State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory170

  • Atmospheric Scientists Win Early Career Awards

    Atmospheric Scientists Win Early Career Awards

    Two scientists at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory have been recognized for early-career achievement in the atmospheric sciences by the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the world’s largest earth-sciences organization. Tiffany Shaw, 31, is a physicist who uses computer models and mathematical equations to study the basic dynamics of the atmosphere and climate, for instance, how the jet…

  • Sewage Still Plagues Hudson River

    Sewage Still Plagues Hudson River

    People are swimming in the Hudson again, and while clumps of sewage rarely float by anymore, the water is not reliably clean, says a report released this week from the environmental group Riverkeeper. Four years of testing by Riverkeeper and Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, show recurring hot spots, especially after rain, when overwhelmed sewers divert…

  • Returning From Sea to Dutch Harbor

    Returning From Sea to Dutch Harbor

    At 6:30 am on August 5, the R/V Langseth pulled into port in Dutch Harbor, marking the end of our very successful research cruise. Our steam into port from our study area involved a trip through Unimak pass and beautiful views of Aleutian volcanoes, including majestic Shishaldin. Many things are required to make a research…

  • End of the Line – Good Byes to a Great Field Season in Peru

    End of the Line – Good Byes to a Great Field Season in Peru

    After more than six weeks trawling the Peruvian Andes in search of palaeoclimate clues, our field team is visiting the last site, a potential calibration sites near Coropuna. The objective of that ongoing work is to refine the cosmogenic surface-exposure method for the tropics, thereby improving the precision of new and existing datasets.

  • Swimming in Data Offshore Alaska

    Swimming in Data Offshore Alaska

    Although we still have ~3 days of data collection aboard the R/V Langseth to go before we pull in our equipment and head for port, we are already drowning in beautiful seismic data. Following each pulse from the air gun array, the two 8-km-long streamers listen for returning sound waves for 22 seconds. This is…

  • On the Subject of Dust

    On the Subject of Dust

    Our field team has set camp at 5045 m on the dusty slopes of Ampato, an extinct, ice-clad volcano in the Western Cordillera. This is the very mountain from which Juanita, the famous Incan ‘ice maiden’, was plucked back in 1995. The tents are clustered in the lee of a large glacial erratic and, now…

  • Boring Days at Sea are a Blessing

    Boring Days at Sea are a Blessing

    For the last nine days, we have been underway acquiring seismic reflection data to study a plate tectonic boundary offshore Alaska with the R/V Marcus G. Langseth. Now that the initial excitement of deploying all of our seismic gear and watching the first sound waves arrive on our two 8-km-long streamers has faded, we have…

  • Undersea Clues to Haiti’s Earthquake History

    Undersea Clues to Haiti’s Earthquake History

    For all of its violent destruction, the earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, hardly scratched the surface of the island. But scientists now say they have found some of the best clues to understanding the quake under water.

  • Collecting Data Offshore Alaska, But Just Barely

    Collecting Data Offshore Alaska, But Just Barely

    One of the core objectives of our project is to image the part of the plate tectonic boundary that locks up and then ruptures to produce great earthquakes. To examine deep parts of the interface between the Pacific plate and the North American plate in the Aleutian subduction zone, we need to go as close…

Colorful icons representing nature, sustainable living, and renewable energy with text "Earth Day 2026"

The first Earth Day in 1970 ignited a movement to stop polluting our planet. Today, our scientists and experts are tackling the most pressing challenges to achieve real-world impact. This Earth Day, join us in our commitment to realizing a just and sustainable future for our planet. Visit our Earth Day website for ideas, resources, and inspiration.

  • Atmospheric Scientists Win Early Career Awards

    Atmospheric Scientists Win Early Career Awards

    Two scientists at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory have been recognized for early-career achievement in the atmospheric sciences by the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the world’s largest earth-sciences organization. Tiffany Shaw, 31, is a physicist who uses computer models and mathematical equations to study the basic dynamics of the atmosphere and climate, for instance, how the jet…

  • Sewage Still Plagues Hudson River

    Sewage Still Plagues Hudson River

    People are swimming in the Hudson again, and while clumps of sewage rarely float by anymore, the water is not reliably clean, says a report released this week from the environmental group Riverkeeper. Four years of testing by Riverkeeper and Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, show recurring hot spots, especially after rain, when overwhelmed sewers divert…

  • Returning From Sea to Dutch Harbor

    Returning From Sea to Dutch Harbor

    At 6:30 am on August 5, the R/V Langseth pulled into port in Dutch Harbor, marking the end of our very successful research cruise. Our steam into port from our study area involved a trip through Unimak pass and beautiful views of Aleutian volcanoes, including majestic Shishaldin. Many things are required to make a research…

  • End of the Line – Good Byes to a Great Field Season in Peru

    End of the Line – Good Byes to a Great Field Season in Peru

    After more than six weeks trawling the Peruvian Andes in search of palaeoclimate clues, our field team is visiting the last site, a potential calibration sites near Coropuna. The objective of that ongoing work is to refine the cosmogenic surface-exposure method for the tropics, thereby improving the precision of new and existing datasets.

  • Swimming in Data Offshore Alaska

    Swimming in Data Offshore Alaska

    Although we still have ~3 days of data collection aboard the R/V Langseth to go before we pull in our equipment and head for port, we are already drowning in beautiful seismic data. Following each pulse from the air gun array, the two 8-km-long streamers listen for returning sound waves for 22 seconds. This is…

  • On the Subject of Dust

    On the Subject of Dust

    Our field team has set camp at 5045 m on the dusty slopes of Ampato, an extinct, ice-clad volcano in the Western Cordillera. This is the very mountain from which Juanita, the famous Incan ‘ice maiden’, was plucked back in 1995. The tents are clustered in the lee of a large glacial erratic and, now…

  • Boring Days at Sea are a Blessing

    Boring Days at Sea are a Blessing

    For the last nine days, we have been underway acquiring seismic reflection data to study a plate tectonic boundary offshore Alaska with the R/V Marcus G. Langseth. Now that the initial excitement of deploying all of our seismic gear and watching the first sound waves arrive on our two 8-km-long streamers has faded, we have…

  • Undersea Clues to Haiti’s Earthquake History

    Undersea Clues to Haiti’s Earthquake History

    For all of its violent destruction, the earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, hardly scratched the surface of the island. But scientists now say they have found some of the best clues to understanding the quake under water.

  • Collecting Data Offshore Alaska, But Just Barely

    Collecting Data Offshore Alaska, But Just Barely

    One of the core objectives of our project is to image the part of the plate tectonic boundary that locks up and then ruptures to produce great earthquakes. To examine deep parts of the interface between the Pacific plate and the North American plate in the Aleutian subduction zone, we need to go as close…