State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

climate48

  • Switchyard Project: In Transit…Part 1

    Switchyard Project: In Transit…Part 1

    Bags are packed and ready to go. April 25, 2011: We left Lamont in the afternoon to Schenectady, close to Scotia where the 109th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard is located that will fly us up to CFS Alert. That unit provides extensive logistical support for all U.S. science operations in the arctic and…

  • Switchyard Project: Tracking the Arctic Seascape

    Switchyard Project: Tracking the Arctic Seascape

    Arctic summer sea ice is declining rapidly: a trend with enormous implications for global weather and climate. The multi-year Arctic Switchyard project will seek to distinguish the effects of natural climate variability from those of human-induced climate change.

  • Soaring Through the Southeastern Greenland Outlet Glaciers

    Soaring Through the Southeastern Greenland Outlet Glaciers

    Our mission was to collect some long survey lines down the center of some of Greenland’s most spectacular southeastern glaciers. The study design would require us to complete a transect across the Greenland ice sheet, fortunately at a location when the country undergoes a noticeable taper. Starting at Kangerlussuaq, our base on Greenland’s west coast,…

  • Growing Up: Water Efficiency and Sunless Farming

    Growing Up: Water Efficiency and Sunless Farming

    As Earth’s population continues to grow and a dynamic global climate shifts our expectations of where and when food can be grown, scientists are trying to find new ways to get more from less.

  • Informing Farmers and Combating Drought in Mali

    Informing Farmers and Combating Drought in Mali

    A new case study authored by scientists at Mali’s national meteorological service and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society chronicles a success story of linking farmers to climate information in response to the 1972-1984 drought.

  • It takes a lot of instruments to collect ice measurements!

    It takes a lot of instruments to collect ice measurements!

    The Operation IceBridge (OIB) mission is a truly collaborative project with several agencies and multiple instruments involved in collecting independent measurements. The data is then analyzed concurrently to develop an understanding of the ice processes underway. The measurement of sea ice is an excellent example of how multiple methods of measurement are needed to collect…

  • Before the Flood—Predicting the Deluge

    Before the Flood—Predicting the Deluge

    The Columbia Global Flood Project is based on the conviction that while human beings may not have direct control of where and how much rain falls, there is a great deal more that can be done to manage the risk of extreme flooding around the world.

  • Jakobshavn Glacier continues to provide surprises!

    Jakobshavn Glacier continues to provide surprises!

    We have moved south! One of the many challenges of our Greenland survey is the need to switch bases in the midst of the season since Thule Air Force Base also serves as a staging location for a major resupply mission for many of the Arctic outposts.  The whole set up has to be packed…

  • Maybe Ben Franklin Was Wrong

    Maybe Ben Franklin Was Wrong

    A new study says that for all of its ill effects, the Laki volcanic eruption of 1783-84 probably was not the main culprit behind one of the coldest winters in hundreds of years, as many scientists — and contemporary observer Benjamin Franklin — have speculated.

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

  • Switchyard Project: In Transit…Part 1

    Switchyard Project: In Transit…Part 1

    Bags are packed and ready to go. April 25, 2011: We left Lamont in the afternoon to Schenectady, close to Scotia where the 109th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard is located that will fly us up to CFS Alert. That unit provides extensive logistical support for all U.S. science operations in the arctic and…

  • Switchyard Project: Tracking the Arctic Seascape

    Switchyard Project: Tracking the Arctic Seascape

    Arctic summer sea ice is declining rapidly: a trend with enormous implications for global weather and climate. The multi-year Arctic Switchyard project will seek to distinguish the effects of natural climate variability from those of human-induced climate change.

  • Soaring Through the Southeastern Greenland Outlet Glaciers

    Soaring Through the Southeastern Greenland Outlet Glaciers

    Our mission was to collect some long survey lines down the center of some of Greenland’s most spectacular southeastern glaciers. The study design would require us to complete a transect across the Greenland ice sheet, fortunately at a location when the country undergoes a noticeable taper. Starting at Kangerlussuaq, our base on Greenland’s west coast,…

  • Growing Up: Water Efficiency and Sunless Farming

    Growing Up: Water Efficiency and Sunless Farming

    As Earth’s population continues to grow and a dynamic global climate shifts our expectations of where and when food can be grown, scientists are trying to find new ways to get more from less.

  • Informing Farmers and Combating Drought in Mali

    Informing Farmers and Combating Drought in Mali

    A new case study authored by scientists at Mali’s national meteorological service and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society chronicles a success story of linking farmers to climate information in response to the 1972-1984 drought.

  • It takes a lot of instruments to collect ice measurements!

    It takes a lot of instruments to collect ice measurements!

    The Operation IceBridge (OIB) mission is a truly collaborative project with several agencies and multiple instruments involved in collecting independent measurements. The data is then analyzed concurrently to develop an understanding of the ice processes underway. The measurement of sea ice is an excellent example of how multiple methods of measurement are needed to collect…

  • Before the Flood—Predicting the Deluge

    Before the Flood—Predicting the Deluge

    The Columbia Global Flood Project is based on the conviction that while human beings may not have direct control of where and how much rain falls, there is a great deal more that can be done to manage the risk of extreme flooding around the world.

  • Jakobshavn Glacier continues to provide surprises!

    Jakobshavn Glacier continues to provide surprises!

    We have moved south! One of the many challenges of our Greenland survey is the need to switch bases in the midst of the season since Thule Air Force Base also serves as a staging location for a major resupply mission for many of the Arctic outposts.  The whole set up has to be packed…

  • Maybe Ben Franklin Was Wrong

    Maybe Ben Franklin Was Wrong

    A new study says that for all of its ill effects, the Laki volcanic eruption of 1783-84 probably was not the main culprit behind one of the coldest winters in hundreds of years, as many scientists — and contemporary observer Benjamin Franklin — have speculated.