State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory136

  • Scientists Speak Out on Climate: Is Anyone Listening?

    Scientists Speak Out on Climate: Is Anyone Listening?

    In the light of recent varied efforts to focus public attention on the risks of climate change, we asked Earth Institute scientists what they want the public to understand about the issue and how they see their roles.

  • Greenland Ice

    Greenland Ice

    If you went to Greenland, almost 80 North, And drilled your way down … a mile, then more, You’d find some strange layers, a story’d come forth A record of ice ages locked in a core.

  • The Isthmus of Panama: Out of the Deep Earth

    The Isthmus of Panama: Out of the Deep Earth

    The creation of the narrow isthmus that joins North and South America changed not just the world map, but the circulation of oceans, the course of biologic evolution, and probably global climate. Scientists try to decipher the story behind its formation.

  • Photo Essay: Exploring the Rocks That Join the Americas

    Photo Essay: Exploring the Rocks That Join the Americas

    The formation of the slender land bridge that joins South America and North America was a pivotal event in earth’s history. At its narrowest along the isthmus of Panama, it changed not just the world map, but the circulation of oceans, the course of biologic evolution, and global climate. Cornelia Class, a geochemist at Columbia…

  • Gerry Iturrino: Oceanographer, Engineer, Friend

    Gerry Iturrino: Oceanographer, Engineer, Friend

    Gerardo Iturrino, a longtime engineer and ocean explorer at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, passed away unexpectedly on March 12. A resident of nearby Nyack, he was 51; the cause was heart attack, said his family. His incessant curiosity about the structure and origin of the Earth drove his career, the last 18 years of which he…

  • Did New Zealand Dust Influence the Last Ice Age?

    Did New Zealand Dust Influence the Last Ice Age?

    Bess Koffman, a postdoctoral researcher at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, recently traveled to New Zealand to collect dust ground-up by glaciers during the last ice age. In this photo essay, she explains how she collected the dust, what analysis looks like in the lab and what she hopes to learn.

  • Keeping an Eye on Coastal Erosion

    Keeping an Eye on Coastal Erosion

    Searching for a fast, simple and low-cost way to monitor Earth’s changing coastlines, a team of scientists, including Lamont-Doherty Observatory postdoctoral researcher and marine scientist Alessio Rovere, has found an innovative use for drones.

  • Bricks, an Archeological Site and Home

    Bricks, an Archeological Site and Home

    It was time to pack up and leave. Shofiq, who is from Sylhet, was dropped off near his home and the fellowship of the rocks was broken. We settled in for another long drive. We made an impromptu stop at one of the numerous brick factories scattered across Bangladesh. Here, the workers immediately started snapping…

  • Field School: Sylhet Tectonics

    Field School: Sylhet Tectonics

    Most field trips have a “death march” hiking a long way through forest, swamps, hills or deserts to get to a remote outcrop. We have a “death bus ride” instead.

  • Scientists Speak Out on Climate: Is Anyone Listening?

    Scientists Speak Out on Climate: Is Anyone Listening?

    In the light of recent varied efforts to focus public attention on the risks of climate change, we asked Earth Institute scientists what they want the public to understand about the issue and how they see their roles.

  • Greenland Ice

    Greenland Ice

    If you went to Greenland, almost 80 North, And drilled your way down … a mile, then more, You’d find some strange layers, a story’d come forth A record of ice ages locked in a core.

  • The Isthmus of Panama: Out of the Deep Earth

    The Isthmus of Panama: Out of the Deep Earth

    The creation of the narrow isthmus that joins North and South America changed not just the world map, but the circulation of oceans, the course of biologic evolution, and probably global climate. Scientists try to decipher the story behind its formation.

  • Photo Essay: Exploring the Rocks That Join the Americas

    Photo Essay: Exploring the Rocks That Join the Americas

    The formation of the slender land bridge that joins South America and North America was a pivotal event in earth’s history. At its narrowest along the isthmus of Panama, it changed not just the world map, but the circulation of oceans, the course of biologic evolution, and global climate. Cornelia Class, a geochemist at Columbia…

  • Gerry Iturrino: Oceanographer, Engineer, Friend

    Gerry Iturrino: Oceanographer, Engineer, Friend

    Gerardo Iturrino, a longtime engineer and ocean explorer at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, passed away unexpectedly on March 12. A resident of nearby Nyack, he was 51; the cause was heart attack, said his family. His incessant curiosity about the structure and origin of the Earth drove his career, the last 18 years of which he…

  • Did New Zealand Dust Influence the Last Ice Age?

    Did New Zealand Dust Influence the Last Ice Age?

    Bess Koffman, a postdoctoral researcher at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, recently traveled to New Zealand to collect dust ground-up by glaciers during the last ice age. In this photo essay, she explains how she collected the dust, what analysis looks like in the lab and what she hopes to learn.

  • Keeping an Eye on Coastal Erosion

    Keeping an Eye on Coastal Erosion

    Searching for a fast, simple and low-cost way to monitor Earth’s changing coastlines, a team of scientists, including Lamont-Doherty Observatory postdoctoral researcher and marine scientist Alessio Rovere, has found an innovative use for drones.

  • Bricks, an Archeological Site and Home

    Bricks, an Archeological Site and Home

    It was time to pack up and leave. Shofiq, who is from Sylhet, was dropped off near his home and the fellowship of the rocks was broken. We settled in for another long drive. We made an impromptu stop at one of the numerous brick factories scattered across Bangladesh. Here, the workers immediately started snapping…

  • Field School: Sylhet Tectonics

    Field School: Sylhet Tectonics

    Most field trips have a “death march” hiking a long way through forest, swamps, hills or deserts to get to a remote outcrop. We have a “death bus ride” instead.