State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Natural Disasters30

  • Anti-Government Ideology in our More Complex World

    Anti-Government Ideology in our More Complex World

    Fires continue to burn in California as the air quality declines to dangerous levels. Hurricanes and floods this fall left a path of destruction as communities all over this country struggled to put themselves back together.

  • Wildfire Experts: A Journalist’s Guide

    Wildfire Experts: A Journalist’s Guide

    A guide to wildfire experts at the Earth Institute.

  • Yes, Climate Change is Making Wildfires Worse

    Yes, Climate Change is Making Wildfires Worse

    Park Williams, a bioclimatologist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, has found that rising temperatures influence wildfires in the American West.

  • End of Our Fieldwork and Mandalay Hill

    End of Our Fieldwork and Mandalay Hill

    I had one last day installing seismometers with the team, then left for Mandalay. After a breakfast with colleagues, I had a free day to explore Mandalay Hill.

  • I Switch to Installing Seismometers

    I Switch to Installing Seismometers

    With the GPS done, I joined the seismologists installing 32 stations in Myanmar. We finished the preparations and then headed out to the field in three teams.

  • From Catholic Churches to Buddhist Monasteries, the Work Continued

    From Catholic Churches to Buddhist Monasteries, the Work Continued

    On the way back to Kale, we stopped at a Catholic church where one of the seismometers will be deployed.

  • Our Next Sets of GPS in Kalewa and Tedim

    Our Next Sets of GPS in Kalewa and Tedim

    To get to Kalewa we followed the Myittha River past the Kabaw Fault to the site with view of a monastery. Tedim is a long and windy drive through the mountainous Chin Hills.

  • To Kale for the First GPS Station

    To Kale for the First GPS Station

    We drove 15 hours over two days to get to Kale, our new home base. Here, we managed to build a monument and install our first GPS station in only one day. Our homemade post-driver worked amazingly well.

  • Installing GPS in Myanmar

    Installing GPS in Myanmar

    We believe the IndoBurman subduction zone is active and that there is a significant earthquake hazard in this densely populated region. We are installing GPS stations to monitor it.

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

  • Anti-Government Ideology in our More Complex World

    Anti-Government Ideology in our More Complex World

    Fires continue to burn in California as the air quality declines to dangerous levels. Hurricanes and floods this fall left a path of destruction as communities all over this country struggled to put themselves back together.

  • Wildfire Experts: A Journalist’s Guide

    Wildfire Experts: A Journalist’s Guide

    A guide to wildfire experts at the Earth Institute.

  • Yes, Climate Change is Making Wildfires Worse

    Yes, Climate Change is Making Wildfires Worse

    Park Williams, a bioclimatologist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, has found that rising temperatures influence wildfires in the American West.

  • End of Our Fieldwork and Mandalay Hill

    End of Our Fieldwork and Mandalay Hill

    I had one last day installing seismometers with the team, then left for Mandalay. After a breakfast with colleagues, I had a free day to explore Mandalay Hill.

  • I Switch to Installing Seismometers

    I Switch to Installing Seismometers

    With the GPS done, I joined the seismologists installing 32 stations in Myanmar. We finished the preparations and then headed out to the field in three teams.

  • From Catholic Churches to Buddhist Monasteries, the Work Continued

    From Catholic Churches to Buddhist Monasteries, the Work Continued

    On the way back to Kale, we stopped at a Catholic church where one of the seismometers will be deployed.

  • Our Next Sets of GPS in Kalewa and Tedim

    Our Next Sets of GPS in Kalewa and Tedim

    To get to Kalewa we followed the Myittha River past the Kabaw Fault to the site with view of a monastery. Tedim is a long and windy drive through the mountainous Chin Hills.

  • To Kale for the First GPS Station

    To Kale for the First GPS Station

    We drove 15 hours over two days to get to Kale, our new home base. Here, we managed to build a monument and install our first GPS station in only one day. Our homemade post-driver worked amazingly well.

  • Installing GPS in Myanmar

    Installing GPS in Myanmar

    We believe the IndoBurman subduction zone is active and that there is a significant earthquake hazard in this densely populated region. We are installing GPS stations to monitor it.