State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory142

  • 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.

  • Study Reveals Microbes’ Hidden Role in Fertilizing Oceans

    Study Reveals Microbes’ Hidden Role in Fertilizing Oceans

    Surprisingly little has been known about how phosphorous, an essential nutrient, cycles through the oceans. A new study has broken through some of this mystery, by showing the hidden role that the oceans’ tiniest creatures play.

  • Bad Ozone Days in Western U.S. Linked to Pacific Weather

    Bad Ozone Days in Western U.S. Linked to Pacific Weather

    A new study shows that ozone pollution in the western United States can be increased by La Niña, a natural weather cycle at the surface of the Pacific Ocean. The finding is the first to show that the La Nina-El Nino cycles directly affects pollution.

  • Smooth Sailing Back to Tasmania

    Smooth Sailing Back to Tasmania

    After a surprisingly smooth crossing of the Southern Ocean, with favorable winds we arrived back in Hobart, Tasmania. The weather maps show that we just got ahead of another big storm system.

  • Taking a 4,000-Meter-Deep Profile of Antarctic Waters

    Taking a 4,000-Meter-Deep Profile of Antarctic Waters

    In addition to understanding potential pathways for “warmer” circumpolar deep water to reach the ice shelf, we are also measuring what the structure and properties of the water column are and determining if there is already warmer water on or near the continental shelf that could already interact with the glaciers of East Antarctica today.

  • Lamont-Doherty to Manage U.S. Ocean Drilling Program

    Lamont-Doherty to Manage U.S. Ocean Drilling Program

    Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory has signed a $35 million, five-year cooperative agreement with the U.S. National Science Foundation to manage scientific support services for U.S. scientists studying the world’s ocean floors.

  • Mapping the Seafloor

    Mapping the Seafloor

    One of the goals of this expedition is to investigate if water from the Southern Ocean with temperatures above the melting point of glaciers could reach the glaciers in East Antarctica, and if there are any obstacles on the seafloor of the shelf that impact the ability of such water to reach the glaciers and…

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  • 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.

  • Study Reveals Microbes’ Hidden Role in Fertilizing Oceans

    Study Reveals Microbes’ Hidden Role in Fertilizing Oceans

    Surprisingly little has been known about how phosphorous, an essential nutrient, cycles through the oceans. A new study has broken through some of this mystery, by showing the hidden role that the oceans’ tiniest creatures play.

  • Bad Ozone Days in Western U.S. Linked to Pacific Weather

    Bad Ozone Days in Western U.S. Linked to Pacific Weather

    A new study shows that ozone pollution in the western United States can be increased by La Niña, a natural weather cycle at the surface of the Pacific Ocean. The finding is the first to show that the La Nina-El Nino cycles directly affects pollution.

  • Smooth Sailing Back to Tasmania

    Smooth Sailing Back to Tasmania

    After a surprisingly smooth crossing of the Southern Ocean, with favorable winds we arrived back in Hobart, Tasmania. The weather maps show that we just got ahead of another big storm system.

  • Taking a 4,000-Meter-Deep Profile of Antarctic Waters

    Taking a 4,000-Meter-Deep Profile of Antarctic Waters

    In addition to understanding potential pathways for “warmer” circumpolar deep water to reach the ice shelf, we are also measuring what the structure and properties of the water column are and determining if there is already warmer water on or near the continental shelf that could already interact with the glaciers of East Antarctica today.

  • Lamont-Doherty to Manage U.S. Ocean Drilling Program

    Lamont-Doherty to Manage U.S. Ocean Drilling Program

    Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory has signed a $35 million, five-year cooperative agreement with the U.S. National Science Foundation to manage scientific support services for U.S. scientists studying the world’s ocean floors.

  • Mapping the Seafloor

    Mapping the Seafloor

    One of the goals of this expedition is to investigate if water from the Southern Ocean with temperatures above the melting point of glaciers could reach the glaciers in East Antarctica, and if there are any obstacles on the seafloor of the shelf that impact the ability of such water to reach the glaciers and…