State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

climate change110

  • What Will You Leave Behind? How Personal Legacy Affects Pro-environmental Behavior

    What Will You Leave Behind? How Personal Legacy Affects Pro-environmental Behavior

    New research from the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions finds that personal legacy can be a motivator to encourage pro-environmental behaviors.

  • Paths to Decarbonization: A Live Twitter Q&A

    Paths to Decarbonization: A Live Twitter Q&A

    @UNSDSN is hosting a live Twitter Q&A on Friday, Dec. 19, from 1-2 p.m. EST with Jim Williams, chief scientist at Energy and Environmental Economics Inc. and lead author on the U.S. Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project report. You can send in your questions before and during the live chat on Twitter or Facebook by using…

  • Talking Climate: a New Guide to More Effective Communication

    Talking Climate: a New Guide to More Effective Communication

    What motivates people to accept or reject climate change? What do personal and political values have to do with it? How can you best get your message across? A new guide to climate change communication offers some of the answers.

  • Why are Past Surface Temperatures and CO2 Concentrations Important?

    Why are Past Surface Temperatures and CO2 Concentrations Important?

    By burning fossil fuels for heating, electricity, transportation and other purposes, humans add CO2 to the atmosphere. Yet, by comparing ways in which the Earth’s temperature, CO2 concentration, sea level and ice sheets have changed in the past, we are able to learn valuable lessons about the climate system of today and tomorrow.

  • New Report Shows How U.S. Can Slash Greenhouse Emissions

    Researchers Map Low-Carbon Investments and Policy Changes

  • Road to 2015: A Pivotal Year for Sustainable Development

    Road to 2015: A Pivotal Year for Sustainable Development

    The Sustainable Development Goals, to be set by the United Nations in September 2015, will outline the international development priorities for the coming decades. What will the goals look like? How can we measure progress effectively? Where will the funding to implement these goals come from? Can an international climate agreement be reached in Paris…

  • The Greening of China

    The Greening of China

    China became the world’s largest carbon polluter in 2006, surpassing the U.S. But it is also rapidly going green through cutting coal use, investing heavily in renewable energy and launching the world’s largest carbon trading system.

  • 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.

  • Alma Mater’s Other Secret: a Way Forward on Climate

    Alma Mater’s Other Secret: a Way Forward on Climate

    Sitting on the iconic front steps of Low Library, Alma Mater rests on a plinth that offers a clue to a possible method of carbon sequestration, a vital technology for addressing our problem of too much CO2.

Blue banner with kids and Earth photos. Text: "Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Open House, Saturday, October 17, 2026, 10am-4pm.

On Saturday, October 17, 2026 from 10am to 4pm, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Open House—our biggest, best science fun and discovery event of the year—will take place on our beautiful campus in Palisades, NY. Mark your calendar and join us for this free, family-friendly celebration of science! RSVP Today!

  • What Will You Leave Behind? How Personal Legacy Affects Pro-environmental Behavior

    What Will You Leave Behind? How Personal Legacy Affects Pro-environmental Behavior

    New research from the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions finds that personal legacy can be a motivator to encourage pro-environmental behaviors.

  • Paths to Decarbonization: A Live Twitter Q&A

    Paths to Decarbonization: A Live Twitter Q&A

    @UNSDSN is hosting a live Twitter Q&A on Friday, Dec. 19, from 1-2 p.m. EST with Jim Williams, chief scientist at Energy and Environmental Economics Inc. and lead author on the U.S. Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project report. You can send in your questions before and during the live chat on Twitter or Facebook by using…

  • Talking Climate: a New Guide to More Effective Communication

    Talking Climate: a New Guide to More Effective Communication

    What motivates people to accept or reject climate change? What do personal and political values have to do with it? How can you best get your message across? A new guide to climate change communication offers some of the answers.

  • Why are Past Surface Temperatures and CO2 Concentrations Important?

    Why are Past Surface Temperatures and CO2 Concentrations Important?

    By burning fossil fuels for heating, electricity, transportation and other purposes, humans add CO2 to the atmosphere. Yet, by comparing ways in which the Earth’s temperature, CO2 concentration, sea level and ice sheets have changed in the past, we are able to learn valuable lessons about the climate system of today and tomorrow.

  • New Report Shows How U.S. Can Slash Greenhouse Emissions

    Researchers Map Low-Carbon Investments and Policy Changes

  • Road to 2015: A Pivotal Year for Sustainable Development

    Road to 2015: A Pivotal Year for Sustainable Development

    The Sustainable Development Goals, to be set by the United Nations in September 2015, will outline the international development priorities for the coming decades. What will the goals look like? How can we measure progress effectively? Where will the funding to implement these goals come from? Can an international climate agreement be reached in Paris…

  • The Greening of China

    The Greening of China

    China became the world’s largest carbon polluter in 2006, surpassing the U.S. But it is also rapidly going green through cutting coal use, investing heavily in renewable energy and launching the world’s largest carbon trading system.

  • 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.

  • Alma Mater’s Other Secret: a Way Forward on Climate

    Alma Mater’s Other Secret: a Way Forward on Climate

    Sitting on the iconic front steps of Low Library, Alma Mater rests on a plinth that offers a clue to a possible method of carbon sequestration, a vital technology for addressing our problem of too much CO2.