State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Earth Sciences79

  • Aureococcus

    Aureococcus

    On skin, it’s barely a freckle I’d make, But baby, en masse, we turn seas opaque! Come darkness, come famine, come poison or flood, My kind can flourish in any old crud.

  • Building Blocks from the Mississippian Sea

    Building Blocks from the Mississippian Sea

    The Columbia Geology Tour, Part 2: Take a trip back 350 million years to the shallow seas of the Mississippian that covered what is now the U.S. Midwest — source of the finely crafted limestone columns and facade details of St. Paul’s Chapel.

  • Photo Essay: Open House at Lamont-Doherty

    Photo Essay: Open House at Lamont-Doherty

    Bend a rock. Channel your historic ‘birthquake.’ Check out rocks, fossils, sediment cores and more at Lamont’s Open House on Saturday, October 11.

  • What Everyone Should Know About Climate Change

    What Everyone Should Know About Climate Change

    Climate scientist William D’Andrea of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory asked young scientists attending a symposium last October, “What do you wish everyone knew about climate change?” He turned the responses into this video, which covers the topic pretty well.

  • Is the Highest Climb Sustainable, and Who Pays the Price?

    Is the Highest Climb Sustainable, and Who Pays the Price?

    The Khumbu Icefall on Mount Everest is perhaps the most well-known and notoriously dangerous glacial feature on the planet. In a fresh post on the Glacier Hub blog, the Earth Institute’s Ben Orlove, writing with anthropologist Pasang Yangjee Sherpa of Penn State, recounts a recent workshop held in Kathmandu to address the issues raised by…

  • The Columbia Geology Tour: Stories in the Stones

    The Columbia Geology Tour: Stories in the Stones

    For the last decade or so, Columbia University geologist David Walker has led students and colleagues on a tour of the geologic gems hiding within Columbia’s campus. Along the way, Walker finds evidence of how life on Earth has evolved over 4.5 billion years.

  • Kenneth Hunkins, Arctic Oceanographer

    While Adrift on Ice Floes, He Charted Unexplored Depths

  • Photo Essay: Studying Fracking’s Effects, Up Close and Personal

    Photo Essay: Studying Fracking’s Effects, Up Close and Personal

    Ten years ago, hydraulic fracturing barely existed. Today 45,000 fracked wells produce natural gas, providing energy for millions of homes and businesses, and nearly a quarter of the nation’s electricity. But scientists are far behind in understanding how this boom affects people near wells. Geochemists Beizhan Yan and James Ross of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth…

  • Erosion, Then Explosion

    Erosion, Then Explosion

    When viewing The Great Unconformity, The result of a vast denudation, One feels a new sense of enormity … And above it lie critters crustacean!

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

  • Aureococcus

    Aureococcus

    On skin, it’s barely a freckle I’d make, But baby, en masse, we turn seas opaque! Come darkness, come famine, come poison or flood, My kind can flourish in any old crud.

  • Building Blocks from the Mississippian Sea

    Building Blocks from the Mississippian Sea

    The Columbia Geology Tour, Part 2: Take a trip back 350 million years to the shallow seas of the Mississippian that covered what is now the U.S. Midwest — source of the finely crafted limestone columns and facade details of St. Paul’s Chapel.

  • Photo Essay: Open House at Lamont-Doherty

    Photo Essay: Open House at Lamont-Doherty

    Bend a rock. Channel your historic ‘birthquake.’ Check out rocks, fossils, sediment cores and more at Lamont’s Open House on Saturday, October 11.

  • What Everyone Should Know About Climate Change

    What Everyone Should Know About Climate Change

    Climate scientist William D’Andrea of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory asked young scientists attending a symposium last October, “What do you wish everyone knew about climate change?” He turned the responses into this video, which covers the topic pretty well.

  • Is the Highest Climb Sustainable, and Who Pays the Price?

    Is the Highest Climb Sustainable, and Who Pays the Price?

    The Khumbu Icefall on Mount Everest is perhaps the most well-known and notoriously dangerous glacial feature on the planet. In a fresh post on the Glacier Hub blog, the Earth Institute’s Ben Orlove, writing with anthropologist Pasang Yangjee Sherpa of Penn State, recounts a recent workshop held in Kathmandu to address the issues raised by…

  • The Columbia Geology Tour: Stories in the Stones

    The Columbia Geology Tour: Stories in the Stones

    For the last decade or so, Columbia University geologist David Walker has led students and colleagues on a tour of the geologic gems hiding within Columbia’s campus. Along the way, Walker finds evidence of how life on Earth has evolved over 4.5 billion years.

  • Kenneth Hunkins, Arctic Oceanographer

    While Adrift on Ice Floes, He Charted Unexplored Depths

  • Photo Essay: Studying Fracking’s Effects, Up Close and Personal

    Photo Essay: Studying Fracking’s Effects, Up Close and Personal

    Ten years ago, hydraulic fracturing barely existed. Today 45,000 fracked wells produce natural gas, providing energy for millions of homes and businesses, and nearly a quarter of the nation’s electricity. But scientists are far behind in understanding how this boom affects people near wells. Geochemists Beizhan Yan and James Ross of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth…

  • Erosion, Then Explosion

    Erosion, Then Explosion

    When viewing The Great Unconformity, The result of a vast denudation, One feels a new sense of enormity … And above it lie critters crustacean!