State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Ice Age

  • Ocean Circulation Implicated in Past Abrupt Climate Changes

    Circulation Slowed with Every Cooling During Last Ice Age

  • What Geology Has to Say About Global Warming

    What Geology Has to Say About Global Warming

    The most important lessons drawn from geology are that the earth’s climate can change radically, and rapidly. We can’t say precisely at what CO2 level we’re in danger of melting Antarctica, but that threshold could be reached in 150-300 years, if CO2 levels keep rising at the current rate.

  • George Kukla, Contrarian Climate Scientist

    George Kukla, a climate scientist who was among the first to warn of the power of global climate change and inspire government study, died on May 31 at his home in Suffern, N.Y. The cause was an apparent heart attack; he was 84. In a career spanning more than five decades, much of it spent…

  • The Breathing Ocean

    The Breathing Ocean

    Far south and farther south, where winds are cold and screaming, Waters churn, and deep below, old sediments lie dreaming. A million years’ residuum of life and death and dust, A library of ice ages reposed upon Earth’s crust.

  • Shag, Before It Was Cool

    Shag, Before It Was Cool

    More cuddly than a dino, The Zanda woolly rhino! This pioneer of old Grew shag before the cold. …

  • Study Adds New Clue to How Last Ice Age Ended

    New Zealand Glaciers Melted as European Glaciers Briefly Expanded

  • 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

  • Wind Shifts May Stir CO2 From Antarctic Depths

    Releases May Have Speeded End of Last Ice Age—And Could Act Again

  • Climate Swings Have Brought Great CO2 Pulses Up From the Deep Sea

    A study released on May 11, 2007 provides some of the first solid evidence that warming-induced changes in ocean circulation at the end of the last Ice Age caused vast quantities of ancient carbon dioxide to belch from the deep sea into the atmosphere. Scientists believe the carbon dioxide (CO2) releases helped propel the world…

  • Ocean Circulation Implicated in Past Abrupt Climate Changes

    Circulation Slowed with Every Cooling During Last Ice Age

  • What Geology Has to Say About Global Warming

    What Geology Has to Say About Global Warming

    The most important lessons drawn from geology are that the earth’s climate can change radically, and rapidly. We can’t say precisely at what CO2 level we’re in danger of melting Antarctica, but that threshold could be reached in 150-300 years, if CO2 levels keep rising at the current rate.

  • George Kukla, Contrarian Climate Scientist

    George Kukla, a climate scientist who was among the first to warn of the power of global climate change and inspire government study, died on May 31 at his home in Suffern, N.Y. The cause was an apparent heart attack; he was 84. In a career spanning more than five decades, much of it spent…

  • The Breathing Ocean

    The Breathing Ocean

    Far south and farther south, where winds are cold and screaming, Waters churn, and deep below, old sediments lie dreaming. A million years’ residuum of life and death and dust, A library of ice ages reposed upon Earth’s crust.

  • Shag, Before It Was Cool

    Shag, Before It Was Cool

    More cuddly than a dino, The Zanda woolly rhino! This pioneer of old Grew shag before the cold. …

  • Study Adds New Clue to How Last Ice Age Ended

    New Zealand Glaciers Melted as European Glaciers Briefly Expanded

  • 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

  • Wind Shifts May Stir CO2 From Antarctic Depths

    Releases May Have Speeded End of Last Ice Age—And Could Act Again

  • Climate Swings Have Brought Great CO2 Pulses Up From the Deep Sea

    A study released on May 11, 2007 provides some of the first solid evidence that warming-induced changes in ocean circulation at the end of the last Ice Age caused vast quantities of ancient carbon dioxide to belch from the deep sea into the atmosphere. Scientists believe the carbon dioxide (CO2) releases helped propel the world…