State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory136

  • Glacial Earthquakes May Help Forecast Sea-Level Rise

    Glacial Earthquakes May Help Forecast Sea-Level Rise

    Glacial earthquakes are produced as massive ice chunks fall off the fronts of advancing glaciers into the ocean. A new study of the quakes’ mechanics may give scientists a way to measure ice loss remotely and refine predictions of sea-level rise.

  • Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Hosts New MPA Students

    Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Hosts New MPA Students

    On Monday, June 22, the newest Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science & Policy (MPA-ESP) candidates spent a beautiful, sunny day touring Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, just a short bus ride away in Palisades, NY. Led by Environmental Chemistry professor Benjamin Bostick and Climatology professor Jason Smerdon, the students were exposed to many different…

  • Is City Biking Hazardous to Your Health?

    Is City Biking Hazardous to Your Health?

    As more and more people take to biking in the city, a new study will look at how much pollution bikers are exposed to, and what effects it might be having on their health.

  • Viewing Melting Glaciers, Via Microscope and Moving Images

    Viewing Melting Glaciers, Via Microscope and Moving Images

    Two women investigating climate change from different perspectives—Christine McCarthy, a geophysicist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and Denise Iris, a multimedia artist from Brooklyn—had a chance to spend several days together recently. In the Rock Mechanics Lab at Lamont, where McCarthy works, and a nearby “cold room” chilled to the climate of an industrial freezer, they…

  • Tapping into Earth’s Secret History

    Tapping into Earth’s Secret History

    In a study published last week, Lamont post-doctoral scholar Heather Ford and coauthors used 4 million-year-old fossils from the Pliocene to reconstruct the physical features of the Pacific Ocean that would have shaped the environment during a critical juncture in Earth history.

  • H. James Simpson; Tracked Pollutants in the Hudson and Far Beyond

    H. James Simpson; Tracked Pollutants in the Hudson and Far Beyond

    H. James Simpson, a geochemist who pioneered important studies of water pollutants in the Hudson River and abroad, died May 10. He had been affiliated with Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory for 50 years. The cause was Parkinson’s disease, said his family; he was 72.

  • World’s Oldest Unused Stone Tools Found (So They Say)

    World’s Oldest Unused Stone Tools Found (So They Say)

    Last week, it was announced that scientists had found the world’s oldest stone tools, in Kenya, dated at 3.3 million years. The precise dating of the tools was made possible by Chris Lepre and Dennis Kent of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, who used periodic reversals in earth’s magnetic field to nail the timing. Now, in a…

  • Global Warming’s ‘Missing’ Heat: It May Be in the Indian Ocean

    Global Warming’s ‘Missing’ Heat: It May Be in the Indian Ocean

    Since the late 1990s, global warming has stabilized, even as greenhouse gases have risen. That defies simple models that say the temperature should keep going up. A team of oceanographers now says they know where the missing heat has gone.

  • Distilling Art from the Figures of Science

    Distilling Art from the Figures of Science

    Any researcher can attest to the fact that a scientific figure is worth more than a thousand words. Rarely do we take a step back to consider the inherent artistry in the figures created to convey the science.

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

  • Glacial Earthquakes May Help Forecast Sea-Level Rise

    Glacial Earthquakes May Help Forecast Sea-Level Rise

    Glacial earthquakes are produced as massive ice chunks fall off the fronts of advancing glaciers into the ocean. A new study of the quakes’ mechanics may give scientists a way to measure ice loss remotely and refine predictions of sea-level rise.

  • Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Hosts New MPA Students

    Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Hosts New MPA Students

    On Monday, June 22, the newest Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science & Policy (MPA-ESP) candidates spent a beautiful, sunny day touring Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, just a short bus ride away in Palisades, NY. Led by Environmental Chemistry professor Benjamin Bostick and Climatology professor Jason Smerdon, the students were exposed to many different…

  • Is City Biking Hazardous to Your Health?

    Is City Biking Hazardous to Your Health?

    As more and more people take to biking in the city, a new study will look at how much pollution bikers are exposed to, and what effects it might be having on their health.

  • Viewing Melting Glaciers, Via Microscope and Moving Images

    Viewing Melting Glaciers, Via Microscope and Moving Images

    Two women investigating climate change from different perspectives—Christine McCarthy, a geophysicist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and Denise Iris, a multimedia artist from Brooklyn—had a chance to spend several days together recently. In the Rock Mechanics Lab at Lamont, where McCarthy works, and a nearby “cold room” chilled to the climate of an industrial freezer, they…

  • Tapping into Earth’s Secret History

    Tapping into Earth’s Secret History

    In a study published last week, Lamont post-doctoral scholar Heather Ford and coauthors used 4 million-year-old fossils from the Pliocene to reconstruct the physical features of the Pacific Ocean that would have shaped the environment during a critical juncture in Earth history.

  • H. James Simpson; Tracked Pollutants in the Hudson and Far Beyond

    H. James Simpson; Tracked Pollutants in the Hudson and Far Beyond

    H. James Simpson, a geochemist who pioneered important studies of water pollutants in the Hudson River and abroad, died May 10. He had been affiliated with Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory for 50 years. The cause was Parkinson’s disease, said his family; he was 72.

  • World’s Oldest Unused Stone Tools Found (So They Say)

    World’s Oldest Unused Stone Tools Found (So They Say)

    Last week, it was announced that scientists had found the world’s oldest stone tools, in Kenya, dated at 3.3 million years. The precise dating of the tools was made possible by Chris Lepre and Dennis Kent of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, who used periodic reversals in earth’s magnetic field to nail the timing. Now, in a…

  • Global Warming’s ‘Missing’ Heat: It May Be in the Indian Ocean

    Global Warming’s ‘Missing’ Heat: It May Be in the Indian Ocean

    Since the late 1990s, global warming has stabilized, even as greenhouse gases have risen. That defies simple models that say the temperature should keep going up. A team of oceanographers now says they know where the missing heat has gone.

  • Distilling Art from the Figures of Science

    Distilling Art from the Figures of Science

    Any researcher can attest to the fact that a scientific figure is worth more than a thousand words. Rarely do we take a step back to consider the inherent artistry in the figures created to convey the science.