State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

climate matters10

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 2/2

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 2/2

    NASA: Global warming caused mostly by humans USA Today, 1/31 The space agency published new calculations showing that the Earth absorbed more energy from the sun than it returned to space despite the low solar activity from 2005 to 2010. Availability of better measurements of ocean temperatures helped the research team improve their estimates of…

  • A Cup of Joe for #1000

    A Cup of Joe for #1000

    IRI is offering a token of thanks for helping us reach a Twitter milestone. Care to help us get there?

  • Climate Change in Haiti

    Climate Change in Haiti

    By Tracy Slagle and Madeleine Rubenstein Of the many countries at risk from the effects of climate change, small island states are widely considered to be among the most vulnerable. Not only are these countries exposed to direct impacts of climate change, particularly sea level rise, they are also highly sensitive to existing environmental stresses…

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 1/22

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 1/22

    Signs of New Life as U.N. Searches for a Climate Accord, New York Times, Jan 24 The recently concluded meeting in Durban, South Africa, which established a new mandate for concluding a binding agreement of some sort by 2015, has given the process new life and hushed many of its critics. Christina Figueres, the Costa…

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 1/17

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 1/17

    Rejecting Pipeline Proposal, Obama Blames Congress; Five Myths About the Keystone Pipeline; GM microbe breakthrough paves way for large-scale seaweed farming for biofuels; Clean Energy Investment Rises to $260 Billion, Boosted by Solar.

  • African Forests, Threatened, but Resilient

    African Forests, Threatened, but Resilient

    Forests and climate change are fundamentally interrelated.  Forests play a role in mitigating climate change by trapping and storing carbon in their trees.  Currently, the world’s forests and forest soils store more than one trillion tons of carbon – twice the amount in the atmosphere. The African continent is home to 30% of the world’s…

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 1/09

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 1/09

    To Slow Climate Change, Cut Down on Soot, Ozone; Investors Say Private Sector Must Tackle Climate Change; US Teachers Offered Support for Climate Change Lessons;Massive ecological change predicted for Canada: NASA

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 1/01

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 1/01

    Police Inquiry Prompts New Speculation on Who Leaked Climate-Change E-mails, Jan 1, New York Times Speculation has revived about the identity of the hacker responsible for releasing more than 1,000 private e-mails on the Internet in an attempt to discredit climate scientists. In November, another round of e-mails between scientists were distributed online before the…

  • A Changing Climate for Small Island States

    A Changing Climate for Small Island States

    Small island states are uniquely vulnerable to climate change because of their geography and socioeconomic characteristics. As the physical impacts of climate change interact with social and economic vulnerabilities, climate change poses a significant threat to the islands’ physical, social, and economic well-being.

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 2/2

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 2/2

    NASA: Global warming caused mostly by humans USA Today, 1/31 The space agency published new calculations showing that the Earth absorbed more energy from the sun than it returned to space despite the low solar activity from 2005 to 2010. Availability of better measurements of ocean temperatures helped the research team improve their estimates of…

  • A Cup of Joe for #1000

    A Cup of Joe for #1000

    IRI is offering a token of thanks for helping us reach a Twitter milestone. Care to help us get there?

  • Climate Change in Haiti

    Climate Change in Haiti

    By Tracy Slagle and Madeleine Rubenstein Of the many countries at risk from the effects of climate change, small island states are widely considered to be among the most vulnerable. Not only are these countries exposed to direct impacts of climate change, particularly sea level rise, they are also highly sensitive to existing environmental stresses…

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 1/22

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 1/22

    Signs of New Life as U.N. Searches for a Climate Accord, New York Times, Jan 24 The recently concluded meeting in Durban, South Africa, which established a new mandate for concluding a binding agreement of some sort by 2015, has given the process new life and hushed many of its critics. Christina Figueres, the Costa…

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 1/17

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 1/17

    Rejecting Pipeline Proposal, Obama Blames Congress; Five Myths About the Keystone Pipeline; GM microbe breakthrough paves way for large-scale seaweed farming for biofuels; Clean Energy Investment Rises to $260 Billion, Boosted by Solar.

  • African Forests, Threatened, but Resilient

    African Forests, Threatened, but Resilient

    Forests and climate change are fundamentally interrelated.  Forests play a role in mitigating climate change by trapping and storing carbon in their trees.  Currently, the world’s forests and forest soils store more than one trillion tons of carbon – twice the amount in the atmosphere. The African continent is home to 30% of the world’s…

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 1/09

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 1/09

    To Slow Climate Change, Cut Down on Soot, Ozone; Investors Say Private Sector Must Tackle Climate Change; US Teachers Offered Support for Climate Change Lessons;Massive ecological change predicted for Canada: NASA

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 1/01

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 1/01

    Police Inquiry Prompts New Speculation on Who Leaked Climate-Change E-mails, Jan 1, New York Times Speculation has revived about the identity of the hacker responsible for releasing more than 1,000 private e-mails on the Internet in an attempt to discredit climate scientists. In November, another round of e-mails between scientists were distributed online before the…

  • A Changing Climate for Small Island States

    A Changing Climate for Small Island States

    Small island states are uniquely vulnerable to climate change because of their geography and socioeconomic characteristics. As the physical impacts of climate change interact with social and economic vulnerabilities, climate change poses a significant threat to the islands’ physical, social, and economic well-being.