State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Earth Sciences118

  • Can the Oceans Keep Mopping Up Carbon Dioxide?

    Can the Oceans Keep Mopping Up Carbon Dioxide?

    The oceans absorb nearly a third of the carbon dioxide humans put into the air, and this has helped offset CO2’s potential to warm global temperatures. But many researchers think the oceans are struggling to keep pace with rising emissions. A new study looks at 30 years of data to see how natural variability and…

  • Ancient mud from the high Andes

    Ancient mud from the high Andes

    Thanks in large part to Matt, an undergraduate from Pacific Lutheran University in Washington, our field team now has more than sixty samples for surface-exposure dating. This is no easy feat, for collecting these samples requires a great deal of hammering on granite boulders with nothing more than a hammer and chisel. There are other…

  • Summoning ocean bottom seismometers from the deep

    Summoning ocean bottom seismometers from the deep

    After leaving our seismometers on the seafloor offshore Alaska for a few days to record sound waves generated by the air guns of the R/V Langseth, we returned to collect them. The recovery of OBS always involves a certain amount of suspense.

  • A typical day in the high Andes

    A typical day in the high Andes

    Each morning starts the same in the Andes: the frost is heavy on the insides of our tents and falls with the slightest movement, while the realization that it´s going to be a freezing exit from the sleeping bag is tempered by gratitude that the thirteen hour night is over. Yes, sunrise in the Andes…

  • Yes, We Can Afford to Remove Carbon from Air

    Yes, We Can Afford to Remove Carbon from Air

    Recently, the American Physical Society (APS) released a report on the direct capture of carbon dioxide from air. The report concludes that air capture could be a powerful tool for mopping up carbon dioxide emissions that otherwise would escape to the air, for providing carbon dioxide for synthetic liquid fuels in the transportation sector, and…

  • Foreigners in a Strange Land

    Foreigners in a Strange Land

    After a very cold morning in Crucero, the sun burned off the clouds to reveal the black peaks of the Cordillera Carabaya to the east. There´s not so much snow left on the hills these days, just a few glacier patches clinging to the south faces of the highest summits.

  • Updated Map Viewer Enables Visualization of Socioeconomic and Earth Science Data

    Updated Map Viewer Enables Visualization of Socioeconomic and Earth Science Data

    Terra Viva SEDAC Viewer, a map viewer and standalone software application, has been updated for 2011 with the addition of several new SEDAC data sets, including climate change scenario data and indicator collections with hundreds of variables. Terra Viva contains map data and GIS functions in one package. An excellent tool for educators, as well…

  • Into Thin(ner) Air – On Route to the Cordillera Carabaya

    Into Thin(ner) Air – On Route to the Cordillera Carabaya

    This morning we left Arequipa and the comforts of the tourist trail, driving east across the puna towards the Andes proper. Our route took us along the newly constructed Caraterra Interoceanica – a highway linking the Pacific coast of Peru to ports in Brazil – and up to elevations of 4700 m. Along the way…

  • At the Feet of El Misti

    At the Feet of El Misti

    What a difference a day makes! We’ve said goodbye to the sprawling metropolis of Lima and now are happily settled in Arequipa – the White City. This name refers to the white sillar rock used in the construction of the old colonial city and which is in fact a pyroclastic deposit from the volcanoes towering…

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“

  • Can the Oceans Keep Mopping Up Carbon Dioxide?

    Can the Oceans Keep Mopping Up Carbon Dioxide?

    The oceans absorb nearly a third of the carbon dioxide humans put into the air, and this has helped offset CO2’s potential to warm global temperatures. But many researchers think the oceans are struggling to keep pace with rising emissions. A new study looks at 30 years of data to see how natural variability and…

  • Ancient mud from the high Andes

    Ancient mud from the high Andes

    Thanks in large part to Matt, an undergraduate from Pacific Lutheran University in Washington, our field team now has more than sixty samples for surface-exposure dating. This is no easy feat, for collecting these samples requires a great deal of hammering on granite boulders with nothing more than a hammer and chisel. There are other…

  • Summoning ocean bottom seismometers from the deep

    Summoning ocean bottom seismometers from the deep

    After leaving our seismometers on the seafloor offshore Alaska for a few days to record sound waves generated by the air guns of the R/V Langseth, we returned to collect them. The recovery of OBS always involves a certain amount of suspense.

  • A typical day in the high Andes

    A typical day in the high Andes

    Each morning starts the same in the Andes: the frost is heavy on the insides of our tents and falls with the slightest movement, while the realization that it´s going to be a freezing exit from the sleeping bag is tempered by gratitude that the thirteen hour night is over. Yes, sunrise in the Andes…

  • Yes, We Can Afford to Remove Carbon from Air

    Yes, We Can Afford to Remove Carbon from Air

    Recently, the American Physical Society (APS) released a report on the direct capture of carbon dioxide from air. The report concludes that air capture could be a powerful tool for mopping up carbon dioxide emissions that otherwise would escape to the air, for providing carbon dioxide for synthetic liquid fuels in the transportation sector, and…

  • Foreigners in a Strange Land

    Foreigners in a Strange Land

    After a very cold morning in Crucero, the sun burned off the clouds to reveal the black peaks of the Cordillera Carabaya to the east. There´s not so much snow left on the hills these days, just a few glacier patches clinging to the south faces of the highest summits.

  • Updated Map Viewer Enables Visualization of Socioeconomic and Earth Science Data

    Updated Map Viewer Enables Visualization of Socioeconomic and Earth Science Data

    Terra Viva SEDAC Viewer, a map viewer and standalone software application, has been updated for 2011 with the addition of several new SEDAC data sets, including climate change scenario data and indicator collections with hundreds of variables. Terra Viva contains map data and GIS functions in one package. An excellent tool for educators, as well…

  • Into Thin(ner) Air – On Route to the Cordillera Carabaya

    Into Thin(ner) Air – On Route to the Cordillera Carabaya

    This morning we left Arequipa and the comforts of the tourist trail, driving east across the puna towards the Andes proper. Our route took us along the newly constructed Caraterra Interoceanica – a highway linking the Pacific coast of Peru to ports in Brazil – and up to elevations of 4700 m. Along the way…

  • At the Feet of El Misti

    At the Feet of El Misti

    What a difference a day makes! We’ve said goodbye to the sprawling metropolis of Lima and now are happily settled in Arequipa – the White City. This name refers to the white sillar rock used in the construction of the old colonial city and which is in fact a pyroclastic deposit from the volcanoes towering…