State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory112

  • Pratigya Polissar Sees Landscapes Changing Through a Microscope

    Pratigya Polissar Sees Landscapes Changing Through a Microscope

    The word fossils typically conjures images of T-Rexes and trilobites. Pratigya Polissar thinks micro: A paleoclimatologist, he digs into old sediments and studies molecular fossils—the microscopic remains of plants and animals that can tell us a lot about what was living in a particular time period.

  • Kirsty Tinto: Mapping on and under Antarctica’s Ice

    Kirsty Tinto: Mapping on and under Antarctica’s Ice

    Kirsty Tinto flies aboard a specially equipped airplane in very cold places to study ice sheets and ice shelves. She’s an associate research scientist in the polar geophysics group at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.

  • Park Williams Discovers History and Science in a Tree Ring

    Park Williams Discovers History and Science in a Tree Ring

    Park Williams studies trees and climate, in particular the causes of drought and the effects of climate change on forests. In this latest in a series of Earth Institute videos, we spoke to him about what he does, what’s important about it, and how his interest in history and environmental science blended into a career.

  • Work on Dead Sea Geology Earns Yael Kiro an Award

    Work on Dead Sea Geology Earns Yael Kiro an Award

    Yael Kiro, an associate research scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, has received the 2017 Professor Rafi Freund Award from the Israel Geological Society for work published on the ancient climate history of the Dead Sea.

  • Under the Dead Sea, Warnings of Dire Drought

    Ancient Sediments Tell a Story That Could Be Repeated

  • The Science of Carbon Dioxide and Climate

    The Science of Carbon Dioxide and Climate

    The vast majority of scientists around the world agree that our climate is changing at a faster rate than ever recorded in human history because of our use of fuels such as coal and oil, so-called fossil fuels. The conclusion rests on basic physics known since the early 1800s, when physical scientists first recognized that…

  • Women Leaders Tackle the Urban Climate Challenge

    Women Leaders Tackle the Urban Climate Challenge

    Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, will join dozens of other leaders in government, business and the non-profit world at the Women4Climate conference at Columbia University on March 15.

  • Earth Institute Photography Exhibit Opens at Low Memorial Library

    Earth Institute Photography Exhibit Opens at Low Memorial Library

    A new photography exhibit in the Rotunda at Columbia University’s Low Memorial Library highlights the variety and global reach of the Earth Institute’s mission

  • Trump’s Unifying Opportunity: Food Security

    Trump’s Unifying Opportunity: Food Security

    A sound strategy to secure the nation’s food supply and reduce its vulnerability within and beyond our borders will be a major step towards making America and the world more resilient in the face of increasing uncertainty.

Composite banner with modern building at night and portrait of Dean Alexis Abramson that reads "Science for the Planet"

By studying thousands of buildings and analyzing their electricity use, Columbia Climate School Dean Alexis Abramson has been able to uncover ways to significantly cut energy consumption and emissions. Watch the Video: “Engineering a Cooler Future Through Smarter Buildings

  • Pratigya Polissar Sees Landscapes Changing Through a Microscope

    Pratigya Polissar Sees Landscapes Changing Through a Microscope

    The word fossils typically conjures images of T-Rexes and trilobites. Pratigya Polissar thinks micro: A paleoclimatologist, he digs into old sediments and studies molecular fossils—the microscopic remains of plants and animals that can tell us a lot about what was living in a particular time period.

  • Kirsty Tinto: Mapping on and under Antarctica’s Ice

    Kirsty Tinto: Mapping on and under Antarctica’s Ice

    Kirsty Tinto flies aboard a specially equipped airplane in very cold places to study ice sheets and ice shelves. She’s an associate research scientist in the polar geophysics group at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.

  • Park Williams Discovers History and Science in a Tree Ring

    Park Williams Discovers History and Science in a Tree Ring

    Park Williams studies trees and climate, in particular the causes of drought and the effects of climate change on forests. In this latest in a series of Earth Institute videos, we spoke to him about what he does, what’s important about it, and how his interest in history and environmental science blended into a career.

  • Work on Dead Sea Geology Earns Yael Kiro an Award

    Work on Dead Sea Geology Earns Yael Kiro an Award

    Yael Kiro, an associate research scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, has received the 2017 Professor Rafi Freund Award from the Israel Geological Society for work published on the ancient climate history of the Dead Sea.

  • Under the Dead Sea, Warnings of Dire Drought

    Ancient Sediments Tell a Story That Could Be Repeated

  • The Science of Carbon Dioxide and Climate

    The Science of Carbon Dioxide and Climate

    The vast majority of scientists around the world agree that our climate is changing at a faster rate than ever recorded in human history because of our use of fuels such as coal and oil, so-called fossil fuels. The conclusion rests on basic physics known since the early 1800s, when physical scientists first recognized that…

  • Women Leaders Tackle the Urban Climate Challenge

    Women Leaders Tackle the Urban Climate Challenge

    Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, will join dozens of other leaders in government, business and the non-profit world at the Women4Climate conference at Columbia University on March 15.

  • Earth Institute Photography Exhibit Opens at Low Memorial Library

    Earth Institute Photography Exhibit Opens at Low Memorial Library

    A new photography exhibit in the Rotunda at Columbia University’s Low Memorial Library highlights the variety and global reach of the Earth Institute’s mission

  • Trump’s Unifying Opportunity: Food Security

    Trump’s Unifying Opportunity: Food Security

    A sound strategy to secure the nation’s food supply and reduce its vulnerability within and beyond our borders will be a major step towards making America and the world more resilient in the face of increasing uncertainty.