…

  • FutureCoast: A Voicemail Vision of Climate-to-Be

    FutureCoast: A Voicemail Vision of Climate-to-Be

    Melting glaciers, collapsing sea ice, water supplies under stress, increases in storm frequency, impacts on food supply — are we reading a synopsis of the IPCC report or messages from the future delivered through a software glitch? People around the world are posing this question.

  • Warming Climate May Spread Drying to a Third of Earth, Says Study

    Heat, Not Just Rainfall, Plays into New Projections