State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Earth Sciences143

  • Geochemistry Building Will Expand Knowledge of Earth

    Amid cheers from hundreds of scientists and guests, Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory cut the ribbon at its $45 million Gary C. Comer Geochemistry Building. The ultra-modern facility is “the step forward that we need to accelerate our efforts to understand and predict the important changes that will impact the way we live with our planet,”…

  • New Research Ship Will Look Deep Under Oceans

    Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Earth’s Evolution in Sharper Focus

  • Mapping Socioeconomic Data Reveals Trends

    In October 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that the nation’s population had reached 300 million people — a number that has tripled since 1915. This milestone raises critical questions regarding where people live —or don’t live — in the U.S. that help feed high-level decisions on where to allocate government resources on education, health…

  • What’s in an Isotope? Quite a Lot

    A new technique developed by researchers at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory now allows scientists to use an isotope of manganese not abundant on Earth to understand the record of millions of years of changes to the Earth’s surface. According to the study’s lead scientists, the new technique relies on measuring extremely small amounts of the…

  • Lamont-Doherty Breaks Ground on New Geochemistry Building

    On Wednesday September 27, members and friends of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory broke ground on a new geochemistry research building. The celebration took place almost 52 years to the day after the Observatory opened its current geochemistry facility, a building that has made possible many of the most important advances in modern understanding of Earth’s…

  • Remembered: Marie Tharp, Pioneering Mapmaker of the Ocean Floor

    Marie Tharp, a pathbreaking oceanographic cartographer at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, co-creator of the first global map of the ocean floor and co-discoverer of the central rift valley that runs through the Mid-Atlantic Ridge died Wednesday August 23 in Nyack Hospital. She was 86. A pioneer of modern oceanography, Tharp was the first to map…

  • G. Michael Purdy Awarded 2006 Maurice Ewing Medal

    Honor by the American Geophysical Union recognizes more than 30-year commitment as a researcher, administrator and innovator in the earth sciences

  • Two New Lakes Found Beneath Antarctic Ice Sheet

    Ancient water bodies may contain ecosystems adapted to life beneath more than two miles of ice

  • Earth Institute Researchers Present Their Work at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting

    Wide array of topics includes climate change, social consequences of natural disasters

Earth Month Graphic Collage: "Our Power, Our Planet - April 2025"

The first Earth Day in 1970 ignited a movement to stop polluting our planet. This Earth Month, join us in our commitment to realizing a just and sustainable future for our planet. Visit our Earth Day website for ideas, resources, and inspiration.

  • Geochemistry Building Will Expand Knowledge of Earth

    Amid cheers from hundreds of scientists and guests, Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory cut the ribbon at its $45 million Gary C. Comer Geochemistry Building. The ultra-modern facility is “the step forward that we need to accelerate our efforts to understand and predict the important changes that will impact the way we live with our planet,”…

  • New Research Ship Will Look Deep Under Oceans

    Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Earth’s Evolution in Sharper Focus

  • Mapping Socioeconomic Data Reveals Trends

    In October 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that the nation’s population had reached 300 million people — a number that has tripled since 1915. This milestone raises critical questions regarding where people live —or don’t live — in the U.S. that help feed high-level decisions on where to allocate government resources on education, health…

  • What’s in an Isotope? Quite a Lot

    A new technique developed by researchers at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory now allows scientists to use an isotope of manganese not abundant on Earth to understand the record of millions of years of changes to the Earth’s surface. According to the study’s lead scientists, the new technique relies on measuring extremely small amounts of the…

  • Lamont-Doherty Breaks Ground on New Geochemistry Building

    On Wednesday September 27, members and friends of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory broke ground on a new geochemistry research building. The celebration took place almost 52 years to the day after the Observatory opened its current geochemistry facility, a building that has made possible many of the most important advances in modern understanding of Earth’s…

  • Remembered: Marie Tharp, Pioneering Mapmaker of the Ocean Floor

    Marie Tharp, a pathbreaking oceanographic cartographer at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, co-creator of the first global map of the ocean floor and co-discoverer of the central rift valley that runs through the Mid-Atlantic Ridge died Wednesday August 23 in Nyack Hospital. She was 86. A pioneer of modern oceanography, Tharp was the first to map…

  • G. Michael Purdy Awarded 2006 Maurice Ewing Medal

    Honor by the American Geophysical Union recognizes more than 30-year commitment as a researcher, administrator and innovator in the earth sciences

  • Two New Lakes Found Beneath Antarctic Ice Sheet

    Ancient water bodies may contain ecosystems adapted to life beneath more than two miles of ice

  • Earth Institute Researchers Present Their Work at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting

    Wide array of topics includes climate change, social consequences of natural disasters