State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

climate adaptation11

  • The Transformative Potential of Sustainability Education

    The transition to a renewable economy requires education at every level. We need students in public and private schools to develop a deeper understanding of the global sustainability crisis, but we also need aspiring professionals and current professionals to develop the expertise needed to begin the transformation in real time, today.

  • Warming Climate Is Deepening California Drought

    Scientists Say Increasing Heat Drives Moisture from Ground

  • The Centrality of Sustainability

    The most powerful political argument for protecting the planet is that to retain what we have, we must gradually change how we deliver the goods and services that people enjoy. The argument that people must give up what they enjoy does not win elections.

  • Anthropocene and Its Victims: Migration as Failure or Adaptive Strategy?

    Anthropocene and Its Victims: Migration as Failure or Adaptive Strategy?

    Gemenne argues that climate change is a form of political persecution, that victims of the anthropocene are also victims of political persecution, thus, we should reinstate the term “climate refugee.”

  • Photo Essay: Iceland at the Cutting Edge of Climate Change

    Photo Essay: Iceland at the Cutting Edge of Climate Change

    Iceland has a complicated relationship with climate change. As in much of the far north, global warming is already exerting many effects here–arguably both good and bad. Yet the country contributes relatively little to the warming, since most of its energy comes from geothermal and hydro plants, which produce little carbon dioxide. Now, it is…

  • Study: NASA Sites Vulnerable to Climate Change

    Study: NASA Sites Vulnerable to Climate Change

    NASA has been at the forefront of climate science, launching satellites that take the pulse of Earth’s land, oceans and atmospheric systems. But the agency is increasingly vulnerable itself to the effects of a changing climate.

  • Eye on the Storm

    Eye on the Storm

    Atmospheric scientist Adam Sobel is author of the new book “Storm Surge: Hurricane Sandy, Our Changing Climate and Extreme Weather of the Past and Future.” Sobel was one of the first researchers to explain to media and the public what might be brewing, before the storm hit. In the aftermath, he looked closely at the…

  • Northeast Already Hit by Climate Change, Says Major U.S. Report

    Increase in Big Storms, Sea Level, Outpaces Rest of Nation

  • Coastal Erosion and Adaptation to Climate Change

    Coastal Erosion and Adaptation to Climate Change

    Increasing understanding of the extent of coastal erosion and its interaction with other naturally existing geographical features such as mangrove vegetation is one of the areas of research that may help reduce vulnerability of small-island developing states to climate hazards.

  • The Transformative Potential of Sustainability Education

    The transition to a renewable economy requires education at every level. We need students in public and private schools to develop a deeper understanding of the global sustainability crisis, but we also need aspiring professionals and current professionals to develop the expertise needed to begin the transformation in real time, today.

  • Warming Climate Is Deepening California Drought

    Scientists Say Increasing Heat Drives Moisture from Ground

  • The Centrality of Sustainability

    The most powerful political argument for protecting the planet is that to retain what we have, we must gradually change how we deliver the goods and services that people enjoy. The argument that people must give up what they enjoy does not win elections.

  • Anthropocene and Its Victims: Migration as Failure or Adaptive Strategy?

    Anthropocene and Its Victims: Migration as Failure or Adaptive Strategy?

    Gemenne argues that climate change is a form of political persecution, that victims of the anthropocene are also victims of political persecution, thus, we should reinstate the term “climate refugee.”

  • Photo Essay: Iceland at the Cutting Edge of Climate Change

    Photo Essay: Iceland at the Cutting Edge of Climate Change

    Iceland has a complicated relationship with climate change. As in much of the far north, global warming is already exerting many effects here–arguably both good and bad. Yet the country contributes relatively little to the warming, since most of its energy comes from geothermal and hydro plants, which produce little carbon dioxide. Now, it is…

  • Study: NASA Sites Vulnerable to Climate Change

    Study: NASA Sites Vulnerable to Climate Change

    NASA has been at the forefront of climate science, launching satellites that take the pulse of Earth’s land, oceans and atmospheric systems. But the agency is increasingly vulnerable itself to the effects of a changing climate.

  • Eye on the Storm

    Eye on the Storm

    Atmospheric scientist Adam Sobel is author of the new book “Storm Surge: Hurricane Sandy, Our Changing Climate and Extreme Weather of the Past and Future.” Sobel was one of the first researchers to explain to media and the public what might be brewing, before the storm hit. In the aftermath, he looked closely at the…

  • Northeast Already Hit by Climate Change, Says Major U.S. Report

    Increase in Big Storms, Sea Level, Outpaces Rest of Nation

  • Coastal Erosion and Adaptation to Climate Change

    Coastal Erosion and Adaptation to Climate Change

    Increasing understanding of the extent of coastal erosion and its interaction with other naturally existing geographical features such as mangrove vegetation is one of the areas of research that may help reduce vulnerability of small-island developing states to climate hazards.