State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

biodiversity5

  • Make Yourself Count: Sandy Hook ‘BioBlitz’

    Make Yourself Count: Sandy Hook ‘BioBlitz’

    Amateur naturalists will gather this weekend at the Sandy Hook, N.J., unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area to count species of plants and animals.

  • The Otherworldly and Elusive Life Beneath Antarctica’s Ice

    The Otherworldly and Elusive Life Beneath Antarctica’s Ice

    While renowned for the penguins, Antarctica is perhaps equally well known for what it doesn’t have: basically, anything else. But scientist Steven Chown says the view that the icy continent lacks life is “simply not true.”

  • Indian Sundarban

    Indian Sundarban

    We arrived in Kolkata, and filmed by the Hooghly River. While it is no longer the main channel of the Ganges, it is still the Holy Ganges and we saw a funeral procession spreading ashes of a loved one while filming there. Then a 5 hour trip by car, ferry, rickshaw and boat to the…

  • Climate Change Poses Challenges to Plants and Animals

    Climate Change Poses Challenges to Plants and Animals

    Because of climate change, spring, summer, fall and winter in the temperate zones are all arriving on average 1.7 days earlier than they ever have before. The changing climate with its more extreme weather is affecting many plant and animal species, disturbing their habitat and disrupting ecosystem functioning. How will plants and animals deal with…

  • Agreement with NY State Protects Black Rock Forest

    Agreement with NY State Protects Black Rock Forest

    New York State will acquire a conservation easement for the Black Rock Forest, protecting the 3,800-acre preserve 50 miles north of New York City for both public use and scientific research.

  • 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.

  • Deep Sea Mining: Out of Sight, Out of Mind?

    Deep Sea Mining: Out of Sight, Out of Mind?

    Are we willing to compromise deep sea ecosystems and biodiversity for prodigious amounts of mineral materials? Will deep sea mining have the largest footprint of any single human activity on the planet? The race is on to create more progressive, environmental regulations concerning deep sea mining, but much more scientific research is still necessary to…

  • Fire on the Mountain, Fire in the ‘Burbs

    Fire on the Mountain, Fire in the ‘Burbs

    I walked out of the house Thursday morning when my nose detected it – a forest fire! Having worked for two years in the piney woods of southwest Georgia, I had become accustomed to and, actually, come to love forest fires. That classic line kept coming into my mind, “the scent of fire in the…

  • Buried Treasure: Unexpected Finds and the Value of Museum Collections

    Buried Treasure: Unexpected Finds and the Value of Museum Collections

    As the first new species of American carnivore described in 35 years, the olinguito is big news for science. Its discovery is also big news for museums, highlighting the value of collections in an age of rapid biodiversity loss.

  • Make Yourself Count: Sandy Hook ‘BioBlitz’

    Make Yourself Count: Sandy Hook ‘BioBlitz’

    Amateur naturalists will gather this weekend at the Sandy Hook, N.J., unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area to count species of plants and animals.

  • The Otherworldly and Elusive Life Beneath Antarctica’s Ice

    The Otherworldly and Elusive Life Beneath Antarctica’s Ice

    While renowned for the penguins, Antarctica is perhaps equally well known for what it doesn’t have: basically, anything else. But scientist Steven Chown says the view that the icy continent lacks life is “simply not true.”

  • Indian Sundarban

    Indian Sundarban

    We arrived in Kolkata, and filmed by the Hooghly River. While it is no longer the main channel of the Ganges, it is still the Holy Ganges and we saw a funeral procession spreading ashes of a loved one while filming there. Then a 5 hour trip by car, ferry, rickshaw and boat to the…

  • Climate Change Poses Challenges to Plants and Animals

    Climate Change Poses Challenges to Plants and Animals

    Because of climate change, spring, summer, fall and winter in the temperate zones are all arriving on average 1.7 days earlier than they ever have before. The changing climate with its more extreme weather is affecting many plant and animal species, disturbing their habitat and disrupting ecosystem functioning. How will plants and animals deal with…

  • Agreement with NY State Protects Black Rock Forest

    Agreement with NY State Protects Black Rock Forest

    New York State will acquire a conservation easement for the Black Rock Forest, protecting the 3,800-acre preserve 50 miles north of New York City for both public use and scientific research.

  • 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.

  • Deep Sea Mining: Out of Sight, Out of Mind?

    Deep Sea Mining: Out of Sight, Out of Mind?

    Are we willing to compromise deep sea ecosystems and biodiversity for prodigious amounts of mineral materials? Will deep sea mining have the largest footprint of any single human activity on the planet? The race is on to create more progressive, environmental regulations concerning deep sea mining, but much more scientific research is still necessary to…

  • Fire on the Mountain, Fire in the ‘Burbs

    Fire on the Mountain, Fire in the ‘Burbs

    I walked out of the house Thursday morning when my nose detected it – a forest fire! Having worked for two years in the piney woods of southwest Georgia, I had become accustomed to and, actually, come to love forest fires. That classic line kept coming into my mind, “the scent of fire in the…

  • Buried Treasure: Unexpected Finds and the Value of Museum Collections

    Buried Treasure: Unexpected Finds and the Value of Museum Collections

    As the first new species of American carnivore described in 35 years, the olinguito is big news for science. Its discovery is also big news for museums, highlighting the value of collections in an age of rapid biodiversity loss.