State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory189

  • Remembered: Marie Tharp, Pioneering Mapmaker of the Ocean Floor

    Marie Tharp, a pathbreaking oceanographic cartographer at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, co-creator of the first global map of the ocean floor and co-discoverer of the central rift valley that runs through the Mid-Atlantic Ridge died Wednesday August 23 in Nyack Hospital. She was 86. A pioneer of modern oceanography, Tharp was the first to map…

  • Cosmic Dust in Ice Cores Sheds Light on Earth’s Past Climate

    Each year nearly 40,000 tons of cosmic dust fall to Earth from outer space. Now, the first successful chronological study of extraterrestrial dust in Antarctic ice has shown that this amount has remained largely constant over the past 30,000 years, a finding that could help refine efforts to understand the timing and effects of changes…

  • Study Shows Lack of National Consensus on Teaching K-12 Students about Human-Environmental Impacts

    The destruction caused by natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and human activities such as mountaintop removal mining are powerful examples of how the environment and society are tightly interwoven. But to what extent do, or should, state science curricula in the U.S. seek to investigate or influence the nature of this interaction? That is…

  • G. Michael Purdy Awarded 2006 Maurice Ewing Medal

    Honor by the American Geophysical Union recognizes more than 30-year commitment as a researcher, administrator and innovator in the earth sciences

  • Glacial Earthquakes Point to Rising Temperatures in Greenland

    Rise of seismic activity linked to the movement of glaciers may be a response to global warming

  • Study Offers Preview of Ice Sheet Melting, Rapid Climate Changes

    Behavior of Scandinavian Ice Sheet at the end of the last Ice Age may preview loss of Greenland Ice Sheet due to global warming

  • Two New Lakes Found Beneath Antarctic Ice Sheet

    Ancient water bodies may contain ecosystems adapted to life beneath more than two miles of ice

  • Soviet Union Conducted 130 Nuclear Tests in Remote Arctic Location, Study Says

    The Soviet Union conducted 130 underwater, atmospheric and underground nuclear tests in a remote archipelago above the Arctic Circle over a period of 35 years, according to a comprehensive study done by scientists at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the U.S. Geological Survey. Some of these tests involved multiple explosions. In all, 224 nuclear devices were…

  • More Than 1,000 to Get Their Feet Wet in Hudson Estuary Project

    For many residents of New York City and upstate communities, the Hudson River is such a constant presence that it can sometimes fade into the background of daily life. On Wednesday, October 12, however, Earth Institute researchers contributed to the efforts of volunteers and students from Troy to Brooklyn in putting the Hudson front-and-center by…

  • Remembered: Marie Tharp, Pioneering Mapmaker of the Ocean Floor

    Marie Tharp, a pathbreaking oceanographic cartographer at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, co-creator of the first global map of the ocean floor and co-discoverer of the central rift valley that runs through the Mid-Atlantic Ridge died Wednesday August 23 in Nyack Hospital. She was 86. A pioneer of modern oceanography, Tharp was the first to map…

  • Cosmic Dust in Ice Cores Sheds Light on Earth’s Past Climate

    Each year nearly 40,000 tons of cosmic dust fall to Earth from outer space. Now, the first successful chronological study of extraterrestrial dust in Antarctic ice has shown that this amount has remained largely constant over the past 30,000 years, a finding that could help refine efforts to understand the timing and effects of changes…

  • Study Shows Lack of National Consensus on Teaching K-12 Students about Human-Environmental Impacts

    The destruction caused by natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and human activities such as mountaintop removal mining are powerful examples of how the environment and society are tightly interwoven. But to what extent do, or should, state science curricula in the U.S. seek to investigate or influence the nature of this interaction? That is…

  • G. Michael Purdy Awarded 2006 Maurice Ewing Medal

    Honor by the American Geophysical Union recognizes more than 30-year commitment as a researcher, administrator and innovator in the earth sciences

  • Glacial Earthquakes Point to Rising Temperatures in Greenland

    Rise of seismic activity linked to the movement of glaciers may be a response to global warming

  • Study Offers Preview of Ice Sheet Melting, Rapid Climate Changes

    Behavior of Scandinavian Ice Sheet at the end of the last Ice Age may preview loss of Greenland Ice Sheet due to global warming

  • Two New Lakes Found Beneath Antarctic Ice Sheet

    Ancient water bodies may contain ecosystems adapted to life beneath more than two miles of ice

  • Soviet Union Conducted 130 Nuclear Tests in Remote Arctic Location, Study Says

    The Soviet Union conducted 130 underwater, atmospheric and underground nuclear tests in a remote archipelago above the Arctic Circle over a period of 35 years, according to a comprehensive study done by scientists at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the U.S. Geological Survey. Some of these tests involved multiple explosions. In all, 224 nuclear devices were…

  • More Than 1,000 to Get Their Feet Wet in Hudson Estuary Project

    For many residents of New York City and upstate communities, the Hudson River is such a constant presence that it can sometimes fade into the background of daily life. On Wednesday, October 12, however, Earth Institute researchers contributed to the efforts of volunteers and students from Troy to Brooklyn in putting the Hudson front-and-center by…