State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Irrigated Agriculture2

  • LAUNCH Water Sustainability Forum report from Tobias Siegfried

    LAUNCH is a new initiative founded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USAID, US State Dept, and NIKE to identify and support innovative work with great potential to contribute to sustainable solutions for many of the current environmental challenges.  The organization will coordinate a series of forums which bring together scientists, academics, policy…

  • Agriculture: Big Water Use, Big Water Savings

    As in much of the world, farmers in Punjab, an agricultural state known as the “breadbasket of India,” grow rice via flood irrigation.  In this method, fields are flooded with several centimeters of water in order to kill weeds.  When the water dries, the field is flooded again – up to 40 times per season.  Clearly this uses a…

  • Water and Energy Conflict in Central Asia

    Water resources management in the Central Asia region faces formidable challenges. The hydrological regimes of the two major rivers in the region, the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya, are complex and vulnerable to climate change. Water diversions to agricultural, industrial and domestic users have reduced flows in downstream regions, resulting in severe ecological damages.…

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

  • LAUNCH Water Sustainability Forum report from Tobias Siegfried

    LAUNCH is a new initiative founded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USAID, US State Dept, and NIKE to identify and support innovative work with great potential to contribute to sustainable solutions for many of the current environmental challenges.  The organization will coordinate a series of forums which bring together scientists, academics, policy…

  • Agriculture: Big Water Use, Big Water Savings

    As in much of the world, farmers in Punjab, an agricultural state known as the “breadbasket of India,” grow rice via flood irrigation.  In this method, fields are flooded with several centimeters of water in order to kill weeds.  When the water dries, the field is flooded again – up to 40 times per season.  Clearly this uses a…

  • Water and Energy Conflict in Central Asia

    Water resources management in the Central Asia region faces formidable challenges. The hydrological regimes of the two major rivers in the region, the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya, are complex and vulnerable to climate change. Water diversions to agricultural, industrial and domestic users have reduced flows in downstream regions, resulting in severe ecological damages.…