State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

General138

  • ESP Alum Attends Rio +20

    ESP Alum Attends Rio +20

    Last month, MPA in Environmental Science and Policy alum Krystal Laymon (MPA-ESP Class of 2012) traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the Rio +20: The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. The conference, intended to be a follow-up to the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, was the largest United Nations environmental summit to date.…

  • Mining for Peace in Sierra Leone

    Mining for Peace in Sierra Leone

    Risk factors for the decade-long war in Sierra Leone must be addressed before its abundant natural resources can be equitably exploited for economic growth.

  • Is Green Travel Possible?

    Is Green Travel Possible?

    Imagine if each of the 4.3 million daily commuters on the New York City subway took an international flight. Now think of each of those people on flights spewing jet fuel emissions, guzzling canned soda from plastic airline cups and water from plastic bottles, tossing hotel toiletries into non-recycling bins, blasting hotel air conditioners, and…

  • The COAST cruise:  Cascadia Open-Access Seismic Transects

    The COAST cruise: Cascadia Open-Access Seismic Transects

    We are a scientific team of 20 scientists currently aboard the R/V Langseth, acquiring seismic images of the Cascadia subduction zone. Through our work we hope to provide new insights on the position and structure of the plate boundary between the downgoing Juan de Fuca plate and the overlying North American plate.

  • MPA Students Tour Gowanus Canal Superfund Site

    MPA Students Tour Gowanus Canal Superfund Site

    On Thursday, June 28, the students in the Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy (MPA-ESP) program took a field trip to the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, NY. The trip was organized and led by Lamont Associate Research Professor Juerg Matter and Adjunct Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia’s Mailman School of…

  • In the Woods Listening for the Langseth

    In the Woods Listening for the Langseth

    Our sensors record the same seismic signals as the ocean bottom seismometers the R/V Oceanus deployed, and we will combine the data later. They can detect R/V Langseth signals up to 100 miles inland! This is something extraordinary, and difficult to believe until seen.

  • Investigating the World’s Oceans, Pole to Pole and Deep Below the Bottom

    Investigating the World’s Oceans, Pole to Pole and Deep Below the Bottom

    Watch a slide show featuring ongoing research by scientists at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, whose work around the globe is key to understanding past changes in the oceans and what is going on today.

  • Taking Steps (Together) in the Right Direction

    Taking Steps (Together) in the Right Direction

    The latest 2012 Climate Change Policy Tracker report released by Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisors in partnership with the Columbia Climate Center shows that while current policies lead to emissions reductions, there is significant distance to go to reach “safe” levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases by 2020.

  • Passing Ships in the Night

    Passing Ships in the Night

    By Helene Carton As part of our study of the Juan de Fuca plate from its birth at the mid-ocean ridge to its recycling at the Cascadia subduction zone, the R/V Oceanus has the task of conducting Ocean Bottom Seismometer (OBS) operations and oceanographic measurements: this is done in close coordination with the R/V Langseth,…

Banner: Climate Week NYC 2025, September 21-28, 2025
  • ESP Alum Attends Rio +20

    ESP Alum Attends Rio +20

    Last month, MPA in Environmental Science and Policy alum Krystal Laymon (MPA-ESP Class of 2012) traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the Rio +20: The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. The conference, intended to be a follow-up to the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, was the largest United Nations environmental summit to date.…

  • Mining for Peace in Sierra Leone

    Mining for Peace in Sierra Leone

    Risk factors for the decade-long war in Sierra Leone must be addressed before its abundant natural resources can be equitably exploited for economic growth.

  • Is Green Travel Possible?

    Is Green Travel Possible?

    Imagine if each of the 4.3 million daily commuters on the New York City subway took an international flight. Now think of each of those people on flights spewing jet fuel emissions, guzzling canned soda from plastic airline cups and water from plastic bottles, tossing hotel toiletries into non-recycling bins, blasting hotel air conditioners, and…

  • The COAST cruise:  Cascadia Open-Access Seismic Transects

    The COAST cruise: Cascadia Open-Access Seismic Transects

    We are a scientific team of 20 scientists currently aboard the R/V Langseth, acquiring seismic images of the Cascadia subduction zone. Through our work we hope to provide new insights on the position and structure of the plate boundary between the downgoing Juan de Fuca plate and the overlying North American plate.

  • MPA Students Tour Gowanus Canal Superfund Site

    MPA Students Tour Gowanus Canal Superfund Site

    On Thursday, June 28, the students in the Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy (MPA-ESP) program took a field trip to the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, NY. The trip was organized and led by Lamont Associate Research Professor Juerg Matter and Adjunct Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia’s Mailman School of…

  • In the Woods Listening for the Langseth

    In the Woods Listening for the Langseth

    Our sensors record the same seismic signals as the ocean bottom seismometers the R/V Oceanus deployed, and we will combine the data later. They can detect R/V Langseth signals up to 100 miles inland! This is something extraordinary, and difficult to believe until seen.

  • Investigating the World’s Oceans, Pole to Pole and Deep Below the Bottom

    Investigating the World’s Oceans, Pole to Pole and Deep Below the Bottom

    Watch a slide show featuring ongoing research by scientists at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, whose work around the globe is key to understanding past changes in the oceans and what is going on today.

  • Taking Steps (Together) in the Right Direction

    Taking Steps (Together) in the Right Direction

    The latest 2012 Climate Change Policy Tracker report released by Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisors in partnership with the Columbia Climate Center shows that while current policies lead to emissions reductions, there is significant distance to go to reach “safe” levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases by 2020.

  • Passing Ships in the Night

    Passing Ships in the Night

    By Helene Carton As part of our study of the Juan de Fuca plate from its birth at the mid-ocean ridge to its recycling at the Cascadia subduction zone, the R/V Oceanus has the task of conducting Ocean Bottom Seismometer (OBS) operations and oceanographic measurements: this is done in close coordination with the R/V Langseth,…