State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Poverty / Development20

  • Conservation & Environmental Sustainability – Fall 2013 Courses

    Conservation & Environmental Sustainability – Fall 2013 Courses

    The Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability (EICES) at Columbia University provides executive training in environmental sustainability through courses in science, economics and policy. We invite you to join our leading experts and practitioners, strengthen your understanding of human-ecosystem interactions, and become an effective environmental leader and decision-maker.

  • World Population Projected to Cross 11 Billion Threshold in 2100

    World Population Projected to Cross 11 Billion Threshold in 2100

    In 2011, the U.N. announced that the world population had reached 7 billion. This year’s new projections for future population growth are higher than previously expected. Projects like Millennium Cities hope to alleviate many of the pressures that crowded cities place on infrastructure, public services, and the environment.

  • Finding Solutions to Environmental Conflict: Q&A With Josh Fisher

    Finding Solutions to Environmental Conflict: Q&A With Josh Fisher

    In a rapidly warming world, conflicts inevitably arise between those affected by dwindling resources and changing climate conditions. Josh Fisher’s work centers on trying to avert conflict and provide opportunities for cooperation through understanding the relationships between conflict, environment and development.

  • Making the First 1,000 Days Count: EI Partners with TABLE FOR TWO

    Making the First 1,000 Days Count: EI Partners with TABLE FOR TWO

    With generous support from TABLE FOR TWO, Earth Institute scientists have begun a research study in the Millennium Villages Project (MVP) in Ruhiira, Uganda, to evaluate different methods for delivering nutrition to young children in rural, low-income settings.

  • Farmers in Senegal Use Forecasts to Combat Climate Risks

    Farmers in Senegal Use Forecasts to Combat Climate Risks

    Recent trainings in Senegal have improved trust between farmers and researchers, leading to increased use of climate forecasts and other information.

  • Of Cow Dung, Cook Stoves and Sustainability in Practice

    Of Cow Dung, Cook Stoves and Sustainability in Practice

    When the Environmental Defense Fund asked me to measure how biogas cook stoves were changing the lives of farmers in rural India, there wasn’t a word in that question with which I was comfortable. Having just graduated from the Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development, I had never done fieldwork; and the concept of a biogas…

  • Seeking Solutions for Haiti’s Primary Education Challenges

    Seeking Solutions for Haiti’s Primary Education Challenges

    Haiti faces ongoing pressures of high population growth, high illiteracy rates and low primary education completion rates. On April 30, the Haiti Research and Policy Program’s Dialogue Series welcomed Sophia Stranksy, CEO of the Digicel Haiti Foundation, to discuss the foundation’s primary education and youth programs and Haiti’s challenges.

  • The Sahel Is Getting Wetter, But Will It Last?

    The Sahel Is Getting Wetter, But Will It Last?

    New research gives a unifying explanation of the Sahel’s past, present and future climate patterns.

  • A Sustainable Strategy to Deal with Urban Poverty

    A Sustainable Strategy to Deal with Urban Poverty

    When architect Fernando Arias first arrived in Kumasi, Ghana last year, he saw unpaved roads, trash burning, garbage everywhere, and shoeless children running all around. He knew he needed to act on their behalf.

Photo of the Earth from space with the text "Lamont at AGU25" on top.

AGU25, the premier Earth and space science conference, takes place December 15-19, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. This year’s theme—Where Science Connects Us—puts in focus how science depends on connection, from the lab to the field to the ballot box. Once again, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School scientists, experts, students, and educators are playing an active role, sharing our research and helping shape the future of our planet. #AGU25 Learn More

  • Conservation & Environmental Sustainability – Fall 2013 Courses

    Conservation & Environmental Sustainability – Fall 2013 Courses

    The Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability (EICES) at Columbia University provides executive training in environmental sustainability through courses in science, economics and policy. We invite you to join our leading experts and practitioners, strengthen your understanding of human-ecosystem interactions, and become an effective environmental leader and decision-maker.

  • World Population Projected to Cross 11 Billion Threshold in 2100

    World Population Projected to Cross 11 Billion Threshold in 2100

    In 2011, the U.N. announced that the world population had reached 7 billion. This year’s new projections for future population growth are higher than previously expected. Projects like Millennium Cities hope to alleviate many of the pressures that crowded cities place on infrastructure, public services, and the environment.

  • Finding Solutions to Environmental Conflict: Q&A With Josh Fisher

    Finding Solutions to Environmental Conflict: Q&A With Josh Fisher

    In a rapidly warming world, conflicts inevitably arise between those affected by dwindling resources and changing climate conditions. Josh Fisher’s work centers on trying to avert conflict and provide opportunities for cooperation through understanding the relationships between conflict, environment and development.

  • Making the First 1,000 Days Count: EI Partners with TABLE FOR TWO

    Making the First 1,000 Days Count: EI Partners with TABLE FOR TWO

    With generous support from TABLE FOR TWO, Earth Institute scientists have begun a research study in the Millennium Villages Project (MVP) in Ruhiira, Uganda, to evaluate different methods for delivering nutrition to young children in rural, low-income settings.

  • Farmers in Senegal Use Forecasts to Combat Climate Risks

    Farmers in Senegal Use Forecasts to Combat Climate Risks

    Recent trainings in Senegal have improved trust between farmers and researchers, leading to increased use of climate forecasts and other information.

  • Of Cow Dung, Cook Stoves and Sustainability in Practice

    Of Cow Dung, Cook Stoves and Sustainability in Practice

    When the Environmental Defense Fund asked me to measure how biogas cook stoves were changing the lives of farmers in rural India, there wasn’t a word in that question with which I was comfortable. Having just graduated from the Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development, I had never done fieldwork; and the concept of a biogas…

  • Seeking Solutions for Haiti’s Primary Education Challenges

    Seeking Solutions for Haiti’s Primary Education Challenges

    Haiti faces ongoing pressures of high population growth, high illiteracy rates and low primary education completion rates. On April 30, the Haiti Research and Policy Program’s Dialogue Series welcomed Sophia Stranksy, CEO of the Digicel Haiti Foundation, to discuss the foundation’s primary education and youth programs and Haiti’s challenges.

  • The Sahel Is Getting Wetter, But Will It Last?

    The Sahel Is Getting Wetter, But Will It Last?

    New research gives a unifying explanation of the Sahel’s past, present and future climate patterns.

  • A Sustainable Strategy to Deal with Urban Poverty

    A Sustainable Strategy to Deal with Urban Poverty

    When architect Fernando Arias first arrived in Kumasi, Ghana last year, he saw unpaved roads, trash burning, garbage everywhere, and shoeless children running all around. He knew he needed to act on their behalf.