State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Water22

  • Photo Essay: A Day in the Life of the Hudson River

    Photo Essay: A Day in the Life of the Hudson River

    Once a year, Piermont Pier becomes a field station, and local students, a team of environmental investigators. On Tuesday, scientists at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory led students through a series of field experiments designed to teach them more about the Hudson River.

  • Warming Streams Have Cascading Impacts in the Amazon

    Warming Streams Have Cascading Impacts in the Amazon

    To protect a river, you must preserve its headwaters. Agricultural development is warming streams at the headwaters of the Xingu River, in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Rising temperatures have local impacts that could cascade into regional changes, highlighting the importance of responsible land use outside of protected areas.

  • The Art and Science of Climate Change

    The Art and Science of Climate Change

    This fall, the photographs of Sebastião Salgado provide the springboard for an ambitious program of panel discussions, lectures and film screenings addressing the urgent issue of climate change, at the International Center of Photography in New York City.

  • Taking Undergraduate Research on the Road

    Taking Undergraduate Research on the Road

    This experience taught us not only about climate modeling, quantitative research and analysis, but also about the dynamic process of working with a client and with a team. After months of hard work, our team presented our findings to fellow students and faculty at Columbia and to our clients at West Point. The project has…

  • Photo Essay: Open House at Lamont-Doherty

    Photo Essay: Open House at Lamont-Doherty

    Bend a rock. Channel your historic ‘birthquake.’ Check out rocks, fossils, sediment cores and more at Lamont’s Open House on Saturday, October 11.

  • 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.

  • Photo Essay: Studying Fracking’s Effects, Up Close and Personal

    Photo Essay: Studying Fracking’s Effects, Up Close and Personal

    Ten years ago, hydraulic fracturing barely existed. Today 45,000 fracked wells produce natural gas, providing energy for millions of homes and businesses, and nearly a quarter of the nation’s electricity. But scientists are far behind in understanding how this boom affects people near wells. Geochemists Beizhan Yan and James Ross of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth…

  • How Much Arsenic is Too Little?

    How Much Arsenic is Too Little?

    Five hundred utilities in the U.S. provide drinking water with unsafe levels of arsenic, the Environmental Protection Agency says. But how many people are getting too much arsenic in their water is much less clear, according to a study conducted in part by the Columbia Water Center.

  • 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.

  • Photo Essay: A Day in the Life of the Hudson River

    Photo Essay: A Day in the Life of the Hudson River

    Once a year, Piermont Pier becomes a field station, and local students, a team of environmental investigators. On Tuesday, scientists at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory led students through a series of field experiments designed to teach them more about the Hudson River.

  • Warming Streams Have Cascading Impacts in the Amazon

    Warming Streams Have Cascading Impacts in the Amazon

    To protect a river, you must preserve its headwaters. Agricultural development is warming streams at the headwaters of the Xingu River, in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Rising temperatures have local impacts that could cascade into regional changes, highlighting the importance of responsible land use outside of protected areas.

  • The Art and Science of Climate Change

    The Art and Science of Climate Change

    This fall, the photographs of Sebastião Salgado provide the springboard for an ambitious program of panel discussions, lectures and film screenings addressing the urgent issue of climate change, at the International Center of Photography in New York City.

  • Taking Undergraduate Research on the Road

    Taking Undergraduate Research on the Road

    This experience taught us not only about climate modeling, quantitative research and analysis, but also about the dynamic process of working with a client and with a team. After months of hard work, our team presented our findings to fellow students and faculty at Columbia and to our clients at West Point. The project has…

  • Photo Essay: Open House at Lamont-Doherty

    Photo Essay: Open House at Lamont-Doherty

    Bend a rock. Channel your historic ‘birthquake.’ Check out rocks, fossils, sediment cores and more at Lamont’s Open House on Saturday, October 11.

  • 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.

  • Photo Essay: Studying Fracking’s Effects, Up Close and Personal

    Photo Essay: Studying Fracking’s Effects, Up Close and Personal

    Ten years ago, hydraulic fracturing barely existed. Today 45,000 fracked wells produce natural gas, providing energy for millions of homes and businesses, and nearly a quarter of the nation’s electricity. But scientists are far behind in understanding how this boom affects people near wells. Geochemists Beizhan Yan and James Ross of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth…

  • How Much Arsenic is Too Little?

    How Much Arsenic is Too Little?

    Five hundred utilities in the U.S. provide drinking water with unsafe levels of arsenic, the Environmental Protection Agency says. But how many people are getting too much arsenic in their water is much less clear, according to a study conducted in part by the Columbia Water Center.

  • 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.