State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory134

  • Last Sample and Home

    Last Sample and Home

    We finished our work at the river transect. Now we had one more sample to collect. Alamgir had arranged for drillers at this new site, but they were delayed because of a knife fight between two villages over some property.

  • OSL Samples at Last

    OSL Samples at Last

    The success of the tube wells for drilling and obtaining samples was a great boon to our field program. We drilled three additional tube wells to complete a five-well transect across the abandoned river valley. When we date the samples, we will find out if the river switched position suddenly, possibly from an earthquake.

  • Exploring Rugged Hills & Turbulent Waters 4,500 Meters Down

    Exploring Rugged Hills & Turbulent Waters 4,500 Meters Down

    Aboard a ship at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, scientists are studying how the deepest and coldest waters mix with shallower waters, gaining heat in the process.

  • El Niño: Resources for Journalists

    El Niño: Resources for Journalists

    El Niño is earth’s most powerful climate cycle, influencing weather and affecting crops, water supplies and public health globally. What may be the strongest El Niño ever measured is now getting underway, and is already affecting parts of the world.

  • Tubewells to the Rescue

    Tubewells to the Rescue

    The resistivity testing was hampered by bad roads and flooded fields. The augering was proving similarly difficult in the thick muds of the abandoned channel. It was time to change to our alternative plan: drilling with tube wells. That worked better and we had turned a corner.

  • Climate Change Leaves Its Mark on the Sea Floor? Maybe Not

    Climate Change Leaves Its Mark on the Sea Floor? Maybe Not

    A new study in Science questions the provocative idea that climate change may shape the texture of the sea floor. A Snickers bar helps explain what’s really going on.

  • Come Aboard: A Look at the R/V Marcus Langseth

    Come Aboard: A Look at the R/V Marcus Langseth

    A new video produced by Columbia University tells the story of what the research vessel Marcus G. Langseth is all about.

  • Pani, Pani Everywhere

    Pani, Pani Everywhere

    Heading out to our field area, we discovered that the abandoned river valley we planned to study was completely flooded. There was pani—the Bangla word for water—everywhere.

  • Melting Ice, Suntanned Rocks and an Award-Winning Postdoc

    Melting Ice, Suntanned Rocks and an Award-Winning Postdoc

    Nicolás Young was just named a winner of a 2015 Blavatnik Award for his work measuring ice sheets in changing climates of the past. His new projects are taking glacier tracking to the next level.

Banner with images representing environmental issues and text "You Asked: Our Scientists and Experts Answer Your Burning Questions."

You Asked invites you to share your most pressing questions about climate, science, and sustainability. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School experts will respond with clear, evidence-based answers. Pose your questions and story ideas!

  • Last Sample and Home

    Last Sample and Home

    We finished our work at the river transect. Now we had one more sample to collect. Alamgir had arranged for drillers at this new site, but they were delayed because of a knife fight between two villages over some property.

  • OSL Samples at Last

    OSL Samples at Last

    The success of the tube wells for drilling and obtaining samples was a great boon to our field program. We drilled three additional tube wells to complete a five-well transect across the abandoned river valley. When we date the samples, we will find out if the river switched position suddenly, possibly from an earthquake.

  • Exploring Rugged Hills & Turbulent Waters 4,500 Meters Down

    Exploring Rugged Hills & Turbulent Waters 4,500 Meters Down

    Aboard a ship at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, scientists are studying how the deepest and coldest waters mix with shallower waters, gaining heat in the process.

  • El Niño: Resources for Journalists

    El Niño: Resources for Journalists

    El Niño is earth’s most powerful climate cycle, influencing weather and affecting crops, water supplies and public health globally. What may be the strongest El Niño ever measured is now getting underway, and is already affecting parts of the world.

  • Tubewells to the Rescue

    Tubewells to the Rescue

    The resistivity testing was hampered by bad roads and flooded fields. The augering was proving similarly difficult in the thick muds of the abandoned channel. It was time to change to our alternative plan: drilling with tube wells. That worked better and we had turned a corner.

  • Climate Change Leaves Its Mark on the Sea Floor? Maybe Not

    Climate Change Leaves Its Mark on the Sea Floor? Maybe Not

    A new study in Science questions the provocative idea that climate change may shape the texture of the sea floor. A Snickers bar helps explain what’s really going on.

  • Come Aboard: A Look at the R/V Marcus Langseth

    Come Aboard: A Look at the R/V Marcus Langseth

    A new video produced by Columbia University tells the story of what the research vessel Marcus G. Langseth is all about.

  • Pani, Pani Everywhere

    Pani, Pani Everywhere

    Heading out to our field area, we discovered that the abandoned river valley we planned to study was completely flooded. There was pani—the Bangla word for water—everywhere.

  • Melting Ice, Suntanned Rocks and an Award-Winning Postdoc

    Melting Ice, Suntanned Rocks and an Award-Winning Postdoc

    Nicolás Young was just named a winner of a 2015 Blavatnik Award for his work measuring ice sheets in changing climates of the past. His new projects are taking glacier tracking to the next level.