State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Global Warming31

  • Beyond Carbon: How Fixing the Ozone Layer Contributes to Climate Change

    Beyond Carbon: How Fixing the Ozone Layer Contributes to Climate Change

    The greenhouse effect is not all about carbon dioxide. Several other substances, such as water vapor and methane, also play a key part in trapping radiation. Recently, a family of relatively obscure chemicals called hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, has entered the spotlight due to its role in global warming. HFCs are highly potent greenhouse warmers –…

  • Scary Water Study from the NRDC

    Scary Water Study from the NRDC

    A fascinating and frightening recent study from the National Resources Defense Council unveiled serious threats to water sustainability in the United States over the coming decades. In an era of rapidly unfolding climate change, the Council’s research found that more than 1,100 counties, or one third of all counties in the lower 48 states, face…

  • Sewage treatment isn’t rocket science – except when it is

    Sewage treatment isn’t rocket science – except when it is

    It’s a case of finding a use for what was thought of as waste. Sewage treatment processes produce methane and nitrous oxide, both greenhouse gasses, while leaving undesirably high levels of nitrogen in the discharged water. On their own, all three of these things are harmful to the environment. Stanford University reports that a team…

  • Converging Weather Patterns Caused Last Winter’s Huge Snows

    A Warming World Can Still See Severe Storms

  • The Glaciers Disappear: The Startling Photos of David Breashears

    The Glaciers Disappear: The Startling Photos of David Breashears

    Mountaineer, photographer and documentary filmmaker David Breashears is obviously a tough man—he has, after all, reached the summit of Mount Everest over five times, one of the very few people in the world to even attempt such a feat. In person, though, the soft-spoken Breashears comes off less like an indomitable mountain conqueror than like…

  • No More Pavement! The Problem of Impervious Surfaces

    No More Pavement! The Problem of Impervious Surfaces

    Recent research, according to the New York Times, indicates that urban areas are about to get hotter — much hotter. Not exactly what blistering New Yorkers want to hear after one of the more brutal, record-breaking heat waves in memory. Of course climatologists (and most of the rest of us) have known for a long…

  • Who owns the Nile?

    Who owns the Nile? Nine countries want to have a say in answering that question, and they don’t agree. The great river moves through Burundi, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, so they all may claim her as at least partly their own.

  • Answer to What Ended Last Ice Age May Be Blowing in the Wind

    A Chain of Past Natural Events May Hold Lessons for the Future

  • Event: Himalayan Glaciers and Asia’s Looming Water Crisis

    Event: Himalayan Glaciers and Asia’s Looming Water Crisis

    Columbia Water Center, The Asia Society and The Economist are cosponsoring the event Himalayan Glaciers and Asia’s Looming Water Crisis, Wednesday July 14, 2010, 6:30pm at the Asia Society.

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

  • Beyond Carbon: How Fixing the Ozone Layer Contributes to Climate Change

    Beyond Carbon: How Fixing the Ozone Layer Contributes to Climate Change

    The greenhouse effect is not all about carbon dioxide. Several other substances, such as water vapor and methane, also play a key part in trapping radiation. Recently, a family of relatively obscure chemicals called hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, has entered the spotlight due to its role in global warming. HFCs are highly potent greenhouse warmers –…

  • Scary Water Study from the NRDC

    Scary Water Study from the NRDC

    A fascinating and frightening recent study from the National Resources Defense Council unveiled serious threats to water sustainability in the United States over the coming decades. In an era of rapidly unfolding climate change, the Council’s research found that more than 1,100 counties, or one third of all counties in the lower 48 states, face…

  • Sewage treatment isn’t rocket science – except when it is

    Sewage treatment isn’t rocket science – except when it is

    It’s a case of finding a use for what was thought of as waste. Sewage treatment processes produce methane and nitrous oxide, both greenhouse gasses, while leaving undesirably high levels of nitrogen in the discharged water. On their own, all three of these things are harmful to the environment. Stanford University reports that a team…

  • Converging Weather Patterns Caused Last Winter’s Huge Snows

    A Warming World Can Still See Severe Storms

  • The Glaciers Disappear: The Startling Photos of David Breashears

    The Glaciers Disappear: The Startling Photos of David Breashears

    Mountaineer, photographer and documentary filmmaker David Breashears is obviously a tough man—he has, after all, reached the summit of Mount Everest over five times, one of the very few people in the world to even attempt such a feat. In person, though, the soft-spoken Breashears comes off less like an indomitable mountain conqueror than like…

  • No More Pavement! The Problem of Impervious Surfaces

    No More Pavement! The Problem of Impervious Surfaces

    Recent research, according to the New York Times, indicates that urban areas are about to get hotter — much hotter. Not exactly what blistering New Yorkers want to hear after one of the more brutal, record-breaking heat waves in memory. Of course climatologists (and most of the rest of us) have known for a long…

  • Who owns the Nile?

    Who owns the Nile? Nine countries want to have a say in answering that question, and they don’t agree. The great river moves through Burundi, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, so they all may claim her as at least partly their own.

  • Answer to What Ended Last Ice Age May Be Blowing in the Wind

    A Chain of Past Natural Events May Hold Lessons for the Future

  • Event: Himalayan Glaciers and Asia’s Looming Water Crisis

    Event: Himalayan Glaciers and Asia’s Looming Water Crisis

    Columbia Water Center, The Asia Society and The Economist are cosponsoring the event Himalayan Glaciers and Asia’s Looming Water Crisis, Wednesday July 14, 2010, 6:30pm at the Asia Society.