State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory152

  • Earth’s Current Warmth Not Seen in the Last 1,400 Years or More, Says Study

    Fueled by industrial greenhouse gas emissions, Earth’s climate warmed more between 1971 and 2000 than during any other three-decade interval in the last 1,400 years, according to new regional temperature reconstructions covering all seven continents. This period of manmade global warming, which continues today, reversed a natural cooling trend that lasted several hundred years, according…

  • Singing the Blues About Water Scarcity

    Singing the Blues About Water Scarcity

    Otis Redding sang “you don’t miss your water ’til your well runs dry” in 1965 about pining for a lost love. Last week, Climate and Society founder and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory scientist Mark Cane reprised it with a much different, more literal focus: water scarcity in the 21st century.

  • Latest Korea Nuke Test Dwarfed Previous Ones

    Seismic Waves Show Steady Progress to Bigger Bomb, Say Scientists

  • Lamont Oceanographer Recognized for Pioneering Work on Global Ocean Currents

    An oceanographer who has painstakingly collected measurements from each of the world’s oceans to understand how the oceans move heat and freshwater around the planet to influence climate is the winner of the 2013 Prince Albert 1 Medal for outstanding contributions to oceanography, given by the International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Ocean…

  • Cat Puns, Scientists and Social Media

    Cat Puns, Scientists and Social Media

    Social media plus scientists plus Chemistry Cat puns is a great formula for a talk, right?

  • Tree Rings and Teachable Moments

    Tree Rings and Teachable Moments

    Nicole Davi, a postdoctoral scientist at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society and the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, thinks tree rings are an ideal way to motivate students to collect and analyze data as well as to learn about climate change.

  • Panel on New York’s Future After Sandy

    Panel on New York’s Future After Sandy

    In a live webcast this afternoon from Hunter College, Earth Institute scientists Cynthia Rosenzweig and Klaus Jacob will join a panel on “Hurricane Sandy and Challenges to the NY Metropolitan Region.”

  • If You’re Not Going to San Francisco

    If You’re Not Going to San Francisco

    Keep an eye on State of the Planet over the next week for updates on the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

  • Frozen Water on Mercury, NASA Confirms

    Frozen Water on Mercury, NASA Confirms

    Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun, may hold at least 100 billion tons of ice in permanently shaded craters near its north pole, NASA scientists announced Thursday. The findings come as NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft nears its second year of orbit around Mercury. MESSENGER’s lead investigator, Sean Solomon, is director of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth…

Photo of the Earth from space with the text "Lamont at AGU25" on top.

AGU25, the premier Earth and space science conference, takes place December 15-19, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. This year’s theme—Where Science Connects Us—puts in focus how science depends on connection, from the lab to the field to the ballot box. Once again, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School scientists, experts, students, and educators are playing an active role, sharing our research and helping shape the future of our planet. #AGU25 Learn More

  • Earth’s Current Warmth Not Seen in the Last 1,400 Years or More, Says Study

    Fueled by industrial greenhouse gas emissions, Earth’s climate warmed more between 1971 and 2000 than during any other three-decade interval in the last 1,400 years, according to new regional temperature reconstructions covering all seven continents. This period of manmade global warming, which continues today, reversed a natural cooling trend that lasted several hundred years, according…

  • Singing the Blues About Water Scarcity

    Singing the Blues About Water Scarcity

    Otis Redding sang “you don’t miss your water ’til your well runs dry” in 1965 about pining for a lost love. Last week, Climate and Society founder and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory scientist Mark Cane reprised it with a much different, more literal focus: water scarcity in the 21st century.

  • Latest Korea Nuke Test Dwarfed Previous Ones

    Seismic Waves Show Steady Progress to Bigger Bomb, Say Scientists

  • Lamont Oceanographer Recognized for Pioneering Work on Global Ocean Currents

    An oceanographer who has painstakingly collected measurements from each of the world’s oceans to understand how the oceans move heat and freshwater around the planet to influence climate is the winner of the 2013 Prince Albert 1 Medal for outstanding contributions to oceanography, given by the International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Ocean…

  • Cat Puns, Scientists and Social Media

    Cat Puns, Scientists and Social Media

    Social media plus scientists plus Chemistry Cat puns is a great formula for a talk, right?

  • Tree Rings and Teachable Moments

    Tree Rings and Teachable Moments

    Nicole Davi, a postdoctoral scientist at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society and the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, thinks tree rings are an ideal way to motivate students to collect and analyze data as well as to learn about climate change.

  • Panel on New York’s Future After Sandy

    Panel on New York’s Future After Sandy

    In a live webcast this afternoon from Hunter College, Earth Institute scientists Cynthia Rosenzweig and Klaus Jacob will join a panel on “Hurricane Sandy and Challenges to the NY Metropolitan Region.”

  • If You’re Not Going to San Francisco

    If You’re Not Going to San Francisco

    Keep an eye on State of the Planet over the next week for updates on the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

  • Frozen Water on Mercury, NASA Confirms

    Frozen Water on Mercury, NASA Confirms

    Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun, may hold at least 100 billion tons of ice in permanently shaded craters near its north pole, NASA scientists announced Thursday. The findings come as NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft nears its second year of orbit around Mercury. MESSENGER’s lead investigator, Sean Solomon, is director of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth…