State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Earth Sciences30

  • You Asked: If CO2 Is Only 0.04% of the Atmosphere, How Does it Drive Global Warming?

    You Asked: If CO2 Is Only 0.04% of the Atmosphere, How Does it Drive Global Warming?

    Short answer: A little bit goes a long way.

  • Finishing on the Boat

    Finishing on the Boat

    Silting rivers and bad roads made it difficult to find a last site. After a successful installation and an upgrade to an existing GPS site, we left the boat for land. We then discovered the local river had washed away some of our equipment.

  • Photo Essay: Living on the Ice in Juneau, Alaska

    Photo Essay: Living on the Ice in Juneau, Alaska

    We’re developing a technique that uses ice-penetrating radar to measure how quickly snow turns to ice. To take our measurements, we needed to camp out in the Juneau icefields for a few weeks.

  • Hiron Point Once More

    Hiron Point Once More

    We sailed to Hiron Point in the Sundarban Mangrove Forest to upgrade old and install new equipment. I have been to this beautiful remote site several times before. After competing the work, we sailed for over a day to reach our next site on a primary school roof.

  • From Sonatola to the Sundarbans

    From Sonatola to the Sundarbans

    By working a 16-hour day, we managed to get both GPS and SETs completed at our first field site. We then sailed into the Sundarban Mangrove Forest, the world’s largest, to visit an existing site and make measurements.

  • Delays in Dhaka

    Delays in Dhaka

    I am back in Bangladesh for a new project examining the balance between sea level rise, land subsidence and sedimentation. We will be installing, repairing or upgrading equipment to measure changes to the landscape.

  • Robots Roaming in Antarctic Waters Reveal Why Ross Ice Shelf Melts Rapidly in Summer

    Robots Roaming in Antarctic Waters Reveal Why Ross Ice Shelf Melts Rapidly in Summer

    A new study reveals how local factors influence the Ross Ice Shelf’s stability, refining predictions of how it will change and influence sea rise in the future.

  • How Did Africa’s Grasslands Get Started?

    How Did Africa’s Grasslands Get Started?

    Millions of years ago, vegetation across much of the world underwent a transformation as grasses with a new way of doing photosynthesis displaced previously dominant plants, shrubs and trees. A new study examines what got these plants started, and why they spread so far and wide.

  • Harnessing Big Data and Machine Learning to Forecast Wildfires in the Western U.S.

    Harnessing Big Data and Machine Learning to Forecast Wildfires in the Western U.S.

    New research will advance understanding of how wildfires may evolve in the future, and how we can most effectively respond to them.

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.

  • You Asked: If CO2 Is Only 0.04% of the Atmosphere, How Does it Drive Global Warming?

    You Asked: If CO2 Is Only 0.04% of the Atmosphere, How Does it Drive Global Warming?

    Short answer: A little bit goes a long way.

  • Finishing on the Boat

    Finishing on the Boat

    Silting rivers and bad roads made it difficult to find a last site. After a successful installation and an upgrade to an existing GPS site, we left the boat for land. We then discovered the local river had washed away some of our equipment.

  • Photo Essay: Living on the Ice in Juneau, Alaska

    Photo Essay: Living on the Ice in Juneau, Alaska

    We’re developing a technique that uses ice-penetrating radar to measure how quickly snow turns to ice. To take our measurements, we needed to camp out in the Juneau icefields for a few weeks.

  • Hiron Point Once More

    Hiron Point Once More

    We sailed to Hiron Point in the Sundarban Mangrove Forest to upgrade old and install new equipment. I have been to this beautiful remote site several times before. After competing the work, we sailed for over a day to reach our next site on a primary school roof.

  • From Sonatola to the Sundarbans

    From Sonatola to the Sundarbans

    By working a 16-hour day, we managed to get both GPS and SETs completed at our first field site. We then sailed into the Sundarban Mangrove Forest, the world’s largest, to visit an existing site and make measurements.

  • Delays in Dhaka

    Delays in Dhaka

    I am back in Bangladesh for a new project examining the balance between sea level rise, land subsidence and sedimentation. We will be installing, repairing or upgrading equipment to measure changes to the landscape.

  • Robots Roaming in Antarctic Waters Reveal Why Ross Ice Shelf Melts Rapidly in Summer

    Robots Roaming in Antarctic Waters Reveal Why Ross Ice Shelf Melts Rapidly in Summer

    A new study reveals how local factors influence the Ross Ice Shelf’s stability, refining predictions of how it will change and influence sea rise in the future.

  • How Did Africa’s Grasslands Get Started?

    How Did Africa’s Grasslands Get Started?

    Millions of years ago, vegetation across much of the world underwent a transformation as grasses with a new way of doing photosynthesis displaced previously dominant plants, shrubs and trees. A new study examines what got these plants started, and why they spread so far and wide.

  • Harnessing Big Data and Machine Learning to Forecast Wildfires in the Western U.S.

    Harnessing Big Data and Machine Learning to Forecast Wildfires in the Western U.S.

    New research will advance understanding of how wildfires may evolve in the future, and how we can most effectively respond to them.