State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory162

  • Science Education with Trees and Canoes

    Science Education with Trees and Canoes

    Students from New York City, Singapore and the Netherlands test their skills this weekend in the woods and on the water near Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in the International Student and Teacher Exchange Program.

  • A Focus on the Thinning Northwest Greenland Glaciers

    A Focus on the Thinning Northwest Greenland Glaciers

    Blog by Hakim Abdi, LDEO Satellite measures showing thinning ice on the Northwest Greenland glaciers prompted Operation IceBridge to include annual flights over this region. The area runs along the Baffin Bay coast, which is often covered in fog and low lying clouds forcing delays and reschedules. With the end of our season in sight…

  • Measuring Gravity From a Moving Aircraft Requires a ‘Gravi-God’!

    Measuring Gravity From a Moving Aircraft Requires a ‘Gravi-God’!

    From: Joël Dubé, Engineer/Geophysicist at Sander Geophysics, OIB P-3 Gravity Team One of the instruments used in Operation IceBridge (OIB) is an airborne gravimeter operated through a collaboration between Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and Sander Geophysics of Ottawa, Canada.  People from other instrument teams have been heard to call it a gravity…

  • Switchyard Project: Melting Ice, a Fresher Arctic

    Switchyard Project: Melting Ice, a Fresher Arctic

    The freshwater content of the Arctic Ocean is increasing as the Earth’s climate warms. Chemical analysis indicates that the source is both melting ice and the Pacific Ocean.

  • Witnessing time – from 445 million year old rocks exposed in the Fjords to ~4 thousand year old small ice caps

    Witnessing time – from 445 million year old rocks exposed in the Fjords to ~4 thousand year old small ice caps

    By Hakim Abdi, LDEO. My first flight on the P3 and the scenery was nothing short of breathtaking. The science mission involved flights in the north over the Steensby glacier that passes through Sherard Osbron Fjord, and Ryder glacier constrained by the Victoria Fjord. In northeast Greenland we overflew the Hagen glacier and the Flade…

  • Switchyard Project: New Sampling Record

    Switchyard Project: New Sampling Record

    On May 10, we celebrated the sampling of our 10th station yesterday. These are more stations than we were ever able to get water samples from. Because of the ongoing good weather, we will certainly get one more station today, and hopefully many more during the next couple of days. So watch the posted video and celebrate with…

  • Dealing with Mother Nature

    Dealing with Mother Nature

    Working in the poles we are constantly reminded of our dependence on meteorology, and this project has dealt us a variety of different weather considerations. The most obvious is the weather we experience at the base. Storm season in Thule lasts from the 15th of September to the 14th of May; in other words encompassing…

  • Transporting Ice From Greenland’s Deep Interior

    Transporting Ice From Greenland’s Deep Interior

    The North East Ice Stream is a fast-flowing glacier transporting ice from deep in the interior of the Greenland Ice Sheet out to the coast (see image showing a deep penetration into central Greenland). When it reaches the coastline it feeds 79 N Glacier. This area is heavily crevassed, evidence of the rapid ice flow.…

  • Climate Clock is Ticking for Pinot Noir

    Climate Clock is Ticking for Pinot Noir

    New studies of temperature records, grape harvests, and climate fluctuations over the Atlantic Ocean are yielding insights into how climate change might impact the production on Pinot Noir.

  • Science Education with Trees and Canoes

    Science Education with Trees and Canoes

    Students from New York City, Singapore and the Netherlands test their skills this weekend in the woods and on the water near Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in the International Student and Teacher Exchange Program.

  • A Focus on the Thinning Northwest Greenland Glaciers

    A Focus on the Thinning Northwest Greenland Glaciers

    Blog by Hakim Abdi, LDEO Satellite measures showing thinning ice on the Northwest Greenland glaciers prompted Operation IceBridge to include annual flights over this region. The area runs along the Baffin Bay coast, which is often covered in fog and low lying clouds forcing delays and reschedules. With the end of our season in sight…

  • Measuring Gravity From a Moving Aircraft Requires a ‘Gravi-God’!

    Measuring Gravity From a Moving Aircraft Requires a ‘Gravi-God’!

    From: Joël Dubé, Engineer/Geophysicist at Sander Geophysics, OIB P-3 Gravity Team One of the instruments used in Operation IceBridge (OIB) is an airborne gravimeter operated through a collaboration between Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and Sander Geophysics of Ottawa, Canada.  People from other instrument teams have been heard to call it a gravity…

  • Switchyard Project: Melting Ice, a Fresher Arctic

    Switchyard Project: Melting Ice, a Fresher Arctic

    The freshwater content of the Arctic Ocean is increasing as the Earth’s climate warms. Chemical analysis indicates that the source is both melting ice and the Pacific Ocean.

  • Witnessing time – from 445 million year old rocks exposed in the Fjords to ~4 thousand year old small ice caps

    Witnessing time – from 445 million year old rocks exposed in the Fjords to ~4 thousand year old small ice caps

    By Hakim Abdi, LDEO. My first flight on the P3 and the scenery was nothing short of breathtaking. The science mission involved flights in the north over the Steensby glacier that passes through Sherard Osbron Fjord, and Ryder glacier constrained by the Victoria Fjord. In northeast Greenland we overflew the Hagen glacier and the Flade…

  • Switchyard Project: New Sampling Record

    Switchyard Project: New Sampling Record

    On May 10, we celebrated the sampling of our 10th station yesterday. These are more stations than we were ever able to get water samples from. Because of the ongoing good weather, we will certainly get one more station today, and hopefully many more during the next couple of days. So watch the posted video and celebrate with…

  • Dealing with Mother Nature

    Dealing with Mother Nature

    Working in the poles we are constantly reminded of our dependence on meteorology, and this project has dealt us a variety of different weather considerations. The most obvious is the weather we experience at the base. Storm season in Thule lasts from the 15th of September to the 14th of May; in other words encompassing…

  • Transporting Ice From Greenland’s Deep Interior

    Transporting Ice From Greenland’s Deep Interior

    The North East Ice Stream is a fast-flowing glacier transporting ice from deep in the interior of the Greenland Ice Sheet out to the coast (see image showing a deep penetration into central Greenland). When it reaches the coastline it feeds 79 N Glacier. This area is heavily crevassed, evidence of the rapid ice flow.…

  • Climate Clock is Ticking for Pinot Noir

    Climate Clock is Ticking for Pinot Noir

    New studies of temperature records, grape harvests, and climate fluctuations over the Atlantic Ocean are yielding insights into how climate change might impact the production on Pinot Noir.