State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Climate249

  • Test Your Energy-Saving Savvy

    Test Your Energy-Saving Savvy

    What hogs more energy? A desktop computer or a laptop? Central air conditioning or an A/C unit? Take Slate’s energy quiz and find out. The magazine collaborated with researchers at Columbia’s Earth Institute to come up with questions to test if readers know how much energy their household appliances are guzzling. The quiz was adapted…

  • La Niña Still Hanging On

    La Niña Still Hanging On

    IRI’s latest climate briefing shows a weak La Niña still hanging around. The big question is what will happen next?

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 4/17

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 4/17

    Young Climate Activists Push Obama, Vow to Create More Local Awareness, NY Times, Apr. 18 This past weekend, around 10,000 young climate change activists gathered in Washington, D.C for the third Power Shift. While previous Power Shifts held educational workshops on climate science and technology specifics, this year’s event focused on training young activists in…

  • “You are Misinformed”–Planning for Flood Regime Change

    “You are Misinformed”–Planning for Flood Regime Change

    Lately a lot of people are wondering just how helpful the 100-year flood benchmark really is, as places seem to be getting hit by 100-year floods all the time.

  • Study Links Ozone Hole to Weather Shifts

    Depletion Said to Increase Rainfall in Subtropics

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 4/10

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 4/10

    Fewer penguins survive warming Antarctic climate, Reuters, Apr. 11 A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that in Antarctica, only 10 percent of juvenile chinstrap and Adelies penguins now survive the first independent trip they take from their winter habitat back to their colonies, know as the penguin’s “transition…

  • Growing Up: Water Efficiency and Sunless Farming

    Growing Up: Water Efficiency and Sunless Farming

    As Earth’s population continues to grow and a dynamic global climate shifts our expectations of where and when food can be grown, scientists are trying to find new ways to get more from less.

  • Communicating with the Six Americas of Climate Change

    Communicating with the Six Americas of Climate Change

    The 2009 study by the Yale Project on Climate Change and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, “Global Warming’s Six Americas: An Audience Segmentation Analysis,” classified Americans based on their views on climate change into six groups (Alarmed, Concerned, Cautious, Disengaged, Doubtful, Dismissive). This report helped climate communicators distinguish and better attune…

  • Informing Farmers and Combating Drought in Mali

    Informing Farmers and Combating Drought in Mali

    A new case study authored by scientists at Mali’s national meteorological service and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society chronicles a success story of linking farmers to climate information in response to the 1972-1984 drought.

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

  • Test Your Energy-Saving Savvy

    Test Your Energy-Saving Savvy

    What hogs more energy? A desktop computer or a laptop? Central air conditioning or an A/C unit? Take Slate’s energy quiz and find out. The magazine collaborated with researchers at Columbia’s Earth Institute to come up with questions to test if readers know how much energy their household appliances are guzzling. The quiz was adapted…

  • La Niña Still Hanging On

    La Niña Still Hanging On

    IRI’s latest climate briefing shows a weak La Niña still hanging around. The big question is what will happen next?

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 4/17

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 4/17

    Young Climate Activists Push Obama, Vow to Create More Local Awareness, NY Times, Apr. 18 This past weekend, around 10,000 young climate change activists gathered in Washington, D.C for the third Power Shift. While previous Power Shifts held educational workshops on climate science and technology specifics, this year’s event focused on training young activists in…

  • “You are Misinformed”–Planning for Flood Regime Change

    “You are Misinformed”–Planning for Flood Regime Change

    Lately a lot of people are wondering just how helpful the 100-year flood benchmark really is, as places seem to be getting hit by 100-year floods all the time.

  • Study Links Ozone Hole to Weather Shifts

    Depletion Said to Increase Rainfall in Subtropics

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 4/10

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 4/10

    Fewer penguins survive warming Antarctic climate, Reuters, Apr. 11 A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that in Antarctica, only 10 percent of juvenile chinstrap and Adelies penguins now survive the first independent trip they take from their winter habitat back to their colonies, know as the penguin’s “transition…

  • Growing Up: Water Efficiency and Sunless Farming

    Growing Up: Water Efficiency and Sunless Farming

    As Earth’s population continues to grow and a dynamic global climate shifts our expectations of where and when food can be grown, scientists are trying to find new ways to get more from less.

  • Communicating with the Six Americas of Climate Change

    Communicating with the Six Americas of Climate Change

    The 2009 study by the Yale Project on Climate Change and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, “Global Warming’s Six Americas: An Audience Segmentation Analysis,” classified Americans based on their views on climate change into six groups (Alarmed, Concerned, Cautious, Disengaged, Doubtful, Dismissive). This report helped climate communicators distinguish and better attune…

  • Informing Farmers and Combating Drought in Mali

    Informing Farmers and Combating Drought in Mali

    A new case study authored by scientists at Mali’s national meteorological service and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society chronicles a success story of linking farmers to climate information in response to the 1972-1984 drought.