State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Energy10

  • Science and Solutions for Sustainable Development: 2013 Annual Report

    Science and Solutions for Sustainable Development: 2013 Annual Report

    The Earth Institute is grateful to its many partners for their important role in the effort to develop the science and solutions necessary for sustainable development. Please visit the interactive digital 2013 Annual Report to read more about how we are forging partnerships across disciplines and sectors to advance the global effort to guide our…

  • Map: Where Are the Trashiest New Yorkers?

    Map: Where Are the Trashiest New Yorkers?

    No, not that kind of trashy – we’re talking here about what New York City neighborhoods produce the most municipal solid waste per person.

  • Resource Consumption — the Ultimate Bubble?

    Resource Consumption — the Ultimate Bubble?

    “Basically, the instinct of civilizations in the past has been to run off a cliff. This time it’s different. We have one global civilization, so we have to be very careful not to run off a cliff.”

  • Charting the Course to a Renewable Energy Future

    Charting the Course to a Renewable Energy Future

    As environmentalists have pushed for greater investment in wind and solar energy, critics have insisted that renewable sources of power could never provide more than a fraction of world energy demand. Evidence is mounting, however, that the critics are wrong.

  • 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?

  • The Boom of Hydraulic Fracturing

    The Boom of Hydraulic Fracturing

    Experts discuss the rise and boom of unconventional hydrocarbon extraction in the final Sustainable Development Seminar Series of the 2012-2013 academic year.

  • National Grid Joins the Corporate Circle

    National Grid Joins the Corporate Circle

    The Earth Institute is pleased to welcome National Grid into the Corporate Circle, a collective partnership of leading corporations from across the globe committed to pursuing sustainable development objectives. Through a generous gift, National Grid will support sustainable energy research at the Earth Institute.

  • Of Cow Dung, Cook Stoves and Sustainability in Practice

    Of Cow Dung, Cook Stoves and Sustainability in Practice

    When the Environmental Defense Fund asked me to measure how biogas cook stoves were changing the lives of farmers in rural India, there wasn’t a word in that question with which I was comfortable. Having just graduated from the Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development, I had never done fieldwork; and the concept of a biogas…

  • Human Geography, Volcanoes, Microgrids and More…

    Human Geography, Volcanoes, Microgrids and More…

    Interested in Human geography, undersea volcanoes, microgrids, climate change and melting ice sheets, technology and sustainability? The coming week’s lineup of Earth Institute events has you covered.

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

  • Science and Solutions for Sustainable Development: 2013 Annual Report

    Science and Solutions for Sustainable Development: 2013 Annual Report

    The Earth Institute is grateful to its many partners for their important role in the effort to develop the science and solutions necessary for sustainable development. Please visit the interactive digital 2013 Annual Report to read more about how we are forging partnerships across disciplines and sectors to advance the global effort to guide our…

  • Map: Where Are the Trashiest New Yorkers?

    Map: Where Are the Trashiest New Yorkers?

    No, not that kind of trashy – we’re talking here about what New York City neighborhoods produce the most municipal solid waste per person.

  • Resource Consumption — the Ultimate Bubble?

    Resource Consumption — the Ultimate Bubble?

    “Basically, the instinct of civilizations in the past has been to run off a cliff. This time it’s different. We have one global civilization, so we have to be very careful not to run off a cliff.”

  • Charting the Course to a Renewable Energy Future

    Charting the Course to a Renewable Energy Future

    As environmentalists have pushed for greater investment in wind and solar energy, critics have insisted that renewable sources of power could never provide more than a fraction of world energy demand. Evidence is mounting, however, that the critics are wrong.

  • 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?

  • The Boom of Hydraulic Fracturing

    The Boom of Hydraulic Fracturing

    Experts discuss the rise and boom of unconventional hydrocarbon extraction in the final Sustainable Development Seminar Series of the 2012-2013 academic year.

  • National Grid Joins the Corporate Circle

    National Grid Joins the Corporate Circle

    The Earth Institute is pleased to welcome National Grid into the Corporate Circle, a collective partnership of leading corporations from across the globe committed to pursuing sustainable development objectives. Through a generous gift, National Grid will support sustainable energy research at the Earth Institute.

  • Of Cow Dung, Cook Stoves and Sustainability in Practice

    Of Cow Dung, Cook Stoves and Sustainability in Practice

    When the Environmental Defense Fund asked me to measure how biogas cook stoves were changing the lives of farmers in rural India, there wasn’t a word in that question with which I was comfortable. Having just graduated from the Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development, I had never done fieldwork; and the concept of a biogas…

  • Human Geography, Volcanoes, Microgrids and More…

    Human Geography, Volcanoes, Microgrids and More…

    Interested in Human geography, undersea volcanoes, microgrids, climate change and melting ice sheets, technology and sustainability? The coming week’s lineup of Earth Institute events has you covered.