State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

General129

  • Arctic Archipelago: Ground Zero For Climate Change

    Arctic Archipelago: Ground Zero For Climate Change

    Summer temperatures on the archipelago of Svalbard, 400 miles north of Norway, are now higher than at any other period in the last 1,800 years, according to a new study in the journal Geology.

  • International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict

    International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict

    In recognition of the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict, Security-General Ban Ki-Moon issued a statement that should be required reading for everyone thinking about the next generation of international development goals.

  • Preparing for Chimborazo

    Preparing for Chimborazo

    I am staying with a friend’s family in Quito, Ecuador’s capital city, and tomorrow will meet up with my climbing partner, Pablo Puruncajas, to prepare for our expedition. I am here to collect tree ring samples and put up a weather station on Chimborazo, Ecuador’s tallest peak, to provide climate data about this region, which…

  • The Missing Piece in Sustainable Peace

    The Missing Piece in Sustainable Peace

    We know very little about what “peace” is (and what it isn’t), the conditions that promote it, the motives that drive people to work for it, how to measure it, and how to build a climate and infrastructure that sustains it. Why? Because we don’t study peace. We study war, violence, aggression and conflict—and peace…

  • A Prescient Voice on Sandy: Suddenly Everyone Is Listening

    A Prescient Voice on Sandy: Suddenly Everyone Is Listening

    For much of the last decade, Klaus Jacob warned of New York’s vulnerability to severe flooding in a major storm. Four days after the storm that crippled New York and New Jersey and swamped his own home along the Hudson River, Jacob reflected on Sandy’s lessons and what comes next.

  • Why U.S. Politics are Stuck – and a Possible Way Out

    Why U.S. Politics are Stuck – and a Possible Way Out

    In this recent TEDx talk in Miami, Professor Peter T. Coleman, chair of the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4) at The Earth Institute, explains why politics in the United States are more deadlocked and polarized today than they have been since the end of the U.S. Civil War, and what our next…

  • Application Deadline Extended for the MPA in Environmental Science and Policy Program

    Application Deadline Extended for the MPA in Environmental Science and Policy Program

    The Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy program has extended its application deadline to Thursday, November 15th due to the disruption caused by Hurricane Sandy. Our thoughts go out to everyone in the region, including members of our university community, who have experienced a severe impact on their homes and communities as…

  • Socially Speaking, the State of the Planet

    Socially Speaking, the State of the Planet

    If you wanted to get a sense of the State of the Planet, you didn’t need to be at the Columbia University conference on Oct. 11. You just needed to follow #SOP2012. Six hundred people gathered at the event to think about the future of sustainable development, while 476 people sent 1,300 tweets, making about…

  • Sustainability Programs: Application Deadline Extension to November 15

    Sustainability Programs: Application Deadline Extension to November 15

    Due to the impact of Hurricane Sandy, we have decided to extend the application deadline for the M.S. Sustainability Management and Certification in Sustainability Analytics programs to Thursday, November 15.

Photo of the Earth from space with the text "Lamont at AGU25" on top.

AGU25, the premier Earth and space science conference, takes place December 15-19, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. This year’s theme—Where Science Connects Us—puts in focus how science depends on connection, from the lab to the field to the ballot box. Once again, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School scientists, experts, students, and educators are playing an active role, sharing our research and helping shape the future of our planet. #AGU25 Learn More

  • Arctic Archipelago: Ground Zero For Climate Change

    Arctic Archipelago: Ground Zero For Climate Change

    Summer temperatures on the archipelago of Svalbard, 400 miles north of Norway, are now higher than at any other period in the last 1,800 years, according to a new study in the journal Geology.

  • International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict

    International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict

    In recognition of the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict, Security-General Ban Ki-Moon issued a statement that should be required reading for everyone thinking about the next generation of international development goals.

  • Preparing for Chimborazo

    Preparing for Chimborazo

    I am staying with a friend’s family in Quito, Ecuador’s capital city, and tomorrow will meet up with my climbing partner, Pablo Puruncajas, to prepare for our expedition. I am here to collect tree ring samples and put up a weather station on Chimborazo, Ecuador’s tallest peak, to provide climate data about this region, which…

  • The Missing Piece in Sustainable Peace

    The Missing Piece in Sustainable Peace

    We know very little about what “peace” is (and what it isn’t), the conditions that promote it, the motives that drive people to work for it, how to measure it, and how to build a climate and infrastructure that sustains it. Why? Because we don’t study peace. We study war, violence, aggression and conflict—and peace…

  • A Prescient Voice on Sandy: Suddenly Everyone Is Listening

    A Prescient Voice on Sandy: Suddenly Everyone Is Listening

    For much of the last decade, Klaus Jacob warned of New York’s vulnerability to severe flooding in a major storm. Four days after the storm that crippled New York and New Jersey and swamped his own home along the Hudson River, Jacob reflected on Sandy’s lessons and what comes next.

  • Why U.S. Politics are Stuck – and a Possible Way Out

    Why U.S. Politics are Stuck – and a Possible Way Out

    In this recent TEDx talk in Miami, Professor Peter T. Coleman, chair of the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4) at The Earth Institute, explains why politics in the United States are more deadlocked and polarized today than they have been since the end of the U.S. Civil War, and what our next…

  • Application Deadline Extended for the MPA in Environmental Science and Policy Program

    Application Deadline Extended for the MPA in Environmental Science and Policy Program

    The Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy program has extended its application deadline to Thursday, November 15th due to the disruption caused by Hurricane Sandy. Our thoughts go out to everyone in the region, including members of our university community, who have experienced a severe impact on their homes and communities as…

  • Socially Speaking, the State of the Planet

    Socially Speaking, the State of the Planet

    If you wanted to get a sense of the State of the Planet, you didn’t need to be at the Columbia University conference on Oct. 11. You just needed to follow #SOP2012. Six hundred people gathered at the event to think about the future of sustainable development, while 476 people sent 1,300 tweets, making about…

  • Sustainability Programs: Application Deadline Extension to November 15

    Sustainability Programs: Application Deadline Extension to November 15

    Due to the impact of Hurricane Sandy, we have decided to extend the application deadline for the M.S. Sustainability Management and Certification in Sustainability Analytics programs to Thursday, November 15.