State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Geopoetry3

  • Aureococcus

    Aureococcus

    On skin, it’s barely a freckle I’d make, But baby, en masse, we turn seas opaque! Come darkness, come famine, come poison or flood, My kind can flourish in any old crud.

  • Graceful, Tiny, Toothy Ancestors

    Graceful, Tiny, Toothy Ancestors

    With body spry, tail curly, This mammal showed up early.

  • Dreadnoughtus

    Dreadnoughtus

    If you, like me, are something of a paleo-romantic, Swooning over dinosaurs both fearsome and gigantic, Come feast your eyes on new reports the bone-hunters have brought us: “Fearing nothing” means its name – the mighty beast Dreadnoughtus!

  • Erosion, Then Explosion

    Erosion, Then Explosion

    When viewing The Great Unconformity, The result of a vast denudation, One feels a new sense of enormity … And above it lie critters crustacean!

  • Faint Young Sun

    Faint Young Sun

    Through an ancient looking-glass, Perhaps you’d see more H2 gas, And if with denser gas collided, Greater greenhouse warmth provided.

  • Bottom Feeders

    Bottom Feeders

    Graduate students, microbe goo … What is it that links the two? It seems that both life forms are found Where electron donors (food) abound!

  • Bird Brain

    Bird Brain

    A pigeon’s got cells in its brain That link up with its inner ear. Despite any wind, fog, or rain, These talented birds, they can steer!

  • Deep Sea Plough

    Deep Sea Plough

    Giant fleets the oceans trawl, Gasping fish they skywards haul. Not just critters do they move, But sediments they push and groove …

  • When North Itself Wanders

    When North Itself Wanders

    I love thinking about why my compass points north. The deep, molten-metal motions, rising And falling … gargantuan currents of iron Conceiving vast magnetic fields, revealed In my hand, by a tiny, quivering red needle.

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

  • Aureococcus

    Aureococcus

    On skin, it’s barely a freckle I’d make, But baby, en masse, we turn seas opaque! Come darkness, come famine, come poison or flood, My kind can flourish in any old crud.

  • Graceful, Tiny, Toothy Ancestors

    Graceful, Tiny, Toothy Ancestors

    With body spry, tail curly, This mammal showed up early.

  • Dreadnoughtus

    Dreadnoughtus

    If you, like me, are something of a paleo-romantic, Swooning over dinosaurs both fearsome and gigantic, Come feast your eyes on new reports the bone-hunters have brought us: “Fearing nothing” means its name – the mighty beast Dreadnoughtus!

  • Erosion, Then Explosion

    Erosion, Then Explosion

    When viewing The Great Unconformity, The result of a vast denudation, One feels a new sense of enormity … And above it lie critters crustacean!

  • Faint Young Sun

    Faint Young Sun

    Through an ancient looking-glass, Perhaps you’d see more H2 gas, And if with denser gas collided, Greater greenhouse warmth provided.

  • Bottom Feeders

    Bottom Feeders

    Graduate students, microbe goo … What is it that links the two? It seems that both life forms are found Where electron donors (food) abound!

  • Bird Brain

    Bird Brain

    A pigeon’s got cells in its brain That link up with its inner ear. Despite any wind, fog, or rain, These talented birds, they can steer!

  • Deep Sea Plough

    Deep Sea Plough

    Giant fleets the oceans trawl, Gasping fish they skywards haul. Not just critters do they move, But sediments they push and groove …

  • When North Itself Wanders

    When North Itself Wanders

    I love thinking about why my compass points north. The deep, molten-metal motions, rising And falling … gargantuan currents of iron Conceiving vast magnetic fields, revealed In my hand, by a tiny, quivering red needle.