State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

CO22

  • Solving the Mysteries of Carbon Dioxide

    Solving the Mysteries of Carbon Dioxide

    About 50 percent of the CO2 produced by human activity remains in the atmosphere, warming the planet. But scientists don’t know where and how oceans and plants have absorbed the rest of the manmade CO2. To try to answer these questions, on July 2, 2014, NASA launched the $468 million Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), its…

  • Crossing 400ppm: Welcome to the Pliocene

    Crossing 400ppm: Welcome to the Pliocene

    “Right now, we’re living in a world of a Pliocene atmosphere,” scientist Maureen Raymo of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory tells the Yale Forum on Climate Change and the Media. “But the whole rest of the climate system — the oceans are trying to catch-up, the ice sheets are waning, and everything is trying to catch…

  • What’s the Real Story With Clean Coal?

    What’s the Real Story With Clean Coal?

    The Obama administration will propose new rules to limit carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. But is “clean coal” technology up to the job?

  • Agriculture and its Discontents: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

    In 1943, Norman Borlaug began his research into new varieties of wheat that could feed the burgeoning population of Mexico.  Invited by the Mexican government and funded largely by international philanthropic organizations, Borlaug’s research began what we now refer to as the Green Revolution. Over the next 13 years, Mexico became agriculturally self-sufficient, and in…

Colorful banner image over Earth with text "Open House Discover Science, October 19, 2024, 10am to 4pm

Join us on Saturday, October 19, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Open House! Celebrate 75 years of science with us at our beautiful Palisades, NY campus. The event is free and open to everyone, with a suggested $5 donation. Learn More and RSVP

  • Solving the Mysteries of Carbon Dioxide

    Solving the Mysteries of Carbon Dioxide

    About 50 percent of the CO2 produced by human activity remains in the atmosphere, warming the planet. But scientists don’t know where and how oceans and plants have absorbed the rest of the manmade CO2. To try to answer these questions, on July 2, 2014, NASA launched the $468 million Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), its…

  • Crossing 400ppm: Welcome to the Pliocene

    Crossing 400ppm: Welcome to the Pliocene

    “Right now, we’re living in a world of a Pliocene atmosphere,” scientist Maureen Raymo of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory tells the Yale Forum on Climate Change and the Media. “But the whole rest of the climate system — the oceans are trying to catch-up, the ice sheets are waning, and everything is trying to catch…

  • What’s the Real Story With Clean Coal?

    What’s the Real Story With Clean Coal?

    The Obama administration will propose new rules to limit carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. But is “clean coal” technology up to the job?

  • Agriculture and its Discontents: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

    In 1943, Norman Borlaug began his research into new varieties of wheat that could feed the burgeoning population of Mexico.  Invited by the Mexican government and funded largely by international philanthropic organizations, Borlaug’s research began what we now refer to as the Green Revolution. Over the next 13 years, Mexico became agriculturally self-sufficient, and in…