State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

General169

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 6/26

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 6/26

    Prodigal Plankton Returns to the Atlantic, Discovery News, Jun 26 According to researchers with the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science, a species of plankton called Neodenticula seminae is an Atlantic resident again, 800,000 years after it became extinct in the ocean. The microscopic plant has been documented with sufficient frequency over the last…

  • Users Invited to Test New SEDAC Web Site

    The NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) operated by CIESIN is a unique source of interdisciplinary data and related information and services related to the human dimensions of global environmental change. To help users more effectively find, access, and use these resources, SEDAC has redesigned its Web site with enhanced search tools, interactive mapping…

  • Heading to Sea off Alaska Aboard the R/V Langseth (at last)

    Heading to Sea off Alaska Aboard the R/V Langseth (at last)

    Yesterday evening, we left Kodiak aboard the R/V Marcus G. Langseth and began our 38-day-long research cruise offshore Alaska. As we left port, we were treated to clear skies, calm seas and spectacular views of Kodiak – dark grey mountains tipped with snow emerging from the lush green landscape. Although Kodiak offered beautiful sights and…

  • Climate Forecasting: Oceans, Droughts, Climate Change and Other Tools of the Trade

    Climate Forecasting: Oceans, Droughts, Climate Change and Other Tools of the Trade

    At the International Research Institute for Climate and Society’s monthly climate briefing, talk often focuses on the role that El Niño or La Niña play in driving global climate. With the collapse of La Niña last month, though, IRI’s forecasters now have to rely on different tools to offer forecasts for the coming year. That’s…

  • Finishing Up Onshore and Heading Offshore

    Finishing Up Onshore and Heading Offshore

    Seven days and eleven flights after we arrived in Alaska, we finished deploying our seismic stations onshore.  Our final constellation of stations differs a little from our original plan (as always happens with field work), but achieves our main goal of instrumenting the part of the Alaska Peninsula that is nearest to our planned offshore…

  • Clean Water for Fiji

    Clean Water for Fiji

    Corporate giant Fiji Water makes millions of dollars every year selling bottled water, but only 47 percent of Fiji Islanders have access to clean drinking water. That may change.

  • Into Thin(ner) Air – On Route to the Cordillera Carabaya

    Into Thin(ner) Air – On Route to the Cordillera Carabaya

    This morning we left Arequipa and the comforts of the tourist trail, driving east across the puna towards the Andes proper. Our route took us along the newly constructed Caraterra Interoceanica – a highway linking the Pacific coast of Peru to ports in Brazil – and up to elevations of 4700 m. Along the way…

  • Installing Seismic Gear On The Beautiful (But Challenging) Alaska Peninsula

    Installing Seismic Gear On The Beautiful (But Challenging) Alaska Peninsula

    Every field location comes with logistical hurdles, and the Alaska Peninsula is no exception. Weather, wildlife and modes of transport pose the greatest challenges. We are hardly the first scientists to encounter these: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory has a long, rich history of collecting seismic data in this region (e.g., Shumagin Seismic Network, which ran for…

  • Climate Information Crucial to Help Reduce Disaster Risk

    Climate Information Crucial to Help Reduce Disaster Risk

    Forecasts can play an invaluable role in helping humanitarian agencies and governments plan for and prevent disasters, according to a new report published by Earth Institute’s IRI and its international partners.

Colorful banner with city: "MR 2025: Mobility, Adaptation, and Wellbeing in a Changing Climate."
  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 6/26

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 6/26

    Prodigal Plankton Returns to the Atlantic, Discovery News, Jun 26 According to researchers with the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science, a species of plankton called Neodenticula seminae is an Atlantic resident again, 800,000 years after it became extinct in the ocean. The microscopic plant has been documented with sufficient frequency over the last…

  • Users Invited to Test New SEDAC Web Site

    The NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) operated by CIESIN is a unique source of interdisciplinary data and related information and services related to the human dimensions of global environmental change. To help users more effectively find, access, and use these resources, SEDAC has redesigned its Web site with enhanced search tools, interactive mapping…

  • Heading to Sea off Alaska Aboard the R/V Langseth (at last)

    Heading to Sea off Alaska Aboard the R/V Langseth (at last)

    Yesterday evening, we left Kodiak aboard the R/V Marcus G. Langseth and began our 38-day-long research cruise offshore Alaska. As we left port, we were treated to clear skies, calm seas and spectacular views of Kodiak – dark grey mountains tipped with snow emerging from the lush green landscape. Although Kodiak offered beautiful sights and…

  • Climate Forecasting: Oceans, Droughts, Climate Change and Other Tools of the Trade

    Climate Forecasting: Oceans, Droughts, Climate Change and Other Tools of the Trade

    At the International Research Institute for Climate and Society’s monthly climate briefing, talk often focuses on the role that El Niño or La Niña play in driving global climate. With the collapse of La Niña last month, though, IRI’s forecasters now have to rely on different tools to offer forecasts for the coming year. That’s…

  • Finishing Up Onshore and Heading Offshore

    Finishing Up Onshore and Heading Offshore

    Seven days and eleven flights after we arrived in Alaska, we finished deploying our seismic stations onshore.  Our final constellation of stations differs a little from our original plan (as always happens with field work), but achieves our main goal of instrumenting the part of the Alaska Peninsula that is nearest to our planned offshore…

  • Clean Water for Fiji

    Clean Water for Fiji

    Corporate giant Fiji Water makes millions of dollars every year selling bottled water, but only 47 percent of Fiji Islanders have access to clean drinking water. That may change.

  • Into Thin(ner) Air – On Route to the Cordillera Carabaya

    Into Thin(ner) Air – On Route to the Cordillera Carabaya

    This morning we left Arequipa and the comforts of the tourist trail, driving east across the puna towards the Andes proper. Our route took us along the newly constructed Caraterra Interoceanica – a highway linking the Pacific coast of Peru to ports in Brazil – and up to elevations of 4700 m. Along the way…

  • Installing Seismic Gear On The Beautiful (But Challenging) Alaska Peninsula

    Installing Seismic Gear On The Beautiful (But Challenging) Alaska Peninsula

    Every field location comes with logistical hurdles, and the Alaska Peninsula is no exception. Weather, wildlife and modes of transport pose the greatest challenges. We are hardly the first scientists to encounter these: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory has a long, rich history of collecting seismic data in this region (e.g., Shumagin Seismic Network, which ran for…

  • Climate Information Crucial to Help Reduce Disaster Risk

    Climate Information Crucial to Help Reduce Disaster Risk

    Forecasts can play an invaluable role in helping humanitarian agencies and governments plan for and prevent disasters, according to a new report published by Earth Institute’s IRI and its international partners.