State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Poverty / Development17

  • What Everyone Should Know About Climate Change

    What Everyone Should Know About Climate Change

    Climate scientist William D’Andrea of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory asked young scientists attending a symposium last October, “What do you wish everyone knew about climate change?” He turned the responses into this video, which covers the topic pretty well.

  • ‘The Big Ratchet’

    ‘The Big Ratchet’

    In her new book, Ruth DeFries argues that we have continually created new technologies that allow our numbers to grow. But each new invention creates a new problem—which we solve with yet another innovation that creates the next problem. Will we be able to sustain this so-far successful cycle past the great leap in technology…

  • Teen Literacy in Nigeria is Lower in the North

    Teen Literacy in Nigeria is Lower in the North

    In Nigeria, differences in adolescent literacy rates between states are striking—higher in the South and lower in the Northeast.

  • Webinar Sept. 8 on Proposed Sustainable Development Goals

    Webinar Sept. 8 on Proposed Sustainable Development Goals

    Researcher Magdalena A K Muir will present a live webinar, “The UN Sustainable Development Goals: Setting an Agenda for Sustainability,” as part of the Association for Environmental Studies and Educators Webinar Series.

  • Conference on Sustainable Development Practice Sept. 17-18

    Conference on Sustainable Development Practice Sept. 17-18

    The Global MDP Association and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network are hosting the 2nd Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development Practice at Columbia University.

  • Investigating Water Quality and Arsenic in Bangladesh

    Investigating Water Quality and Arsenic in Bangladesh

    Postcard from the Field: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory graduate student Rajib Mozumder, who works with Lamont scientists Lex van Geen and Ben Bostick, has spent part of his summer drilling water wells and collecting samples in Bangladesh.

  • Our Fiscal Year Ends June 30: Donate Now to Help Us Finish Strong!

    Our Fiscal Year Ends June 30: Donate Now to Help Us Finish Strong!

    The end of our fiscal year is just one week away and we need your support more than ever. This year, the generosity of Earth Institute supporters allowed our award-winning scientists and researchers to pursue groundbreaking initiatives in the fields of earth and environmental sciences, ecology, engineering and architecture, law, medicine and public health, economics,…

  • Beyond Coal: Economic Alternatives for Kentucky

    Beyond Coal: Economic Alternatives for Kentucky

    Earth Institute students evaluated Kentucky’s physical, economic and cultural resources to identify ways to move the economy toward a more sustainable future—and to make recommendations for how the state’s community and technical college system could help.

  • Climate Change: a Matter of Public Health

    Climate Change: a Matter of Public Health

    People have tried to cast climate change as an environmental issue, a social justice issue and a development issue. Madeleine Thomson of the International Research Institute for Climate and Society argues climate change can be understood much better if we consider it an issue of global public health.

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

  • What Everyone Should Know About Climate Change

    What Everyone Should Know About Climate Change

    Climate scientist William D’Andrea of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory asked young scientists attending a symposium last October, “What do you wish everyone knew about climate change?” He turned the responses into this video, which covers the topic pretty well.

  • ‘The Big Ratchet’

    ‘The Big Ratchet’

    In her new book, Ruth DeFries argues that we have continually created new technologies that allow our numbers to grow. But each new invention creates a new problem—which we solve with yet another innovation that creates the next problem. Will we be able to sustain this so-far successful cycle past the great leap in technology…

  • Teen Literacy in Nigeria is Lower in the North

    Teen Literacy in Nigeria is Lower in the North

    In Nigeria, differences in adolescent literacy rates between states are striking—higher in the South and lower in the Northeast.

  • Webinar Sept. 8 on Proposed Sustainable Development Goals

    Webinar Sept. 8 on Proposed Sustainable Development Goals

    Researcher Magdalena A K Muir will present a live webinar, “The UN Sustainable Development Goals: Setting an Agenda for Sustainability,” as part of the Association for Environmental Studies and Educators Webinar Series.

  • Conference on Sustainable Development Practice Sept. 17-18

    Conference on Sustainable Development Practice Sept. 17-18

    The Global MDP Association and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network are hosting the 2nd Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development Practice at Columbia University.

  • Investigating Water Quality and Arsenic in Bangladesh

    Investigating Water Quality and Arsenic in Bangladesh

    Postcard from the Field: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory graduate student Rajib Mozumder, who works with Lamont scientists Lex van Geen and Ben Bostick, has spent part of his summer drilling water wells and collecting samples in Bangladesh.

  • Our Fiscal Year Ends June 30: Donate Now to Help Us Finish Strong!

    Our Fiscal Year Ends June 30: Donate Now to Help Us Finish Strong!

    The end of our fiscal year is just one week away and we need your support more than ever. This year, the generosity of Earth Institute supporters allowed our award-winning scientists and researchers to pursue groundbreaking initiatives in the fields of earth and environmental sciences, ecology, engineering and architecture, law, medicine and public health, economics,…

  • Beyond Coal: Economic Alternatives for Kentucky

    Beyond Coal: Economic Alternatives for Kentucky

    Earth Institute students evaluated Kentucky’s physical, economic and cultural resources to identify ways to move the economy toward a more sustainable future—and to make recommendations for how the state’s community and technical college system could help.

  • Climate Change: a Matter of Public Health

    Climate Change: a Matter of Public Health

    People have tried to cast climate change as an environmental issue, a social justice issue and a development issue. Madeleine Thomson of the International Research Institute for Climate and Society argues climate change can be understood much better if we consider it an issue of global public health.