State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

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  • Did New Zealand Dust Influence the Last Ice Age?

    Did New Zealand Dust Influence the Last Ice Age?

    Bess Koffman, a postdoctoral researcher at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, recently traveled to New Zealand to collect dust ground-up by glaciers during the last ice age. In this photo essay, she explains how she collected the dust, what analysis looks like in the lab and what she hopes to learn.

  • Warming Hiatus? Hangout and Find Out

    Warming Hiatus? Hangout and Find Out

    Wondering about the slowdown in global warming? Need a little context? Try visiting a Google hangout session with physical and social scientists and science communicators on March 20 at 11 a.m. EDT.

  • Helping Consumers See the Green Behind Fuel Economy

    Helping Consumers See the Green Behind Fuel Economy

    New research from the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions sheds light on how best to present information on U.S. fuel economy labels. Consumers choose fuel-efficient vehicles more frequently when fuel economy is expressed in terms of the cost of gas on a long term, 100,000-mile scale. The scale currently used on the U.S. fuel…

  • Mongol Empire Rode Wave of Mild Climate, Says Study

    But Warming Now May Be Tipping Region Into Unparalleled Drought

  • Mekong Delta and Three Gorges Dam: World’s First Climate Change Resettlements?

    Mekong Delta and Three Gorges Dam: World’s First Climate Change Resettlements?

    Many resettlers are economically better off, but the dislocations remain significant, especially for older resettlers, who have a harder time getting work in the newly developed industrial sector. Although the plight of some resettlers has been quite difficult (one older man competed fiercely to serve as a porter for us for the royal sum of…

  • Con Ed Agrees to Climate Change Plan

    Con Ed Agrees to Climate Change Plan

    In a groundbreaking agreement, Consolidated Edison, one of New York’s major utility companies, will incorporate plans to protect the power system from the effects of climate change as part of a new multi-year rate plan.

  • Back to Bangladesh, changing plans as we go

    Back to Bangladesh, changing plans as we go

    Back to Bangladesh for some fieldwork and then a two-week Field School. However, this time we had problems starting before we even left NY. Working in Bangladesh you have to be flexible. Nothing goes as planned, but usually everything works out in the end.

  • Crossroads Project Taps into a Deeper Connection to Climate

    Crossroads Project Taps into a Deeper Connection to Climate

    Climate science can come across as a little dry, so Robert Davies, a physicist at Utah State University, thought he’d spice it up with music and visual art, to penetrate deeper into his audiences’ consciousness. The result is The Crossroads Project, coming to Symphony Space Feb. 13.

  • Latest Environmental Performance Index Introduces New Indicators

    Latest Environmental Performance Index Introduces New Indicators

    Innovations in the 2014 EPI include a new wastewater treatment indicator; a new approach to climate change indicators; and two new satellite-derived indicators for air quality and forests.

Photo of the Earth from space with the text "Lamont at AGU25" on top.

AGU25, the premier Earth and space science conference, takes place December 15-19, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. This year’s theme—Where Science Connects Us—puts in focus how science depends on connection, from the lab to the field to the ballot box. Once again, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School scientists, experts, students, and educators are playing an active role, sharing our research and helping shape the future of our planet. #AGU25 Learn More

  • Did New Zealand Dust Influence the Last Ice Age?

    Did New Zealand Dust Influence the Last Ice Age?

    Bess Koffman, a postdoctoral researcher at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, recently traveled to New Zealand to collect dust ground-up by glaciers during the last ice age. In this photo essay, she explains how she collected the dust, what analysis looks like in the lab and what she hopes to learn.

  • Warming Hiatus? Hangout and Find Out

    Warming Hiatus? Hangout and Find Out

    Wondering about the slowdown in global warming? Need a little context? Try visiting a Google hangout session with physical and social scientists and science communicators on March 20 at 11 a.m. EDT.

  • Helping Consumers See the Green Behind Fuel Economy

    Helping Consumers See the Green Behind Fuel Economy

    New research from the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions sheds light on how best to present information on U.S. fuel economy labels. Consumers choose fuel-efficient vehicles more frequently when fuel economy is expressed in terms of the cost of gas on a long term, 100,000-mile scale. The scale currently used on the U.S. fuel…

  • Mongol Empire Rode Wave of Mild Climate, Says Study

    But Warming Now May Be Tipping Region Into Unparalleled Drought

  • Mekong Delta and Three Gorges Dam: World’s First Climate Change Resettlements?

    Mekong Delta and Three Gorges Dam: World’s First Climate Change Resettlements?

    Many resettlers are economically better off, but the dislocations remain significant, especially for older resettlers, who have a harder time getting work in the newly developed industrial sector. Although the plight of some resettlers has been quite difficult (one older man competed fiercely to serve as a porter for us for the royal sum of…

  • Con Ed Agrees to Climate Change Plan

    Con Ed Agrees to Climate Change Plan

    In a groundbreaking agreement, Consolidated Edison, one of New York’s major utility companies, will incorporate plans to protect the power system from the effects of climate change as part of a new multi-year rate plan.

  • Back to Bangladesh, changing plans as we go

    Back to Bangladesh, changing plans as we go

    Back to Bangladesh for some fieldwork and then a two-week Field School. However, this time we had problems starting before we even left NY. Working in Bangladesh you have to be flexible. Nothing goes as planned, but usually everything works out in the end.

  • Crossroads Project Taps into a Deeper Connection to Climate

    Crossroads Project Taps into a Deeper Connection to Climate

    Climate science can come across as a little dry, so Robert Davies, a physicist at Utah State University, thought he’d spice it up with music and visual art, to penetrate deeper into his audiences’ consciousness. The result is The Crossroads Project, coming to Symphony Space Feb. 13.

  • Latest Environmental Performance Index Introduces New Indicators

    Latest Environmental Performance Index Introduces New Indicators

    Innovations in the 2014 EPI include a new wastewater treatment indicator; a new approach to climate change indicators; and two new satellite-derived indicators for air quality and forests.