State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

climate change122

  • What Obama Can and Should Do About Climate Change

    What Obama Can and Should Do About Climate Change

    As President Obama embarks on his second term, many Americans are hoping that the extreme weather of 2012 will mark a sea change and finally goad him into making meaningful efforts to deal with climate change.

  • We Need to Put All Coastal Electricity Underground — NOW

    We Need to Put All Coastal Electricity Underground — NOW

    As shocking as the coastal devastation caused by Mega-Storm Sandy was, the prolonged electrical blackouts in the region were much more troubling. They never should have happened, and if any did, power should have been restored sooner.

  • How the Warming Arctic Affects Us All

    How the Warming Arctic Affects Us All

    The Arctic may seem remote, but the overall rate of global warming, our climate and weather, sea levels, and many ecosystems and species will be affected by the warming that is occurring there.

  • Panel on New York’s Future After Sandy

    Panel on New York’s Future After Sandy

    In a live webcast this afternoon from Hunter College, Earth Institute scientists Cynthia Rosenzweig and Klaus Jacob will join a panel on “Hurricane Sandy and Challenges to the NY Metropolitan Region.”

  • If You’re Not Going to San Francisco

    If You’re Not Going to San Francisco

    Keep an eye on State of the Planet over the next week for updates on the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

  • What Hurricane Sandy Was Not

    What Hurricane Sandy Was Not

    “It is often said that generals always prepare to fight the last war. We need to be sure that we do not just prepare for the last disaster, and put all of our limited resources in guarding against that one, without thinking about the other things that could happen.”

  • We Don’t Know All About Hurricanes–But We Know Enough to Act

    We Don’t Know All About Hurricanes–But We Know Enough to Act

    Sandy instantly brought a new kind of national media attention to the influence of global warming on weather disasters. After several years of near-silence on climate from our political leaders and the mainstream media, the renewed attention is profoundly welcome.

  • Expanding Our Vision Brings the Big Picture Into Focus

    Expanding Our Vision Brings the Big Picture Into Focus

    1500 feet above the ground surface is where our suite of instruments normally operates, but for this flight we are taking them up higher, much higher, in fact over 20 times our normal range to 33,000 feet. Our flight plan is to repeat lines surveyed in a previous years by NASA’s Land, Vegetation Ice Sensor…

  • Arctic Archipelago: Ground Zero For Climate Change

    Arctic Archipelago: Ground Zero For Climate Change

    Summer temperatures on the archipelago of Svalbard, 400 miles north of Norway, are now higher than at any other period in the last 1,800 years, according to a new study in the journal Geology.

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 Obama Can and Should Do About Climate Change

    What Obama Can and Should Do About Climate Change

    As President Obama embarks on his second term, many Americans are hoping that the extreme weather of 2012 will mark a sea change and finally goad him into making meaningful efforts to deal with climate change.

  • We Need to Put All Coastal Electricity Underground — NOW

    We Need to Put All Coastal Electricity Underground — NOW

    As shocking as the coastal devastation caused by Mega-Storm Sandy was, the prolonged electrical blackouts in the region were much more troubling. They never should have happened, and if any did, power should have been restored sooner.

  • How the Warming Arctic Affects Us All

    How the Warming Arctic Affects Us All

    The Arctic may seem remote, but the overall rate of global warming, our climate and weather, sea levels, and many ecosystems and species will be affected by the warming that is occurring there.

  • Panel on New York’s Future After Sandy

    Panel on New York’s Future After Sandy

    In a live webcast this afternoon from Hunter College, Earth Institute scientists Cynthia Rosenzweig and Klaus Jacob will join a panel on “Hurricane Sandy and Challenges to the NY Metropolitan Region.”

  • If You’re Not Going to San Francisco

    If You’re Not Going to San Francisco

    Keep an eye on State of the Planet over the next week for updates on the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

  • What Hurricane Sandy Was Not

    What Hurricane Sandy Was Not

    “It is often said that generals always prepare to fight the last war. We need to be sure that we do not just prepare for the last disaster, and put all of our limited resources in guarding against that one, without thinking about the other things that could happen.”

  • We Don’t Know All About Hurricanes–But We Know Enough to Act

    We Don’t Know All About Hurricanes–But We Know Enough to Act

    Sandy instantly brought a new kind of national media attention to the influence of global warming on weather disasters. After several years of near-silence on climate from our political leaders and the mainstream media, the renewed attention is profoundly welcome.

  • Expanding Our Vision Brings the Big Picture Into Focus

    Expanding Our Vision Brings the Big Picture Into Focus

    1500 feet above the ground surface is where our suite of instruments normally operates, but for this flight we are taking them up higher, much higher, in fact over 20 times our normal range to 33,000 feet. Our flight plan is to repeat lines surveyed in a previous years by NASA’s Land, Vegetation Ice Sensor…

  • Arctic Archipelago: Ground Zero For Climate Change

    Arctic Archipelago: Ground Zero For Climate Change

    Summer temperatures on the archipelago of Svalbard, 400 miles north of Norway, are now higher than at any other period in the last 1,800 years, according to a new study in the journal Geology.