State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory128

  • A Giant Quake May Lurk Under Bangladesh and Beyond

    Hidden Deep Below Sediment, Tectonic Plates Are Seen Building Strain

  • New Study Upends a Theory of How Earth’s Mantle Flows

    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.

  • Massive Landslide Detected in Glacier Bay’s Fragile Mountains

    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.

  • Wind-Blown Antarctic Sea Ice Helps Drive Ocean Circulation

    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.

  • Watch Live: Turning CO2 to Stone, Scientists Discuss a Climate Solution

    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.

  • Get the Facts: Arsenic in New Jersey Well Water

    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.

  • An Ecological Traffic Jam in the Warming Tropics?

    An Ecological Traffic Jam in the Warming Tropics?

    The tropics are already hot, and they’re getting hotter as global temperatures rise. A new study offers a glimpse into how seriously a couple more degrees could disrupt the region’s ecological map.

  • Photo Essay: Seeking Humanity’s Roots

    Photo Essay: Seeking Humanity’s Roots

    East Africa’s rift valley is considered by many to be the cradle of humanity. In the Turkana region of northwest Kenya, researchers Christopher Lepre and Tanzhuo Liu of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory are cooperating with colleagues to study questions of human evolution, from the creation of the earliest stone tools to climate swings that…

  • Seeking Humanity’s Roots

    Seeking Humanity’s Roots

    Who were our earliest ancestors? How and when did they evolve into modern humans? And how do we define “human,” anyway? Scientists are exploring Kenya’s Lake Turkana basin to help answer these questions.

Columbia Climate School Giving Day on October 28, 2026, featuring students and renewable energy imagery

October 28, 2026 is Columbia Giving Day! Your gift to Columbia Climate School helps advance interdisciplinary research, educate the next generation of leaders, and transform bold ideas into real-world solutions for climate, Earth, and society.

  • A Giant Quake May Lurk Under Bangladesh and Beyond

    Hidden Deep Below Sediment, Tectonic Plates Are Seen Building Strain

  • New Study Upends a Theory of How Earth’s Mantle Flows

    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.

  • Massive Landslide Detected in Glacier Bay’s Fragile Mountains

    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.

  • Wind-Blown Antarctic Sea Ice Helps Drive Ocean Circulation

    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.

  • Watch Live: Turning CO2 to Stone, Scientists Discuss a Climate Solution

    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.

  • Get the Facts: Arsenic in New Jersey Well Water

    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.

  • An Ecological Traffic Jam in the Warming Tropics?

    An Ecological Traffic Jam in the Warming Tropics?

    The tropics are already hot, and they’re getting hotter as global temperatures rise. A new study offers a glimpse into how seriously a couple more degrees could disrupt the region’s ecological map.

  • Photo Essay: Seeking Humanity’s Roots

    Photo Essay: Seeking Humanity’s Roots

    East Africa’s rift valley is considered by many to be the cradle of humanity. In the Turkana region of northwest Kenya, researchers Christopher Lepre and Tanzhuo Liu of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory are cooperating with colleagues to study questions of human evolution, from the creation of the earliest stone tools to climate swings that…

  • Seeking Humanity’s Roots

    Seeking Humanity’s Roots

    Who were our earliest ancestors? How and when did they evolve into modern humans? And how do we define “human,” anyway? Scientists are exploring Kenya’s Lake Turkana basin to help answer these questions.