climate science44
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Deep Thoughts on Deep Convection
Deep convection refers to the thermally driven turbulent mixing that moves air parcels from the lower to the upper atmosphere. In the tropics, this generally involves the vertical ascent of warm moist air and, ultimately, precipitation. But while some aspects of deep convection are well understood, others remain a mystery. Dr. Larissa Back, a NOAA…
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La Niña Conditions to Continue?
According to Tony Barnston of the IRI, the La Niña conditions which began in December are likely to continue until mid-March. Click on the graph below for a better look at the probabilistic forecast. As mentioned in an earlier post, La Niña events are characterized by unusually cold sea surface temperatures (SST) in the central…
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When will we see a sea level rise of three feet?
Recently, the Columbia Climate Center had the chance to participate in an event aiming to improve public awareness on climate change. On the weekend of the 6th and 7th of February, the CCC had a table in the Polar Fair in the International Polar Weekend at the American Museum of Natural History. It was a…
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Interdisciplinary Work: Big Challenge, But Not Impossible
Health professionals, epidemiologists, health management workers and health policymakers are increasingly concerned about the potential impact that climate variability and climate change could have on public health. However, many public health professionals are not yet aware of the ways in which climate information can help them manage the impacts of climate on their work. At…
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Arctic Sea Ice in a Warmer Climate
Dr. Jennifer Kay, a post doc at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), was at Lamont recently to give a talk entitled “Mechanisms for Recent Sea Loss.” Kay’s talk offered a detailed explanation of recent sea loss in the Arctic, including the all-time low experienced in 2007. Kay also outlined mechanisms that may have…
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Low-cost water management in Ethiopia
Water capture and storage for irrigation has been an ongoing theme of research in Columbia’s earth and environmental engineering department, but Professor Upmanu Lall has recently taken things a step further. With funding from the Pulitzer family, Lall challenged a group of students in his senior engineering course to design a low-cost system of water…
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Lonnie Thompson’s 7,000 Meters of Ice
I’ve been meaning to blog about Lonnie Thompson’s visit to Lamont last week; I suppose it’s the frigid temperatures here in New York that have kept melting tropical glaciers on my own back burner. For those who don’t know, Lonnie Thompson runs the Ice Core Paleoclimatology Research Group at the Ohio State’s Byrd Polar Research…
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Arctic Sea Ice Retreat: When Will the Arctic Ocean be Ice-Free During Summer?
Researchers have long recognized the Arctic as a region that shows early and amplified signals of anthropogenically-driven global climate change (e.g., IPCC 2001; Technical Basis, p. 807). Among the most dramatic and most widely watched changes in this region each summer is the retreat of the Arctic sea ice extent. Since it first became possible…
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Wally Broecker wins prestigious BBVA Foundation award for Climate Research
Earlier today it was announced that Wallace S. Broecker, Newberry Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University, has received the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Climate Change Research. In announcing the award, the jury cited Wally for his seminal research on ocean chemistry and for pioneering the development of Earth System…
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!