State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

climate change150

  • Global Environmental Scorecard Gives U.S. Low Rank

    Jan. 23, Davos, Switzerland – A new international ranking of environmental performance puts Switzerland at the top—and the United States 39th, last among the Group of 8 industrialized countries. The ranking, the 2008 Environmental Performance Index, was produced by a team from Yale University and the Columbia University Earth Institute’s Center for International Earth Science…

  • PepsiCo Foundation announces major new grant to the Earth Institute at Columbia University to promote global water sustainability

    January 22 – Projects designed to address the emerging challenges of global water scarcity received a $6 million boost today with the announcement of a new grant from the PepsiCo Foundation to the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Targeted solutions towards more efficient water use and sustainable supply development will be explored in critical settings…

  • Climate Change, Seen Through the Eyes of Scientist and Poet

    The work of a dozen Columbia Earth Institute scientists is featured in three new books—not all in the usual nonfiction format. In addition to two journalistic works on climate change, there is Time and Materials, by Robert Hass, former poet laureate of the United States. In “State of the Planet”–written for the fiftieth anniversary of…

  • Red Cross/Red Crescent Join With Climate Institute to Forecast Disasters

    For more information: IRI – Clare Oh at clare.oh@columbia.edu or (212) 854-5479 IFRC – Matthew Cochrane at matthew.cochrane@ifrc.org or +41 22 730 4426 GENEVA and NEW YORK — The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is joining with a unit of Columbia University’s Earth Institute to develop forecasting and monitoring mechanisms…

  • Lamont Scientists Present Findings on Hidden Dangers of Climate Change, Natural Hazards

    Scientists from Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory will report this week on vital topics including new evidence of the effects of climate change; technologies to confront it; studies of eastern U.S. earthquake risk; and previously unseen inner workings of the deep polar ice caps. The reports will be presented at the fall 2007 American Geophysical…

  • Geochemistry Building Will Expand Knowledge of Earth

    Amid cheers from hundreds of scientists and guests, Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory cut the ribbon at its $45 million Gary C. Comer Geochemistry Building. The ultra-modern facility is “the step forward that we need to accelerate our efforts to understand and predict the important changes that will impact the way we live with our planet,”…

  • Toll of Climate Change on World Food Supply Could Be Worse Than Thought

    Predictions, Already Daunting, Fail to Account for Extreme Weather, Disease and Other Complications, Say New Reports

  • Earth Institute Colleagues Share in the Nobel Peace Prize

    The award of the Nobel Peace Prize jointly to Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) marks a watershed moment. It signals that people across the world and at all levels of society are recognizing that ongoing climate change is not only a long-term threat to the global environment, but also an…

  • Climate Swings Have Brought Great CO2 Pulses Up From the Deep Sea

    A study released on May 11, 2007 provides some of the first solid evidence that warming-induced changes in ocean circulation at the end of the last Ice Age caused vast quantities of ancient carbon dioxide to belch from the deep sea into the atmosphere. Scientists believe the carbon dioxide (CO2) releases helped propel the world…

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

  • Global Environmental Scorecard Gives U.S. Low Rank

    Jan. 23, Davos, Switzerland – A new international ranking of environmental performance puts Switzerland at the top—and the United States 39th, last among the Group of 8 industrialized countries. The ranking, the 2008 Environmental Performance Index, was produced by a team from Yale University and the Columbia University Earth Institute’s Center for International Earth Science…

  • PepsiCo Foundation announces major new grant to the Earth Institute at Columbia University to promote global water sustainability

    January 22 – Projects designed to address the emerging challenges of global water scarcity received a $6 million boost today with the announcement of a new grant from the PepsiCo Foundation to the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Targeted solutions towards more efficient water use and sustainable supply development will be explored in critical settings…

  • Climate Change, Seen Through the Eyes of Scientist and Poet

    The work of a dozen Columbia Earth Institute scientists is featured in three new books—not all in the usual nonfiction format. In addition to two journalistic works on climate change, there is Time and Materials, by Robert Hass, former poet laureate of the United States. In “State of the Planet”–written for the fiftieth anniversary of…

  • Red Cross/Red Crescent Join With Climate Institute to Forecast Disasters

    For more information: IRI – Clare Oh at clare.oh@columbia.edu or (212) 854-5479 IFRC – Matthew Cochrane at matthew.cochrane@ifrc.org or +41 22 730 4426 GENEVA and NEW YORK — The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is joining with a unit of Columbia University’s Earth Institute to develop forecasting and monitoring mechanisms…

  • Lamont Scientists Present Findings on Hidden Dangers of Climate Change, Natural Hazards

    Scientists from Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory will report this week on vital topics including new evidence of the effects of climate change; technologies to confront it; studies of eastern U.S. earthquake risk; and previously unseen inner workings of the deep polar ice caps. The reports will be presented at the fall 2007 American Geophysical…

  • Geochemistry Building Will Expand Knowledge of Earth

    Amid cheers from hundreds of scientists and guests, Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory cut the ribbon at its $45 million Gary C. Comer Geochemistry Building. The ultra-modern facility is “the step forward that we need to accelerate our efforts to understand and predict the important changes that will impact the way we live with our planet,”…

  • Toll of Climate Change on World Food Supply Could Be Worse Than Thought

    Predictions, Already Daunting, Fail to Account for Extreme Weather, Disease and Other Complications, Say New Reports

  • Earth Institute Colleagues Share in the Nobel Peace Prize

    The award of the Nobel Peace Prize jointly to Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) marks a watershed moment. It signals that people across the world and at all levels of society are recognizing that ongoing climate change is not only a long-term threat to the global environment, but also an…

  • Climate Swings Have Brought Great CO2 Pulses Up From the Deep Sea

    A study released on May 11, 2007 provides some of the first solid evidence that warming-induced changes in ocean circulation at the end of the last Ice Age caused vast quantities of ancient carbon dioxide to belch from the deep sea into the atmosphere. Scientists believe the carbon dioxide (CO2) releases helped propel the world…