State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

climate change103

  • Growing Up in an Era of Extreme Events: What We Need to Know Now

    NEW YORK (October 7, 2015)—The recent flooding in South Carolina is yet another reminder of just how much destruction natural disasters can cause and how ill prepared communities throughout the US continue to be. Extreme events such as flooding, drought, and storms are leading to not only short-term economic and health impacts but are setting…

  • Tropical Rainfall from Hours to Millennia

    Tropical Rainfall from Hours to Millennia

    Most of Earth’s rainfall occurs in a tropical zonal band that circles the Earth. Understanding how this band will responds to climate change requires us to combine time scales from hours to millennia.

  • The Climate of Things

    The Climate of Things

    In his talk on “The Climate of Things,” Professor Dan Rabinowitz of Tel Aviv University argued that the magnitude of climate change warrants a reexamination of modernist social science. Rather than using other disciplines to guide knowledge of the universe, his “fifth environmental paradigm” uses the climate crisis to reexamine the validity of those other…

  • One-Two Punch of Rising Seas, Bigger Storms May Greatly Magnify U.S. East Coast Floods

    New Study Quantifies Synergy of Two Climate Hazards

  • Leave No One Behind: The Sustainable Development Goals

    Leave No One Behind: The Sustainable Development Goals

    At the end of September, all 193 member countries of the United Nations have agreed to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals towards eradicating poverty, protecting the planet and advancing prosperity by 2030. What do they hope to accomplish and why do they matter?

  • The Southern Ocean Is Breathing in Carbon Dioxide at a Healthy Rate

    The Southern Ocean Is Breathing in Carbon Dioxide at a Healthy Rate

    “In the last 10 years, we were afraid that the Southern Ocean was going to quit giving us a break from climate change. This study shows that it’s recovered its ability to take up carbon dioxide, and that’s good news.”

  • Bringing Together Storm Tracks and Clouds

    Bringing Together Storm Tracks and Clouds

    The storm tracks define the weather and climate in mid-latitudes. A recent workshop in Switzerland highlighted the important role that clouds play for the response of the storm tracks to climate change.

  • Q&A: Park Williams on Drought, Climate and ‘Cracking the Code’

    Q&A: Park Williams on Drought, Climate and ‘Cracking the Code’

    “Future extremes are going to occur more and more frequently. In planning, we don’t need to plan for the 2 degree warming that we are aiming for as a globe, we need to plan for the 10 degree increase in a day, or the year when there’s no water. We need to plan for worst-case…

  • Scouring Arctic for Traces of Fukushima and Cosmic Rays

    Scouring Arctic for Traces of Fukushima and Cosmic Rays

    Sounds like the basis for a great scifi thriller…”scientists scour Arctic, hunting for traces of nuclear fallout and ejections from cosmic ray impacts”. In reality this thriller theme is the actual core of the GEOTRACES mission.

Composite banner with modern building at night and portrait of Dean Alexis Abramson that reads "Science for the Planet"

By studying thousands of buildings and analyzing their electricity use, Columbia Climate School Dean Alexis Abramson has been able to uncover ways to significantly cut energy consumption and emissions. Watch the Video: “Engineering a Cooler Future Through Smarter Buildings

  • Growing Up in an Era of Extreme Events: What We Need to Know Now

    NEW YORK (October 7, 2015)—The recent flooding in South Carolina is yet another reminder of just how much destruction natural disasters can cause and how ill prepared communities throughout the US continue to be. Extreme events such as flooding, drought, and storms are leading to not only short-term economic and health impacts but are setting…

  • Tropical Rainfall from Hours to Millennia

    Tropical Rainfall from Hours to Millennia

    Most of Earth’s rainfall occurs in a tropical zonal band that circles the Earth. Understanding how this band will responds to climate change requires us to combine time scales from hours to millennia.

  • The Climate of Things

    The Climate of Things

    In his talk on “The Climate of Things,” Professor Dan Rabinowitz of Tel Aviv University argued that the magnitude of climate change warrants a reexamination of modernist social science. Rather than using other disciplines to guide knowledge of the universe, his “fifth environmental paradigm” uses the climate crisis to reexamine the validity of those other…

  • One-Two Punch of Rising Seas, Bigger Storms May Greatly Magnify U.S. East Coast Floods

    New Study Quantifies Synergy of Two Climate Hazards

  • Leave No One Behind: The Sustainable Development Goals

    Leave No One Behind: The Sustainable Development Goals

    At the end of September, all 193 member countries of the United Nations have agreed to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals towards eradicating poverty, protecting the planet and advancing prosperity by 2030. What do they hope to accomplish and why do they matter?

  • The Southern Ocean Is Breathing in Carbon Dioxide at a Healthy Rate

    The Southern Ocean Is Breathing in Carbon Dioxide at a Healthy Rate

    “In the last 10 years, we were afraid that the Southern Ocean was going to quit giving us a break from climate change. This study shows that it’s recovered its ability to take up carbon dioxide, and that’s good news.”

  • Bringing Together Storm Tracks and Clouds

    Bringing Together Storm Tracks and Clouds

    The storm tracks define the weather and climate in mid-latitudes. A recent workshop in Switzerland highlighted the important role that clouds play for the response of the storm tracks to climate change.

  • Q&A: Park Williams on Drought, Climate and ‘Cracking the Code’

    Q&A: Park Williams on Drought, Climate and ‘Cracking the Code’

    “Future extremes are going to occur more and more frequently. In planning, we don’t need to plan for the 2 degree warming that we are aiming for as a globe, we need to plan for the 10 degree increase in a day, or the year when there’s no water. We need to plan for worst-case…

  • Scouring Arctic for Traces of Fukushima and Cosmic Rays

    Scouring Arctic for Traces of Fukushima and Cosmic Rays

    Sounds like the basis for a great scifi thriller…”scientists scour Arctic, hunting for traces of nuclear fallout and ejections from cosmic ray impacts”. In reality this thriller theme is the actual core of the GEOTRACES mission.