State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

climate19

  • Wildfire Experts: A Journalist’s Guide

    Wildfire Experts: A Journalist’s Guide

    A guide to wildfire experts at the Earth Institute.

  • Researchers Say an 1800s Global Famine Could Happen Again

    Researchers Say an 1800s Global Famine Could Happen Again

    The Global Famine was one of the worst humanitarian disasters in history, killing as many people as World War II. A new analysis suggests it could happen again, only worse because of climate change.

  • The Melting of the Greenland Ice, Seen Up Very Close

    The Melting of the Greenland Ice, Seen Up Very Close

    A small team of scientists ventures out onto the Greenland ice sheet to study the forces large and small that are accelerating the melting of the world’s second-largest ice mass.

  • Photo Essay: Melting Greenland, Up Close

    Photo Essay: Melting Greenland, Up Close

    As climate warms, the Greenland ice sheet is melting, helping to fuel global sea-level rise. Follow a small team of scientists as they hike onto the sheet to investigate the forces large and small that are demolishing the ice.

  • Short-Term Ocean Temperature Shifts Are Affecting West Antarctic Ice, Says Study

    Short-Term Ocean Temperature Shifts Are Affecting West Antarctic Ice, Says Study

    Scientists have known for some time that ice shelves off West Antarctica are melting as deep, warm ocean waters eat at their undersides, but a new study shows that temperatures, and resultant melting, can vary far more than previously thought, within a time scale of a few years.

  • AGU Recognizes Lamont Scientists With Section Awards

    AGU Recognizes Lamont Scientists With Section Awards

    The American Geophysical Union honors the outstanding work of three scientists from Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.

  • An Icy Irony in Greenland

    An Icy Irony in Greenland

    We awoke to messages that a towering iceberg is threatening the local waterfront settlement of Innaarsuit. There is perhaps a bit of irony in the fact that a massive looming block of ice is a potential threat to the start of our field season.

  • Exploring Greenland With Wings, Boats and Drones

    Exploring Greenland With Wings, Boats and Drones

    Snow on Ice is launching into the field with two teams of scientists this summer. The first group, an ‘advance team’ of six women, will focus on lakes where meltwater has collected on the southwestern flank of Greenland bedrock.

  • Study Signals Change in How Scientists Calculate Ancient Diets

    Study Signals Change in How Scientists Calculate Ancient Diets

    Scientists have long determined what extinct animals ate by analyzing carbon isotopes locked inside their fossil teeth. But a new study shows that in many cases, they may be plugging the wrong numbers into their equations. The findings may change some views of how mammals, including us, evolved.

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!

  • Wildfire Experts: A Journalist’s Guide

    Wildfire Experts: A Journalist’s Guide

    A guide to wildfire experts at the Earth Institute.

  • Researchers Say an 1800s Global Famine Could Happen Again

    Researchers Say an 1800s Global Famine Could Happen Again

    The Global Famine was one of the worst humanitarian disasters in history, killing as many people as World War II. A new analysis suggests it could happen again, only worse because of climate change.

  • The Melting of the Greenland Ice, Seen Up Very Close

    The Melting of the Greenland Ice, Seen Up Very Close

    A small team of scientists ventures out onto the Greenland ice sheet to study the forces large and small that are accelerating the melting of the world’s second-largest ice mass.

  • Photo Essay: Melting Greenland, Up Close

    Photo Essay: Melting Greenland, Up Close

    As climate warms, the Greenland ice sheet is melting, helping to fuel global sea-level rise. Follow a small team of scientists as they hike onto the sheet to investigate the forces large and small that are demolishing the ice.

  • Short-Term Ocean Temperature Shifts Are Affecting West Antarctic Ice, Says Study

    Short-Term Ocean Temperature Shifts Are Affecting West Antarctic Ice, Says Study

    Scientists have known for some time that ice shelves off West Antarctica are melting as deep, warm ocean waters eat at their undersides, but a new study shows that temperatures, and resultant melting, can vary far more than previously thought, within a time scale of a few years.

  • AGU Recognizes Lamont Scientists With Section Awards

    AGU Recognizes Lamont Scientists With Section Awards

    The American Geophysical Union honors the outstanding work of three scientists from Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.

  • An Icy Irony in Greenland

    An Icy Irony in Greenland

    We awoke to messages that a towering iceberg is threatening the local waterfront settlement of Innaarsuit. There is perhaps a bit of irony in the fact that a massive looming block of ice is a potential threat to the start of our field season.

  • Exploring Greenland With Wings, Boats and Drones

    Exploring Greenland With Wings, Boats and Drones

    Snow on Ice is launching into the field with two teams of scientists this summer. The first group, an ‘advance team’ of six women, will focus on lakes where meltwater has collected on the southwestern flank of Greenland bedrock.

  • Study Signals Change in How Scientists Calculate Ancient Diets

    Study Signals Change in How Scientists Calculate Ancient Diets

    Scientists have long determined what extinct animals ate by analyzing carbon isotopes locked inside their fossil teeth. But a new study shows that in many cases, they may be plugging the wrong numbers into their equations. The findings may change some views of how mammals, including us, evolved.