State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

climate40

  • Video: Is Drought In East Africa The New Normal?

    Video: Is Drought In East Africa The New Normal?

    A video interview with climate scientist Bradfield Lyon, who explains his latest research on what’s driving rainfall patterns in parts of East Africa.

  • World Climate Policies: Substantial Progress But Enormous Challenges Remain

    World Climate Policies: Substantial Progress But Enormous Challenges Remain

    Recent analysis by Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisory (DBCCA) in conjunction with the Columbia Climate Center, shows that the existing world climate policies have the potential to substantially reduce CO2 emissions, but are not aggressive enough to meet the suggested 450 ppm stabilization pathways.

  • Clues to Sea Level Rise Are Hidden In and Below Greenland’s Ice

    Clues to Sea Level Rise Are Hidden In and Below Greenland’s Ice

    Greenland is surrounded by a ring of high mountains that work like fingers encircling the ice to hold it in place. Ice sliding from between these “fingers” into the surrounding waters results in a major human impact – Sea Level Rise.

  • Midgard Glaciers hold the mark of Thor

    Midgard Glaciers hold the mark of Thor

    To Norse mythology Midgard is a place that is impassable, surrounded by a world of ocean. Thor, the hammer-wielding warrior god often traveled across to Midgard, and one imagines evidence of his fiery power remains in the highly charged rocks that are left behind. Magnetized rocks containing Thor’s energy and the fiery touch of his…

  • Clouding our Image

    Clouding our Image

    Even in idyllic Greenland some days start to feel like the movie “Groundhog Day”, however the turn of events today broke that thread. Over our two weeks in Kangerlussuaq we have ended our evenings with a science and weather report, and the hope of flying the program over both coasts. Each morning we wake up,…

  • The Sphinx of Greenland

    The Sphinx of Greenland

    I had been warned of Geikie. “If they fly to Geikie get on that flight” I had been told, but nothing more.

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 4/08

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 4/08

    EU CO2 law could scupper global climate talks, Reuters, Apr 11 A European Union law that charges airlines for carbon emissions is “a deal-breaker” for global climate change talks, India’s environment minister said, hardening her stance on a scheme that has drawn fierce opposition from non-EU governments. U.S. airlines have said they would grudgingly comply,…

  • Connecting the past, the present and the future to understand climate

    Connecting the past, the present and the future to understand climate

    Over 100,000 years of Arctic climate data has been linked in the last two days of Ice Bridge missions. When you see the names DYE2, EGIG, GRIP, Ice Bridge and MABEL you view the elite list of Arctic science projects that deliver(ed) groundbreaking climate information through the last 50 years, and if all goes as…

  • Leveraging the Moment

    Leveraging the Moment

    Time takes on a new meaning in the field. Every moment is compressed in order to gain maximum yield. Applying human accounting, field time is limited by available resources, personnel, and funds, while using nature’s accounting the limits shift to windows of weather, and seasonality for ice phenomena. In the field both human and nature…

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

  • Video: Is Drought In East Africa The New Normal?

    Video: Is Drought In East Africa The New Normal?

    A video interview with climate scientist Bradfield Lyon, who explains his latest research on what’s driving rainfall patterns in parts of East Africa.

  • World Climate Policies: Substantial Progress But Enormous Challenges Remain

    World Climate Policies: Substantial Progress But Enormous Challenges Remain

    Recent analysis by Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisory (DBCCA) in conjunction with the Columbia Climate Center, shows that the existing world climate policies have the potential to substantially reduce CO2 emissions, but are not aggressive enough to meet the suggested 450 ppm stabilization pathways.

  • Clues to Sea Level Rise Are Hidden In and Below Greenland’s Ice

    Clues to Sea Level Rise Are Hidden In and Below Greenland’s Ice

    Greenland is surrounded by a ring of high mountains that work like fingers encircling the ice to hold it in place. Ice sliding from between these “fingers” into the surrounding waters results in a major human impact – Sea Level Rise.

  • Midgard Glaciers hold the mark of Thor

    Midgard Glaciers hold the mark of Thor

    To Norse mythology Midgard is a place that is impassable, surrounded by a world of ocean. Thor, the hammer-wielding warrior god often traveled across to Midgard, and one imagines evidence of his fiery power remains in the highly charged rocks that are left behind. Magnetized rocks containing Thor’s energy and the fiery touch of his…

  • Clouding our Image

    Clouding our Image

    Even in idyllic Greenland some days start to feel like the movie “Groundhog Day”, however the turn of events today broke that thread. Over our two weeks in Kangerlussuaq we have ended our evenings with a science and weather report, and the hope of flying the program over both coasts. Each morning we wake up,…

  • The Sphinx of Greenland

    The Sphinx of Greenland

    I had been warned of Geikie. “If they fly to Geikie get on that flight” I had been told, but nothing more.

  • Climate News Roundup: Week of 4/08

    Climate News Roundup: Week of 4/08

    EU CO2 law could scupper global climate talks, Reuters, Apr 11 A European Union law that charges airlines for carbon emissions is “a deal-breaker” for global climate change talks, India’s environment minister said, hardening her stance on a scheme that has drawn fierce opposition from non-EU governments. U.S. airlines have said they would grudgingly comply,…

  • Connecting the past, the present and the future to understand climate

    Connecting the past, the present and the future to understand climate

    Over 100,000 years of Arctic climate data has been linked in the last two days of Ice Bridge missions. When you see the names DYE2, EGIG, GRIP, Ice Bridge and MABEL you view the elite list of Arctic science projects that deliver(ed) groundbreaking climate information through the last 50 years, and if all goes as…

  • Leveraging the Moment

    Leveraging the Moment

    Time takes on a new meaning in the field. Every moment is compressed in order to gain maximum yield. Applying human accounting, field time is limited by available resources, personnel, and funds, while using nature’s accounting the limits shift to windows of weather, and seasonality for ice phenomena. In the field both human and nature…