State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Poverty / Development27

  • Brownfields: Untold Stories, Unrealized Value

    Brownfields: Untold Stories, Unrealized Value

    Across the country, in distressed urban centers, hundreds of thousands of industrial sites have been left lying fallow. These properties, known as brownfields, embody the story of America’s twentieth-century industrial might and bear the mark of that period’s unenlightened practices. Their closing and subsequent abandonment culminated in the loss of well-paying manufacturing jobs, the creation…

  • Renewed Effort Underway to Better Understand Challenges to Peacebuilding

    Renewed Effort Underway to Better Understand Challenges to Peacebuilding

    Lessons learned regarding the management of natural resources in peacebuilding efforts were the focus of several activities recently, including a book launch of the first in a six-volume series, a conference, and curriculum-building workshop.

  • Making Sanitary Pads to Help Keep Girls in School

    Making Sanitary Pads to Help Keep Girls in School

    MCI is lucky enough to work with two amazing Ethiopian women from the region of Tigrai, in the north of the country where the Millennium City of Mekelle is located. Both women have gone abroad to become talented professionals and both have resolved to transform the lives of women and young girls in their native…

  • Decadal Prediction: The New Kid On the Block

    Decadal Prediction: The New Kid On the Block

    Research on decadal prediction—what the climate is going to be like a decade or two from now—is still relatively new and experimental. It’s also in high demand by planners and decision makers interested in building dams and other large-scale development projects. In a new paper, IRI’s Lisa Goddard and colleagues discuss how decadal prediction research…

  • New Grants to Extend Reach of Africa’s Green Revolution

    New Grants to Extend Reach of Africa’s Green Revolution

    Two new programs in Ethiopia and Tanzania will adapt modern technology such as an innovative “lab-in-a-box,” smartphones and web-based communications, along with training for agricultural extension workers, to broaden the reach of Africa’s “Green Revolution.”

  • Video: Is Drought In East Africa The New Normal?

    Video: Is Drought In East Africa The New Normal?

    A video interview with climate scientist Bradfield Lyon, who explains his latest research on what’s driving rainfall patterns in parts of East Africa.

  • Seminar on the History of Science and Sustainable Development

    The focus of sustainable development is international and collaborative, as much focused on innovations in research as on education and practice. There is an effort from sustainably-minded organizations, such as the Earth Institute, to bring together multidisciplinary experts to research, educate and solve problems.

  • Drill Down into Africa Soils Projects

    Drill Down into Africa Soils Projects

    The Africa Soil Information Service has upgraded its website with a new layout, easier navigation and updates on project activities. A growing set of features provides information for managing soil and land in Africa, including an interactive map tool that allows you to choose layers and areas of interest that can be downloaded.

  • Student Researcher Helps Promote Trade and Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa

    Student Researcher Helps Promote Trade and Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa

    by Kaci Fowler Originally from Germany, Philipp Petermann comes to the Earth Institute through an exchange program between Columbia University and the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris, or Sciences Po, a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France. In May, Philipp will graduate with a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science…

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!

  • Brownfields: Untold Stories, Unrealized Value

    Brownfields: Untold Stories, Unrealized Value

    Across the country, in distressed urban centers, hundreds of thousands of industrial sites have been left lying fallow. These properties, known as brownfields, embody the story of America’s twentieth-century industrial might and bear the mark of that period’s unenlightened practices. Their closing and subsequent abandonment culminated in the loss of well-paying manufacturing jobs, the creation…

  • Renewed Effort Underway to Better Understand Challenges to Peacebuilding

    Renewed Effort Underway to Better Understand Challenges to Peacebuilding

    Lessons learned regarding the management of natural resources in peacebuilding efforts were the focus of several activities recently, including a book launch of the first in a six-volume series, a conference, and curriculum-building workshop.

  • Making Sanitary Pads to Help Keep Girls in School

    Making Sanitary Pads to Help Keep Girls in School

    MCI is lucky enough to work with two amazing Ethiopian women from the region of Tigrai, in the north of the country where the Millennium City of Mekelle is located. Both women have gone abroad to become talented professionals and both have resolved to transform the lives of women and young girls in their native…

  • Decadal Prediction: The New Kid On the Block

    Decadal Prediction: The New Kid On the Block

    Research on decadal prediction—what the climate is going to be like a decade or two from now—is still relatively new and experimental. It’s also in high demand by planners and decision makers interested in building dams and other large-scale development projects. In a new paper, IRI’s Lisa Goddard and colleagues discuss how decadal prediction research…

  • New Grants to Extend Reach of Africa’s Green Revolution

    New Grants to Extend Reach of Africa’s Green Revolution

    Two new programs in Ethiopia and Tanzania will adapt modern technology such as an innovative “lab-in-a-box,” smartphones and web-based communications, along with training for agricultural extension workers, to broaden the reach of Africa’s “Green Revolution.”

  • Video: Is Drought In East Africa The New Normal?

    Video: Is Drought In East Africa The New Normal?

    A video interview with climate scientist Bradfield Lyon, who explains his latest research on what’s driving rainfall patterns in parts of East Africa.

  • Seminar on the History of Science and Sustainable Development

    The focus of sustainable development is international and collaborative, as much focused on innovations in research as on education and practice. There is an effort from sustainably-minded organizations, such as the Earth Institute, to bring together multidisciplinary experts to research, educate and solve problems.

  • Drill Down into Africa Soils Projects

    Drill Down into Africa Soils Projects

    The Africa Soil Information Service has upgraded its website with a new layout, easier navigation and updates on project activities. A growing set of features provides information for managing soil and land in Africa, including an interactive map tool that allows you to choose layers and areas of interest that can be downloaded.

  • Student Researcher Helps Promote Trade and Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa

    Student Researcher Helps Promote Trade and Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa

    by Kaci Fowler Originally from Germany, Philipp Petermann comes to the Earth Institute through an exchange program between Columbia University and the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris, or Sciences Po, a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France. In May, Philipp will graduate with a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science…