State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Climate232

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 2/19

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 2/19

    Climate change increased likelihood of Russian 2010 heatwave, The Guardian, Feb 21 The extreme Russian heatwave of 2010 was made three times more likely because of man-made climate change, according to a study led by climate scientists and number-crunched by home PC users. But the size of the event was mostly within natural limits, said…

  • Climates Services: Must Help Us Understand Risks

    Climates Services: Must Help Us Understand Risks

    The point is setting priorities right, and for an agency like the World Food Programme, our focus is of course vulnerable people in the most vulnerable countries, countries where climate change is a multiplier of hunger risk. –- WFP’s Carlo Scaramella, in the fifth in a series of video interviews.

  • Fixing Climate: Beyond Carbon Dioxide

    Fixing Climate: Beyond Carbon Dioxide

    Climate scientists at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science this week were elated to hear that the United States and five other countries had agreed to work toward cutting pollutants other than carbon dioxide thought to cause about a third of current human-influenced global warming. After all, many of them…

  • Climate Services: Science=Credibility

    Climate Services: Science=Credibility

    It’s terribly important that those who provide climate services are backed up by science and most importantly, link with and understand the problems of the user community. – says John Zillman, former president of the World Meteorological Organization, in the fourth in a series of video interviews.

  • A Climate Tipping Point for World Food Prices?

    A Climate Tipping Point for World Food Prices?

    Increased growing-season heat due to climate change in coming decades could push staple U.S. crops off a cliff, and cause world food prices to jump, a Columbia University economist told a press briefing at a top scientific meeting this week. In a panel organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, economist Wolfram…

  • Did the Oceans Influence Human Evolution?

    Did the Oceans Influence Human Evolution?

    Scientists often invoke climate as a possible factor in human evolution; but only recently have they developed the ability to get enough information about past climates and related fossil evidence to see any details. A half-dozen leading paleontologists and climate scientists discussed recent advances in a symposium this week at the annual meeting of the…

  • U.S., 5 Nations to Cut Methane, Soot Emissions

    U.S., 5 Nations to Cut Methane, Soot Emissions

    The United States and five other countries agreed this week to fund an effort to cut emissions of methane, soot and other pollutants to start to slow the rate of human-induced climate change.

  • Global Climate Modeling for the Masses: You Can Try This at Home

    Global Climate Modeling for the Masses: You Can Try This at Home

    Since 2005, the Educational Global Climate Modeling Project has been downloaded 50,000 times, and adopted for teaching and research at hundreds of universities and other institutions.

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 2/13

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 2/13

    Leak Offers Glimpse of Campaign Against Climate Science, New Global Deal on Climate Change, What’s Next for Renewable Energy in the Mediterranean?, Climate Change Increases Risk of Storm Surge, According to MIT Study

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

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 2/19

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 2/19

    Climate change increased likelihood of Russian 2010 heatwave, The Guardian, Feb 21 The extreme Russian heatwave of 2010 was made three times more likely because of man-made climate change, according to a study led by climate scientists and number-crunched by home PC users. But the size of the event was mostly within natural limits, said…

  • Climates Services: Must Help Us Understand Risks

    Climates Services: Must Help Us Understand Risks

    The point is setting priorities right, and for an agency like the World Food Programme, our focus is of course vulnerable people in the most vulnerable countries, countries where climate change is a multiplier of hunger risk. –- WFP’s Carlo Scaramella, in the fifth in a series of video interviews.

  • Fixing Climate: Beyond Carbon Dioxide

    Fixing Climate: Beyond Carbon Dioxide

    Climate scientists at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science this week were elated to hear that the United States and five other countries had agreed to work toward cutting pollutants other than carbon dioxide thought to cause about a third of current human-influenced global warming. After all, many of them…

  • Climate Services: Science=Credibility

    Climate Services: Science=Credibility

    It’s terribly important that those who provide climate services are backed up by science and most importantly, link with and understand the problems of the user community. – says John Zillman, former president of the World Meteorological Organization, in the fourth in a series of video interviews.

  • A Climate Tipping Point for World Food Prices?

    A Climate Tipping Point for World Food Prices?

    Increased growing-season heat due to climate change in coming decades could push staple U.S. crops off a cliff, and cause world food prices to jump, a Columbia University economist told a press briefing at a top scientific meeting this week. In a panel organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, economist Wolfram…

  • Did the Oceans Influence Human Evolution?

    Did the Oceans Influence Human Evolution?

    Scientists often invoke climate as a possible factor in human evolution; but only recently have they developed the ability to get enough information about past climates and related fossil evidence to see any details. A half-dozen leading paleontologists and climate scientists discussed recent advances in a symposium this week at the annual meeting of the…

  • U.S., 5 Nations to Cut Methane, Soot Emissions

    U.S., 5 Nations to Cut Methane, Soot Emissions

    The United States and five other countries agreed this week to fund an effort to cut emissions of methane, soot and other pollutants to start to slow the rate of human-induced climate change.

  • Global Climate Modeling for the Masses: You Can Try This at Home

    Global Climate Modeling for the Masses: You Can Try This at Home

    Since 2005, the Educational Global Climate Modeling Project has been downloaded 50,000 times, and adopted for teaching and research at hundreds of universities and other institutions.

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 2/13

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 2/13

    Leak Offers Glimpse of Campaign Against Climate Science, New Global Deal on Climate Change, What’s Next for Renewable Energy in the Mediterranean?, Climate Change Increases Risk of Storm Surge, According to MIT Study