State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

climate policy15

  • 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…

  • An Evening with the Writers of the Clean Air Act: Insight into the ‘Golden Age’ of Environmental Law

    An Evening with the Writers of the Clean Air Act: Insight into the ‘Golden Age’ of Environmental Law

    At a panel discussion this week, Leon Billings and Thomas Jorling, two senior staff members who helped craft the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and other major environmental legislation in the 1970s, spoke about the bipartisan effort to pass that legislation, and the partisan divide that stymies Congress today.

  • 8 Ways We Can Strengthen Development and Increase Climate Resilience

    8 Ways We Can Strengthen Development and Increase Climate Resilience

    President Obama this week announced a set of actions designed to help populations here and abroad develop better resilience against drought, sea level rise and other consequences of a changing climate. At The Earth Institute, the International Research Institute for Climate and Society has been working on these issues for years — making regular climate…

  • Join the Crowd: Scenes from the Climate March

    Join the Crowd: Scenes from the Climate March

    Student Jane Rebecca Marchant was one among the hundreds of thousands who joined the People’s Climate March Sunday, and she took a lot of photos. You can see her photo essay on the march on the website of the Morningside Post, the student-run newspaper at the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs.

  • Why This Climate Scientist Is Taking to the Streets

    Why This Climate Scientist Is Taking to the Streets

    In my early years I didn’t talk about the politics of global warming much. I didn’t bring it up with friends or family, let alone engage in any public way. It seemed to me unseemly for a scientist to be vocal on a political issue related, even indirectly, to his own research. Wouldn’t that be…

  • What Everyone Should Know About Climate Change

    What Everyone Should Know About Climate Change

    Climate scientist William D’Andrea of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory asked young scientists attending a symposium last October, “What do you wish everyone knew about climate change?” He turned the responses into this video, which covers the topic pretty well.

  • Join the Earth Institute for Climate Week NYC

    Join the Earth Institute for Climate Week NYC

    From heads of state to ordinary citizens, thousands of people will gather for more than 100 events during Climate Week NYC. The Earth Institute and its centers will be engaged in several events; read on to find out how you can participate.

  • Larry Gibson and the Lobster Boat

    Larry Gibson and the Lobster Boat

    There are many brave people who recognize the climate crisis and are beginning to stand up and take personal risks to try to stop expansion of the fossil fuel industry, across the United States, in Canada, and in other nations. Their courage is remarkable and I hope it has an awakening effect.

  • Major Gift Will Expand Center for Climate Change Law

    Major Gift Will Expand Center for Climate Change Law

    Columbia Law School’s Center for Climate Change Law will be newly expanded with a major gift from the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation. The center, an affiliate of the Earth Institute, has been renamed the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.

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

  • 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…

  • An Evening with the Writers of the Clean Air Act: Insight into the ‘Golden Age’ of Environmental Law

    An Evening with the Writers of the Clean Air Act: Insight into the ‘Golden Age’ of Environmental Law

    At a panel discussion this week, Leon Billings and Thomas Jorling, two senior staff members who helped craft the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and other major environmental legislation in the 1970s, spoke about the bipartisan effort to pass that legislation, and the partisan divide that stymies Congress today.

  • 8 Ways We Can Strengthen Development and Increase Climate Resilience

    8 Ways We Can Strengthen Development and Increase Climate Resilience

    President Obama this week announced a set of actions designed to help populations here and abroad develop better resilience against drought, sea level rise and other consequences of a changing climate. At The Earth Institute, the International Research Institute for Climate and Society has been working on these issues for years — making regular climate…

  • Join the Crowd: Scenes from the Climate March

    Join the Crowd: Scenes from the Climate March

    Student Jane Rebecca Marchant was one among the hundreds of thousands who joined the People’s Climate March Sunday, and she took a lot of photos. You can see her photo essay on the march on the website of the Morningside Post, the student-run newspaper at the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs.

  • Why This Climate Scientist Is Taking to the Streets

    Why This Climate Scientist Is Taking to the Streets

    In my early years I didn’t talk about the politics of global warming much. I didn’t bring it up with friends or family, let alone engage in any public way. It seemed to me unseemly for a scientist to be vocal on a political issue related, even indirectly, to his own research. Wouldn’t that be…

  • What Everyone Should Know About Climate Change

    What Everyone Should Know About Climate Change

    Climate scientist William D’Andrea of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory asked young scientists attending a symposium last October, “What do you wish everyone knew about climate change?” He turned the responses into this video, which covers the topic pretty well.

  • Join the Earth Institute for Climate Week NYC

    Join the Earth Institute for Climate Week NYC

    From heads of state to ordinary citizens, thousands of people will gather for more than 100 events during Climate Week NYC. The Earth Institute and its centers will be engaged in several events; read on to find out how you can participate.

  • Larry Gibson and the Lobster Boat

    Larry Gibson and the Lobster Boat

    There are many brave people who recognize the climate crisis and are beginning to stand up and take personal risks to try to stop expansion of the fossil fuel industry, across the United States, in Canada, and in other nations. Their courage is remarkable and I hope it has an awakening effect.

  • Major Gift Will Expand Center for Climate Change Law

    Major Gift Will Expand Center for Climate Change Law

    Columbia Law School’s Center for Climate Change Law will be newly expanded with a major gift from the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation. The center, an affiliate of the Earth Institute, has been renamed the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.