State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

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  • Science, Creativity and Isopods

    Science, Creativity and Isopods

    It’s near midnight and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory researchers Andy Juhl and Craig Aumack, and Arizona State’s Kyle Kinzler are gathered around a table in their lab at the Barrow Arctic Research Consortium discussing the best way to catch an isopod.

  • Healthy Oceans: Charting A New Course

    Healthy Oceans: Charting A New Course

    Leading up to Rio+20, on April 25th the United Nations hosted “Healthy Oceans: Charting A New Course,” a panel discussion which brought together a range of experts to discuss the fate of the world’s oceans and what can be done to protect them.

  • Putting Wind in Trade’s Sails

    Putting Wind in Trade’s Sails

    International maritime trade represents a unique example of global cooperation. With the help of a growing number of renewable energy technologies, the global community can work towards progress in this limited area and use it as a model for addressing emissions in other areas of the global economy.

  • Ecological Succession: Forest Fires to the Ocean Floor

    Ecological Succession: Forest Fires to the Ocean Floor

    A new study reveals that new microbes supplant the active hydrothermal vent’s microbes after the site ceases to produce thermal energy. Though more research is necessary to fully understand the regeneration process in the dormant hydrothermal vents, the study provides an additional platform for ecologists to explore how ecosystems recover from natural unbalances and how…

  • Two Wren Brains Are Better Than One

    Two Wren Brains Are Better Than One

    When researchers observed activity in the brains of plain-tailed wrens while singing, they discovered something striking: In both sexes, the neurons reacted more strongly to the duet song than individual contributions — they are seemingly wired to enhance cooperation.

  • White-Nose Syndrome is Driving Conservation Batty

    White-Nose Syndrome is Driving Conservation Batty

    Scientists report in a recently published article in Nature that the fungus Geomyces destructans found on bats afflicted with White Nose Syndrome is the primary cause of the disease. However, amidst all the muck of doom and gloom, researchers report in the July issue of the Journal of Wildlife Diseases that affected bats can be…

  • Executive Courses in Sustainable Coastal Economies, Urban Resilience, and Conservation

    Executive Courses in Sustainable Coastal Economies, Urban Resilience, and Conservation

    The Center for Environmental Research and Conservation at Columbia University provides professionals with the knowledge and tools to be effective environmental leaders and decision makers in the 21st century. It is an evening program in which environmental issues are discussed, debated and examined, where participants develop an in-depth understanding of conservation science and practice through…

  • Ecological and Urban Resilience

    Ecological and Urban Resilience

    Resilience science has been evolving over the past decade, expanding beyond ecology to reflect systems of thinking in fields such as economics and political science. And, as more and more people move into densely populated cities, using massive amounts of water, energy, and other resources, the need to combine these disciplines to consider the resilience…

  • Critter Corner: News Roundup on Biodiversity – Week of 10/3

    Critter Corner: News Roundup on Biodiversity – Week of 10/3

    Read more about how humans are just modified fish, the discovery of a rare seahorse, the relationship between climate change, elk, and aspen, and the the structure of ambrosia beetle colonies in this week’s edition of The Critter Corner.

  • Science, Creativity and Isopods

    Science, Creativity and Isopods

    It’s near midnight and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory researchers Andy Juhl and Craig Aumack, and Arizona State’s Kyle Kinzler are gathered around a table in their lab at the Barrow Arctic Research Consortium discussing the best way to catch an isopod.

  • Healthy Oceans: Charting A New Course

    Healthy Oceans: Charting A New Course

    Leading up to Rio+20, on April 25th the United Nations hosted “Healthy Oceans: Charting A New Course,” a panel discussion which brought together a range of experts to discuss the fate of the world’s oceans and what can be done to protect them.

  • Putting Wind in Trade’s Sails

    Putting Wind in Trade’s Sails

    International maritime trade represents a unique example of global cooperation. With the help of a growing number of renewable energy technologies, the global community can work towards progress in this limited area and use it as a model for addressing emissions in other areas of the global economy.

  • Ecological Succession: Forest Fires to the Ocean Floor

    Ecological Succession: Forest Fires to the Ocean Floor

    A new study reveals that new microbes supplant the active hydrothermal vent’s microbes after the site ceases to produce thermal energy. Though more research is necessary to fully understand the regeneration process in the dormant hydrothermal vents, the study provides an additional platform for ecologists to explore how ecosystems recover from natural unbalances and how…

  • Two Wren Brains Are Better Than One

    Two Wren Brains Are Better Than One

    When researchers observed activity in the brains of plain-tailed wrens while singing, they discovered something striking: In both sexes, the neurons reacted more strongly to the duet song than individual contributions — they are seemingly wired to enhance cooperation.

  • White-Nose Syndrome is Driving Conservation Batty

    White-Nose Syndrome is Driving Conservation Batty

    Scientists report in a recently published article in Nature that the fungus Geomyces destructans found on bats afflicted with White Nose Syndrome is the primary cause of the disease. However, amidst all the muck of doom and gloom, researchers report in the July issue of the Journal of Wildlife Diseases that affected bats can be…

  • Executive Courses in Sustainable Coastal Economies, Urban Resilience, and Conservation

    Executive Courses in Sustainable Coastal Economies, Urban Resilience, and Conservation

    The Center for Environmental Research and Conservation at Columbia University provides professionals with the knowledge and tools to be effective environmental leaders and decision makers in the 21st century. It is an evening program in which environmental issues are discussed, debated and examined, where participants develop an in-depth understanding of conservation science and practice through…

  • Ecological and Urban Resilience

    Ecological and Urban Resilience

    Resilience science has been evolving over the past decade, expanding beyond ecology to reflect systems of thinking in fields such as economics and political science. And, as more and more people move into densely populated cities, using massive amounts of water, energy, and other resources, the need to combine these disciplines to consider the resilience…

  • Critter Corner: News Roundup on Biodiversity – Week of 10/3

    Critter Corner: News Roundup on Biodiversity – Week of 10/3

    Read more about how humans are just modified fish, the discovery of a rare seahorse, the relationship between climate change, elk, and aspen, and the the structure of ambrosia beetle colonies in this week’s edition of The Critter Corner.