State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Ecology48

  • Conservation and Environmental Sustainability Education Goes International

    Conservation and Environmental Sustainability Education Goes International

    CERC’s integration of web-based learning into the Certificate Program in Conservation and Environmental Sustainability allows the Center to reach an international audience, providing education to students from as far away as the United Kingdom, South Africa, and New Zealand.

  • Nature’s Toxic Crusaders

    Nature’s Toxic Crusaders

    Can mushrooms help clean up oil spills? Can oysters filter sewage pollution? Industrial waste is being injected into the planet’s soil and water as a result of human activity. Pioneers in the field of conservation and sustainability are employing nature’s own biological task force to help clean up.

  • How a Pigeon Saved the Buffalo

    How a Pigeon Saved the Buffalo

    Scientists are close to restoring the extinct passenger pigeon and along with it her native habitat.

  • Newtown Creek Clean-Up Polluting the Air, Researchers Say

    Newtown Creek Clean-Up Polluting the Air, Researchers Say

    A city effort to clean-up polluted Newtown Creek by aerating the water to boost oxygen levels is having an unintended effect: it is releasing sewage bacteria and other particles into the air above the site, researchers say in a new study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. The researchers found bacteria types in the…

  • Epic Wetness in Greater NYC, and What Broadleaf Trees Have to Say About It

    Epic Wetness in Greater NYC, and What Broadleaf Trees Have to Say About It

    2012 is turning out to be an exceptional year in the eastern US. Starting out with what was essentially a #YearWithoutaWinter, followed by a heat wave in March, a hot summer, Macoun and Cortland apples coming in 2-3 weeks early, and the continuation of a severe drought in the Southern US that expanded into the Midwest…

  • Courses in Conservation & Sustainability

    Courses in Conservation & Sustainability

    Are you interested in cultivating the skills necessary to implement environmental change? Do you want to learn more about conservation and environmental sustainability, including ecosystem services and function?

  • What’s Holding Water Conservation Back in Rockland County?

    What’s Holding Water Conservation Back in Rockland County?

    Rockland County’s main water provider, United Water NY, wants to build a treatment plant on the Hudson River that would deliver more freshwater to Rockland taps. As the project awaits state approval, a new debate on water consumption has emerged. Should people be encouraged, or even required, to use less? And if so, how?

  • Seeking the Deadly Roots of the Dinosaurs’ Ascent

    Seeking the Deadly Roots of the Dinosaurs’ Ascent

    Over the past 450 million years, life on earth has undergone at least five great extinctions, when biological activity nosedived and dominant groups of creatures disappeared. The final one (so far) was 65 million years ago, when it appears that a giant meteorite brought fires, shock waves and tsunamis, then drastically altered the climate. That killed off…

  • Along an Ancient Coast, Clues to a Global Extinction

    Along an Ancient Coast, Clues to a Global Extinction

    Wave-washed sea cliffs along the coasts of western England and Wales are home to spectacular assemblages of rocks and fossils that may hold keys to understanding a sudden global extinction 201.4 million years ago that cleared the way for the rapid evolution of dinosaurs. Paleontologist Paul Olsen and geologist Dennis Kent of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty…

Colorful icons representing nature, sustainable living, and renewable energy with text "Earth Day 2026"

The first Earth Day in 1970 ignited a movement to stop polluting our planet. Today, our scientists and experts are tackling the most pressing challenges to achieve real-world impact. This Earth Day, 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.

  • Conservation and Environmental Sustainability Education Goes International

    Conservation and Environmental Sustainability Education Goes International

    CERC’s integration of web-based learning into the Certificate Program in Conservation and Environmental Sustainability allows the Center to reach an international audience, providing education to students from as far away as the United Kingdom, South Africa, and New Zealand.

  • Nature’s Toxic Crusaders

    Nature’s Toxic Crusaders

    Can mushrooms help clean up oil spills? Can oysters filter sewage pollution? Industrial waste is being injected into the planet’s soil and water as a result of human activity. Pioneers in the field of conservation and sustainability are employing nature’s own biological task force to help clean up.

  • How a Pigeon Saved the Buffalo

    How a Pigeon Saved the Buffalo

    Scientists are close to restoring the extinct passenger pigeon and along with it her native habitat.

  • Newtown Creek Clean-Up Polluting the Air, Researchers Say

    Newtown Creek Clean-Up Polluting the Air, Researchers Say

    A city effort to clean-up polluted Newtown Creek by aerating the water to boost oxygen levels is having an unintended effect: it is releasing sewage bacteria and other particles into the air above the site, researchers say in a new study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. The researchers found bacteria types in the…

  • Epic Wetness in Greater NYC, and What Broadleaf Trees Have to Say About It

    Epic Wetness in Greater NYC, and What Broadleaf Trees Have to Say About It

    2012 is turning out to be an exceptional year in the eastern US. Starting out with what was essentially a #YearWithoutaWinter, followed by a heat wave in March, a hot summer, Macoun and Cortland apples coming in 2-3 weeks early, and the continuation of a severe drought in the Southern US that expanded into the Midwest…

  • Courses in Conservation & Sustainability

    Courses in Conservation & Sustainability

    Are you interested in cultivating the skills necessary to implement environmental change? Do you want to learn more about conservation and environmental sustainability, including ecosystem services and function?

  • What’s Holding Water Conservation Back in Rockland County?

    What’s Holding Water Conservation Back in Rockland County?

    Rockland County’s main water provider, United Water NY, wants to build a treatment plant on the Hudson River that would deliver more freshwater to Rockland taps. As the project awaits state approval, a new debate on water consumption has emerged. Should people be encouraged, or even required, to use less? And if so, how?

  • Seeking the Deadly Roots of the Dinosaurs’ Ascent

    Seeking the Deadly Roots of the Dinosaurs’ Ascent

    Over the past 450 million years, life on earth has undergone at least five great extinctions, when biological activity nosedived and dominant groups of creatures disappeared. The final one (so far) was 65 million years ago, when it appears that a giant meteorite brought fires, shock waves and tsunamis, then drastically altered the climate. That killed off…

  • Along an Ancient Coast, Clues to a Global Extinction

    Along an Ancient Coast, Clues to a Global Extinction

    Wave-washed sea cliffs along the coasts of western England and Wales are home to spectacular assemblages of rocks and fossils that may hold keys to understanding a sudden global extinction 201.4 million years ago that cleared the way for the rapid evolution of dinosaurs. Paleontologist Paul Olsen and geologist Dennis Kent of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty…