State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

climate40

  • Our Best Flight Yet

    Our Best Flight Yet

    Evidence of the retreat of glaciers since the last glacial maximum (check), flying over sites of ancient Inuit, Norse and present day settlements (check), and a personal recollection of my own past in this location (check).

  • 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…

Composite banner with modern building at night and portrait of Dean Alexis Abramson that reads "Science for the Planet"

By studying thousands of buildings and analyzing their electricity use, Columbia Climate School Dean Alexis Abramson has been able to uncover ways to significantly cut energy consumption and emissions. Watch the Video: “Engineering a Cooler Future Through Smarter Buildings

  • Our Best Flight Yet

    Our Best Flight Yet

    Evidence of the retreat of glaciers since the last glacial maximum (check), flying over sites of ancient Inuit, Norse and present day settlements (check), and a personal recollection of my own past in this location (check).

  • 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…