State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Water23

  • Tiger Footprints and Dhaka

    Tiger Footprints and Dhaka

    We finished our time in the Sundarbans with a silent boat ride in a tidal creek. The highlight was sets of fresh tiger footprints. We then had a long sail back to Dhaka with only one stop at a village. We then had a whirlwind tour of Old Dhaka with enough shopping to send the…

  • Salt Kilns and Landscape Change in the Sundarbans

    Salt Kilns and Landscape Change in the Sundarbans

    Leaving Hiron Point, we headed east through the Sundarbans to Kotka. At Kotka the students had walks through the forest seeing deer, wild boar and monkeys, while a smaller group also sampled near a set of 300 year old salt making kilns for OSL dating. We managed to finish while the tide inundated the site.…

  • Polder 32 and Hiron Point

    Polder 32 and Hiron Point

    We visited Polder 32, an embanked island in the delta that was flooded for almost two years when the embankment failed in several places during Cyclone Aila. In addition to the problem of increased subsidence due to the embankment, the area struggles for fresh water. Then we sailed to Hiron Point, a forest station in…

  • Working in the Bangladeshi Countryside

    Working in the Bangladeshi Countryside

    After traveling by boat for two days, including crossing the Sundarban Mangrove Forest, we finally arrived in Khulna. We drove to the site of our compaction meter and separated into teams servicing the instruments, investigating agricultural practices, measuring arsenic in the well water and taking sediment samples for dating. We had finally started our work…

  • Waking up to America’s Water Challenges

    Waking up to America’s Water Challenges

    “Will it take another Dustbowl for Americans to start paying attention to water issues?” asked Water Center Director Upmanu Lall. Or will it be the chance to create the “iPhone technology” of water? Whether the impetus is crisis or opportunity, according to Lall, the time to act is now.

  • Sailing Around Political Unrest in Bangladesh

    Sailing Around Political Unrest in Bangladesh

    With the roads in Bangladesh hazardous to drive because of the ongoing political unrest, our undergraduate sustainable development class managed to proceed with our class trip over Spring Break by doing all travel by boat.

  • Arsenic Stubbornly Taints Many U.S. Wells, Say New Reports

    New Light on a Neglected Threat to Health, Child Development

  • How to Make Good on the Promise of Water as a Human Right

    How to Make Good on the Promise of Water as a Human Right

    Is the creation of a National Water Framework Law or other stronger national legislation the right approach to creating a more sustainable water regime in India? To answer that question, one has to look at the current constitutional status of water rights in the country.

  • Linking Climate, Security and Development to Fragility in Haiti

    Linking Climate, Security and Development to Fragility in Haiti

    As part of the Fall 2014 Haiti Dialogue Series organized by the Earth Institute’s Haiti Research and Policy Program, a group of faculty, researchers, students and policymakers gathered to discuss the latest research linking climate change, natural hazards, development and fragility in Haiti.

Columbia Climate School Giving Day on October 28, 2026, featuring students and renewable energy imagery

October 28, 2026 is Columbia Giving Day! Your gift to Columbia Climate School helps advance interdisciplinary research, educate the next generation of leaders, and transform bold ideas into real-world solutions for climate, Earth, and society.

  • Tiger Footprints and Dhaka

    Tiger Footprints and Dhaka

    We finished our time in the Sundarbans with a silent boat ride in a tidal creek. The highlight was sets of fresh tiger footprints. We then had a long sail back to Dhaka with only one stop at a village. We then had a whirlwind tour of Old Dhaka with enough shopping to send the…

  • Salt Kilns and Landscape Change in the Sundarbans

    Salt Kilns and Landscape Change in the Sundarbans

    Leaving Hiron Point, we headed east through the Sundarbans to Kotka. At Kotka the students had walks through the forest seeing deer, wild boar and monkeys, while a smaller group also sampled near a set of 300 year old salt making kilns for OSL dating. We managed to finish while the tide inundated the site.…

  • Polder 32 and Hiron Point

    Polder 32 and Hiron Point

    We visited Polder 32, an embanked island in the delta that was flooded for almost two years when the embankment failed in several places during Cyclone Aila. In addition to the problem of increased subsidence due to the embankment, the area struggles for fresh water. Then we sailed to Hiron Point, a forest station in…

  • Working in the Bangladeshi Countryside

    Working in the Bangladeshi Countryside

    After traveling by boat for two days, including crossing the Sundarban Mangrove Forest, we finally arrived in Khulna. We drove to the site of our compaction meter and separated into teams servicing the instruments, investigating agricultural practices, measuring arsenic in the well water and taking sediment samples for dating. We had finally started our work…

  • Waking up to America’s Water Challenges

    Waking up to America’s Water Challenges

    “Will it take another Dustbowl for Americans to start paying attention to water issues?” asked Water Center Director Upmanu Lall. Or will it be the chance to create the “iPhone technology” of water? Whether the impetus is crisis or opportunity, according to Lall, the time to act is now.

  • Sailing Around Political Unrest in Bangladesh

    Sailing Around Political Unrest in Bangladesh

    With the roads in Bangladesh hazardous to drive because of the ongoing political unrest, our undergraduate sustainable development class managed to proceed with our class trip over Spring Break by doing all travel by boat.

  • Arsenic Stubbornly Taints Many U.S. Wells, Say New Reports

    New Light on a Neglected Threat to Health, Child Development

  • How to Make Good on the Promise of Water as a Human Right

    How to Make Good on the Promise of Water as a Human Right

    Is the creation of a National Water Framework Law or other stronger national legislation the right approach to creating a more sustainable water regime in India? To answer that question, one has to look at the current constitutional status of water rights in the country.

  • Linking Climate, Security and Development to Fragility in Haiti

    Linking Climate, Security and Development to Fragility in Haiti

    As part of the Fall 2014 Haiti Dialogue Series organized by the Earth Institute’s Haiti Research and Policy Program, a group of faculty, researchers, students and policymakers gathered to discuss the latest research linking climate change, natural hazards, development and fragility in Haiti.