State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory164

  • Holidays on the High Seas

    Holidays on the High Seas

    With round-the-clock shifts, there are precious opportunities for Santa to slip onto a research ship unseen. But slip in he did, leaving treats and gifts around the R.V. Langseth to brighten our day.

  • Retrieving Instruments from the Deep

    Retrieving Instruments from the Deep

    Over the first 22 days aboard the R/V Marcus G. Langseth, we’ve zigged and zagged our way over a 360×240 mile region of the Pacific plate, first dropping instruments to the seafloor, and then shooting airguns to them (see previous posts). The final step is to recover a subset of the instruments:  34 ocean-bottom seismometers…

  • The Art of Sound in the Ocean

    The Art of Sound in the Ocean

    The NoMelt experiment aims to image the structure of an oceanic plate, including its deepest reaches up to 70 km beneath the seafloor.  One of our primary means to do so is to create sound (acoustic) waves in the ocean from the ship, and record those waves at receivers on the seafloor, after they have…

  • Earth Institute Science in Spotlight

    Earth Institute Science in Spotlight

    Research presented by Earth Institute scientists at the 2011 American Geophysical Union fall conference generated a lot of attention from the media. Much of it came from a press conference held to discuss findings by Steve Goldstein from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and his colleagues on the potential for future drying up of the Dead…

  • Deploying Instruments on the Seafloor in the Deep Ocean

    Deploying Instruments on the Seafloor in the Deep Ocean

    Oceanic plates are born at mid-ocean ridges, where hot mantle rocks are brought very close to the surface, partially melt, and then cool and crystallize. The newly formed rocks move outwards from the mid-ocean ridge, making way for the next batch of hot rock rising from below. Inch by inch, over millions of years, oceanic…

  • Nature & Naturalists, an Ode to Adirondack Color

    Nature & Naturalists, an Ode to Adirondack Color

    There was a nice article in the NY Times on the Adirondack State Park whose title initially focused readers on how climate change could alter the park’s ecosystems. However, by the time you get to the end of the article, and luckily for us, you get to know Jerry Jenkins, one of the best naturalists…

  • From Distant Past, Lessons on Ocean Acidification

    From Distant Past, Lessons on Ocean Acidification

    Oceans turned more acidic during a period of great warming some 56 million years ago, causing an extinction of bottom-dwelling marine species known as foraminifera, a scenario that may be happening again now, only much more quickly.

  • AGU Honors Scientists from Lamont-Doherty

    AGU Honors Scientists from Lamont-Doherty

    A half-dozen Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory scientists were to be honored by the American Geophysical Union at its annual fall conference in San Francisco tonight.

  • Where Continents Divide, and Rocks Rise from the Deep

    Where Continents Divide, and Rocks Rise from the Deep

    Along the Woodlark Rift in eastern Papua New Guinea, continents are breaking apart, “like a snake opening its mouth.” Geologic processes that are still a mystery are actively stretching the crust and pushing huge masses of rock, formed under immense pressures as deep as 100 kilometers below, to the surface.

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

  • Holidays on the High Seas

    Holidays on the High Seas

    With round-the-clock shifts, there are precious opportunities for Santa to slip onto a research ship unseen. But slip in he did, leaving treats and gifts around the R.V. Langseth to brighten our day.

  • Retrieving Instruments from the Deep

    Retrieving Instruments from the Deep

    Over the first 22 days aboard the R/V Marcus G. Langseth, we’ve zigged and zagged our way over a 360×240 mile region of the Pacific plate, first dropping instruments to the seafloor, and then shooting airguns to them (see previous posts). The final step is to recover a subset of the instruments:  34 ocean-bottom seismometers…

  • The Art of Sound in the Ocean

    The Art of Sound in the Ocean

    The NoMelt experiment aims to image the structure of an oceanic plate, including its deepest reaches up to 70 km beneath the seafloor.  One of our primary means to do so is to create sound (acoustic) waves in the ocean from the ship, and record those waves at receivers on the seafloor, after they have…

  • Earth Institute Science in Spotlight

    Earth Institute Science in Spotlight

    Research presented by Earth Institute scientists at the 2011 American Geophysical Union fall conference generated a lot of attention from the media. Much of it came from a press conference held to discuss findings by Steve Goldstein from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and his colleagues on the potential for future drying up of the Dead…

  • Deploying Instruments on the Seafloor in the Deep Ocean

    Deploying Instruments on the Seafloor in the Deep Ocean

    Oceanic plates are born at mid-ocean ridges, where hot mantle rocks are brought very close to the surface, partially melt, and then cool and crystallize. The newly formed rocks move outwards from the mid-ocean ridge, making way for the next batch of hot rock rising from below. Inch by inch, over millions of years, oceanic…

  • Nature & Naturalists, an Ode to Adirondack Color

    Nature & Naturalists, an Ode to Adirondack Color

    There was a nice article in the NY Times on the Adirondack State Park whose title initially focused readers on how climate change could alter the park’s ecosystems. However, by the time you get to the end of the article, and luckily for us, you get to know Jerry Jenkins, one of the best naturalists…

  • From Distant Past, Lessons on Ocean Acidification

    From Distant Past, Lessons on Ocean Acidification

    Oceans turned more acidic during a period of great warming some 56 million years ago, causing an extinction of bottom-dwelling marine species known as foraminifera, a scenario that may be happening again now, only much more quickly.

  • AGU Honors Scientists from Lamont-Doherty

    AGU Honors Scientists from Lamont-Doherty

    A half-dozen Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory scientists were to be honored by the American Geophysical Union at its annual fall conference in San Francisco tonight.

  • Where Continents Divide, and Rocks Rise from the Deep

    Where Continents Divide, and Rocks Rise from the Deep

    Along the Woodlark Rift in eastern Papua New Guinea, continents are breaking apart, “like a snake opening its mouth.” Geologic processes that are still a mystery are actively stretching the crust and pushing huge masses of rock, formed under immense pressures as deep as 100 kilometers below, to the surface.