State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Natural Disasters40

  • Increasing Tornado Outbreaks: Is Climate Change Responsible?

    Increasing Tornado Outbreaks: Is Climate Change Responsible?

    In a paper published in the journal Science, researchers looked at increasing trends in the severity of tornado outbreaks, measured by the number of tornadoes per outbreak. They found that these trends are increasing fastest for the most extreme outbreaks.

  • Dammed Funding for U.S. Dams

    Dammed Funding for U.S. Dams

    Across the nation, large-scale water infrastructure such as dams have provided a multitude of services, from electric power and water reservoirs to flood control and containment of pollution. But federal investments in large water infrastructure projects have largely been curtailed over the past few decades.

  • Climate Denial and Sea Level Rise

    Climate Denial and Sea Level Rise

    The need to adapt to the current impact of climate change is already obvious in many cities and work is already underway to make cities more resilient to extreme weather events. New York City has begun to implement a resiliency plan that will cost at least $20 billion over the next decade.

  • The Role Of Government In Rebuilding After Disasters

    The Role Of Government In Rebuilding After Disasters

    The fundamental job of government is to provide security and safety for its people. Natural disasters may be predictable to some degree, but they are unavoidable. What is avoidable is the sense of economic hopelessness that follows these events.

  • A Giant Quake May Lurk Under Bangladesh and Beyond

    Hidden Deep Below Sediment, Tectonic Plates Are Seen Building Strain

  • The World’s First Seasonal Lightning Forecast

    The World’s First Seasonal Lightning Forecast

    At about 250 lightning flashes per square kilometer per year, the Lake Maracaibo Basin in northwestern Venezuela has the highest annual lightning rate of any place in the world.

  • Massive Landslide Detected in Glacier Bay’s Fragile Mountains

    Massive Landslide Detected in Glacier Bay’s Fragile Mountains

    A 4,000-foot-high mountainside collapsed in Glacier Bay National Park this week in a massive landslide that spread debris for miles across the glacier below. Scientists at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory are studying it to improve understanding of landslide risks.

  • Student Helps Engage Youth in Nepal’s Earthquake Recovery

    Student Helps Engage Youth in Nepal’s Earthquake Recovery

    Karolina Walęcik, a recently graduated MPA-DP student from the class of 2016, spent her summer field placement on a post-earthquake aid transparency project with the Accountability Lab in Kathmandu, Nepal.

  • Accounting for Volcanoes Using Tools of Economics

    Accounting for Volcanoes Using Tools of Economics

    Climate scientists teamed up with an econometrics expert to develop an innovative new method for picking out past volcanic eruptions in temperature reconstructions going back millennia and gauging their impact on the climate.

Banner with images representing environmental issues and text "You Asked: Our Scientists and Experts Answer Your Burning Questions."

You Asked invites you to share your most pressing questions about climate, science, and sustainability. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School experts will respond with clear, evidence-based answers. Pose your questions and story ideas!

  • Increasing Tornado Outbreaks: Is Climate Change Responsible?

    Increasing Tornado Outbreaks: Is Climate Change Responsible?

    In a paper published in the journal Science, researchers looked at increasing trends in the severity of tornado outbreaks, measured by the number of tornadoes per outbreak. They found that these trends are increasing fastest for the most extreme outbreaks.

  • Dammed Funding for U.S. Dams

    Dammed Funding for U.S. Dams

    Across the nation, large-scale water infrastructure such as dams have provided a multitude of services, from electric power and water reservoirs to flood control and containment of pollution. But federal investments in large water infrastructure projects have largely been curtailed over the past few decades.

  • Climate Denial and Sea Level Rise

    Climate Denial and Sea Level Rise

    The need to adapt to the current impact of climate change is already obvious in many cities and work is already underway to make cities more resilient to extreme weather events. New York City has begun to implement a resiliency plan that will cost at least $20 billion over the next decade.

  • The Role Of Government In Rebuilding After Disasters

    The Role Of Government In Rebuilding After Disasters

    The fundamental job of government is to provide security and safety for its people. Natural disasters may be predictable to some degree, but they are unavoidable. What is avoidable is the sense of economic hopelessness that follows these events.

  • A Giant Quake May Lurk Under Bangladesh and Beyond

    Hidden Deep Below Sediment, Tectonic Plates Are Seen Building Strain

  • The World’s First Seasonal Lightning Forecast

    The World’s First Seasonal Lightning Forecast

    At about 250 lightning flashes per square kilometer per year, the Lake Maracaibo Basin in northwestern Venezuela has the highest annual lightning rate of any place in the world.

  • Massive Landslide Detected in Glacier Bay’s Fragile Mountains

    Massive Landslide Detected in Glacier Bay’s Fragile Mountains

    A 4,000-foot-high mountainside collapsed in Glacier Bay National Park this week in a massive landslide that spread debris for miles across the glacier below. Scientists at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory are studying it to improve understanding of landslide risks.

  • Student Helps Engage Youth in Nepal’s Earthquake Recovery

    Student Helps Engage Youth in Nepal’s Earthquake Recovery

    Karolina Walęcik, a recently graduated MPA-DP student from the class of 2016, spent her summer field placement on a post-earthquake aid transparency project with the Accountability Lab in Kathmandu, Nepal.

  • Accounting for Volcanoes Using Tools of Economics

    Accounting for Volcanoes Using Tools of Economics

    Climate scientists teamed up with an econometrics expert to develop an innovative new method for picking out past volcanic eruptions in temperature reconstructions going back millennia and gauging their impact on the climate.