State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Earth Sciences80

  • 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!

  • Faint Young Sun

    Faint Young Sun

    Through an ancient looking-glass, Perhaps you’d see more H2 gas, And if with denser gas collided, Greater greenhouse warmth provided.

  • Reflections of a Changing North

    Reflections of a Changing North

    No one ever leaves the field the same way they entered it. Yes there is a new layer of mud on equipment, the expected wear and tear on your gear and your physical being. But also, an intangible shift in perspective.

  • Beneath an Icelandic Glacier, Another Eruption Brewing

    Beneath an Icelandic Glacier, Another Eruption Brewing

    The 2,000-meter tall Bárðarbunga volcano in Iceland is at risk of eruption, an event that could send a cloud of ash and steam high into the atmosphere and cause extensive disruptions in air travel, among other effects, according to media reports. Earth Institute scientist Ben Orlove looks into it on the Glacier Hub blog.

  • Bottom Feeders

    Bottom Feeders

    Graduate students, microbe goo … What is it that links the two? It seems that both life forms are found Where electron donors (food) abound!

  • Seismic Stomp

    Seismic Stomp

    Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory graduate student Natalie Accardo recently returned from Tanzania and Malawi, where she installed seismic instruments in both countries alongside Lamont seismologists Donna Shillington and Jim Gaherty. Natalie produced this video, which shows the scientists and their Tanzanian colleagues conducting a “stomp test” at one of their sites in the Tanzanian village of…

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

  • 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!

  • Faint Young Sun

    Faint Young Sun

    Through an ancient looking-glass, Perhaps you’d see more H2 gas, And if with denser gas collided, Greater greenhouse warmth provided.

  • Reflections of a Changing North

    Reflections of a Changing North

    No one ever leaves the field the same way they entered it. Yes there is a new layer of mud on equipment, the expected wear and tear on your gear and your physical being. But also, an intangible shift in perspective.

  • Beneath an Icelandic Glacier, Another Eruption Brewing

    Beneath an Icelandic Glacier, Another Eruption Brewing

    The 2,000-meter tall Bárðarbunga volcano in Iceland is at risk of eruption, an event that could send a cloud of ash and steam high into the atmosphere and cause extensive disruptions in air travel, among other effects, according to media reports. Earth Institute scientist Ben Orlove looks into it on the Glacier Hub blog.

  • Bottom Feeders

    Bottom Feeders

    Graduate students, microbe goo … What is it that links the two? It seems that both life forms are found Where electron donors (food) abound!

  • Seismic Stomp

    Seismic Stomp

    Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory graduate student Natalie Accardo recently returned from Tanzania and Malawi, where she installed seismic instruments in both countries alongside Lamont seismologists Donna Shillington and Jim Gaherty. Natalie produced this video, which shows the scientists and their Tanzanian colleagues conducting a “stomp test” at one of their sites in the Tanzanian village of…