State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Sustainability41

  • Achieving Water Sustainability in Ceará, Brazil

    Achieving Water Sustainability in Ceará, Brazil

    Achieving sustainable water sustainability in Brazil’s semi-arid northeast will involve more than just building pipes, pumps and water towers: it will require significant changes in the ways water is monitored, distributed and used throughout the region.

  • How Coffee Affects Biodiversity

    How Coffee Affects Biodiversity

    S. Amanda Caudill is currently evaluating mammal biodiversity in coffee dominated regions in Turrialba, Costa Rica. Her findings will help determine which habitat parameters are important to the mammals and shape suggestions on how to enhance the habitat.

  • Vertical Farms: From Vision to Reality

    Vertical Farms: From Vision to Reality

    Dr. Dickson Despommier believes vertical farming—the growing of crops indoors in multi-story urban buildings—can help feed the growing global population and undo the environmental damage caused by conventional agriculture.

  • Join a Conversation About 7 Billion People

    Join a Conversation About 7 Billion People

    The world’s population will reach 7 billion this year, and the UN estimates continued growth, primarily in less-developed regions. What will this steep population growth mean for our environmental, economic and social systems? Join the conversation on Oct. 17.

  • Wasteland Transformed into Magnificent Freshkills Park

    Wasteland Transformed into Magnificent Freshkills Park

    Odors of putrid garbage and mismanaged waste are being replaced by fragrant grass and flowers at Staten Island’s Freshkills Park, once the world’s biggest landfill.

  • Your Nose Knows Evolution – Do You?

    Your Nose Knows Evolution – Do You?

    Olfaction is one of the least understood senses but has played a vital role in the evolution of vertebrates. Basic survival behaviors such as foraging, communicating, recalling memory, and reproduction are often dependent on a protruding-facial structure that we too often ignore.

  • Summer Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduates

    Summer Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduates

    CERC is now accepting applications for the Summer Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduates.

  • Conservation of Biodiversity in Orquídeas National Park

    Conservation of Biodiversity in Orquídeas National Park

    Researchers from The New York Botanical Garden are working to document the plant life in Las Orquídeas National Park, one of the last remaining prized and unexplored rainforests that borders Columbia’s Pacific coast.

  • Ecosystem Services and Corporate Planning

    Ecosystem Services and Corporate Planning

    Learn more about CERC’s new course, Ecosystem Services and Corporate Planning, which examines the impacts and dependencies of corporations on our ecosystems.

Photo of the Earth from space with the text "Lamont at AGU25" on top.

AGU25, the premier Earth and space science conference, takes place December 15-19, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. This year’s theme—Where Science Connects Us—puts in focus how science depends on connection, from the lab to the field to the ballot box. Once again, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School scientists, experts, students, and educators are playing an active role, sharing our research and helping shape the future of our planet. #AGU25 Learn More

  • Achieving Water Sustainability in Ceará, Brazil

    Achieving Water Sustainability in Ceará, Brazil

    Achieving sustainable water sustainability in Brazil’s semi-arid northeast will involve more than just building pipes, pumps and water towers: it will require significant changes in the ways water is monitored, distributed and used throughout the region.

  • How Coffee Affects Biodiversity

    How Coffee Affects Biodiversity

    S. Amanda Caudill is currently evaluating mammal biodiversity in coffee dominated regions in Turrialba, Costa Rica. Her findings will help determine which habitat parameters are important to the mammals and shape suggestions on how to enhance the habitat.

  • Vertical Farms: From Vision to Reality

    Vertical Farms: From Vision to Reality

    Dr. Dickson Despommier believes vertical farming—the growing of crops indoors in multi-story urban buildings—can help feed the growing global population and undo the environmental damage caused by conventional agriculture.

  • Join a Conversation About 7 Billion People

    Join a Conversation About 7 Billion People

    The world’s population will reach 7 billion this year, and the UN estimates continued growth, primarily in less-developed regions. What will this steep population growth mean for our environmental, economic and social systems? Join the conversation on Oct. 17.

  • Wasteland Transformed into Magnificent Freshkills Park

    Wasteland Transformed into Magnificent Freshkills Park

    Odors of putrid garbage and mismanaged waste are being replaced by fragrant grass and flowers at Staten Island’s Freshkills Park, once the world’s biggest landfill.

  • Your Nose Knows Evolution – Do You?

    Your Nose Knows Evolution – Do You?

    Olfaction is one of the least understood senses but has played a vital role in the evolution of vertebrates. Basic survival behaviors such as foraging, communicating, recalling memory, and reproduction are often dependent on a protruding-facial structure that we too often ignore.

  • Summer Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduates

    Summer Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduates

    CERC is now accepting applications for the Summer Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduates.

  • Conservation of Biodiversity in Orquídeas National Park

    Conservation of Biodiversity in Orquídeas National Park

    Researchers from The New York Botanical Garden are working to document the plant life in Las Orquídeas National Park, one of the last remaining prized and unexplored rainforests that borders Columbia’s Pacific coast.

  • Ecosystem Services and Corporate Planning

    Ecosystem Services and Corporate Planning

    Learn more about CERC’s new course, Ecosystem Services and Corporate Planning, which examines the impacts and dependencies of corporations on our ecosystems.