State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory78

  • Climate Change Could Revive Medieval Megadroughts in U.S. Southwest

    Climate Change Could Revive Medieval Megadroughts in U.S. Southwest

    Study picks apart factors that caused severe, long-lasting droughts and suggests increased risk for future.

  • From Sonatola to the Sundarbans

    From Sonatola to the Sundarbans

    By working a 16-hour day, we managed to get both GPS and SETs completed at our first field site. We then sailed into the Sundarban Mangrove Forest, the world’s largest, to visit an existing site and make measurements.

  • Delays in Dhaka

    Delays in Dhaka

    I am back in Bangladesh for a new project examining the balance between sea level rise, land subsidence and sedimentation. We will be installing, repairing or upgrading equipment to measure changes to the landscape.

  • Robots Roaming in Antarctic Waters Reveal Why Ross Ice Shelf Melts Rapidly in Summer

    Robots Roaming in Antarctic Waters Reveal Why Ross Ice Shelf Melts Rapidly in Summer

    A new study reveals how local factors influence the Ross Ice Shelf’s stability, refining predictions of how it will change and influence sea rise in the future.

  • How Did Africa’s Grasslands Get Started?

    How Did Africa’s Grasslands Get Started?

    Millions of years ago, vegetation across much of the world underwent a transformation as grasses with a new way of doing photosynthesis displaced previously dominant plants, shrubs and trees. A new study examines what got these plants started, and why they spread so far and wide.

  • How a Drilling Ship Pulls Cores From 2.5 Miles Below the Sea

    How a Drilling Ship Pulls Cores From 2.5 Miles Below the Sea

    Recovering ancient seafloor sediments requires complicated machinery and a skilled crew.

  • Rescuing 50 Years of Apollo Sample Data

    Rescuing 50 Years of Apollo Sample Data

    The Apollo missions brought back unique samples from the moon that have been analyzed by researchers around the world. This data is getting lost and forgotten. A new database collects it and makes it easy to find and use.

  • Conference Raises Tough Questions About Retreat from Rising Seas

    Conference Raises Tough Questions About Retreat from Rising Seas

    Hundreds of experts gathered on campus to discuss possibilities for protecting coastal communities and withdrawing when we can no longer safely inhabit our coastlines.

  • How Landing on the Moon Changed Our World

    How Landing on the Moon Changed Our World

    Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory director Sean Solomon discusses how Apollo 11 affected the scientific community, how Lamont was involved, and what comes next for lunar exploration.

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

  • Climate Change Could Revive Medieval Megadroughts in U.S. Southwest

    Climate Change Could Revive Medieval Megadroughts in U.S. Southwest

    Study picks apart factors that caused severe, long-lasting droughts and suggests increased risk for future.

  • From Sonatola to the Sundarbans

    From Sonatola to the Sundarbans

    By working a 16-hour day, we managed to get both GPS and SETs completed at our first field site. We then sailed into the Sundarban Mangrove Forest, the world’s largest, to visit an existing site and make measurements.

  • Delays in Dhaka

    Delays in Dhaka

    I am back in Bangladesh for a new project examining the balance between sea level rise, land subsidence and sedimentation. We will be installing, repairing or upgrading equipment to measure changes to the landscape.

  • Robots Roaming in Antarctic Waters Reveal Why Ross Ice Shelf Melts Rapidly in Summer

    Robots Roaming in Antarctic Waters Reveal Why Ross Ice Shelf Melts Rapidly in Summer

    A new study reveals how local factors influence the Ross Ice Shelf’s stability, refining predictions of how it will change and influence sea rise in the future.

  • How Did Africa’s Grasslands Get Started?

    How Did Africa’s Grasslands Get Started?

    Millions of years ago, vegetation across much of the world underwent a transformation as grasses with a new way of doing photosynthesis displaced previously dominant plants, shrubs and trees. A new study examines what got these plants started, and why they spread so far and wide.

  • How a Drilling Ship Pulls Cores From 2.5 Miles Below the Sea

    How a Drilling Ship Pulls Cores From 2.5 Miles Below the Sea

    Recovering ancient seafloor sediments requires complicated machinery and a skilled crew.

  • Rescuing 50 Years of Apollo Sample Data

    Rescuing 50 Years of Apollo Sample Data

    The Apollo missions brought back unique samples from the moon that have been analyzed by researchers around the world. This data is getting lost and forgotten. A new database collects it and makes it easy to find and use.

  • Conference Raises Tough Questions About Retreat from Rising Seas

    Conference Raises Tough Questions About Retreat from Rising Seas

    Hundreds of experts gathered on campus to discuss possibilities for protecting coastal communities and withdrawing when we can no longer safely inhabit our coastlines.

  • How Landing on the Moon Changed Our World

    How Landing on the Moon Changed Our World

    Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory director Sean Solomon discusses how Apollo 11 affected the scientific community, how Lamont was involved, and what comes next for lunar exploration.