impact stories3
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The World’s First Seasonal Lightning Forecast
At about 250 lightning flashes per square kilometer per year, the Lake Maracaibo Basin in northwestern Venezuela has the highest annual lightning rate of any place in the world.
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New Study Upends a Theory of How Earth’s Mantle Flows
A new study carried out on the floor of Pacific Ocean provides the most detailed view yet of how the earth’s mantle flows beneath the ocean’s tectonic plates.
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Massive Landslide Detected in Glacier Bay’s Fragile Mountains
A 4,000-foot-high mountainside collapsed in Glacier Bay National Park this week in a massive landslide that spread debris for miles across the glacier below. Scientists at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory are studying it to improve understanding of landslide risks.
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Study Warns of Surge in Heat-Related Deaths in New York City
A new study projects that as many as 3,331 people a year could be dying from the heat during New York City summers by 2080 as a result of the warming climate. That compares to 638 heat-related deaths on average between 2000 and 2006.
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Wind-Blown Antarctic Sea Ice Helps Drive Ocean Circulation
Antarctic sea ice is constantly on the move as powerful winds blow it away from the coast and out toward the open ocean. A new study shows how that ice migration may be more important for the global ocean circulation than anyone realized.
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Forecasting Climate, with Help from the Baobab Tree
To improve climate forecasts, scientists study the complex interactions and mechanisms within the climate system. But they also need to hear from potential users of climate information, such as farmers, to get a better understanding of how people may use that information in their decision making.
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Watch Live: Turning CO2 to Stone, Scientists Discuss a Climate Solution
On June 24, a scientist involved in the CarbFix carbon capture and storage project in Iceland will give a live-streamed presentation about the technology and the project’s success at turning CO2 to stone.
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Get the Facts: Arsenic in New Jersey Well Water
A new initiative aims to help homeowners in New Jersey cope with arsenic contamination in private wells—a problem that has only come to light in recent years, and about which many homeowners are still unaware.
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Preparing for Climate-Related Food Shocks
Researchers are investigating if the projected increase in climate change-generated droughts, floods, heat waves and other intense short-term occurrences will result in increased shocks that could jeopardize food security worldwide.
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
