State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

urbanization2

  • Seeking an Urban Sustainability Graduate Research Assistant

    Seeking an Urban Sustainability Graduate Research Assistant

    Are you a full-time Columbia graduate student interested in urban sustainability and equity? Do you have superb writing, analytic and research skills? Apply by December 9 for this part-time research assistant position.

  • Cities: the Vanguard Against Climate Change

    Cities: the Vanguard Against Climate Change

    Cities are leading the fight against climate change. Here’s what some of the most forward-looking ones are doing.

  • Past This Absurd Election and Toward the Sustainable City

    Past This Absurd Election and Toward the Sustainable City

    Our cities can bring us together in wonderful shared experiences; now it’s time for our political processes to reflect rather than refute that reality.

  • Lessons of Climate Resilience in New York City

    Lessons of Climate Resilience in New York City

    The Earth Institute hosted a panel focused on how New York City, and other cities like it, can take steps to become stronger and more resilient in the face of climate change.

  • New Faculty: Nilda Mesa joins the Urban Design Lab

    New Faculty: Nilda Mesa joins the Urban Design Lab

    Nilda Mesa joins the Earth Institute to launch a new program in urban sustainability and equity planning at the Urban Design Lab.

  • The (Somewhat Less Fast) Growing Human Footprint

    The (Somewhat Less Fast) Growing Human Footprint

    The human footprint continues to expand, with three quarters of earth’s land surface now experiencing measurable pressures from buildings, roads, crops, pastures and other human structures and activities, according to a new report. But the report also finds an encouraging trend: In recent years, growth in the footprint has lagged far behind population and economic…

  • Interdependence, Sustainability, and a Sense of Place

    Interdependence, Sustainability, and a Sense of Place

    As important as global economic and cultural forces may be, I see the push for distinctive identity and a sense of place ensuring that communities and nation states will maintain their power in a more globally interconnected world. Part of it is expressed in Not in My Back Yard (NIMBY) local politics that resists development…

  • Understanding the Sustainable Lifestyle

    While I remain convinced that humans require live interaction and in person contact to be effective, a high proportion of communication is electronic and require few incremental resources to be undertaken. I am quite certain that we spend more time than ever communicating professionally and personally.

  • By the Numbers: Air Quality and Pollution in New York City

    By the Numbers: Air Quality and Pollution in New York City

    New York City is known for many things, but having clean air isn’t one of them. Explore some of the issues and challenges the Big Apple faces in clearing NYC’s air through interactive maps and data.

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

  • Seeking an Urban Sustainability Graduate Research Assistant

    Seeking an Urban Sustainability Graduate Research Assistant

    Are you a full-time Columbia graduate student interested in urban sustainability and equity? Do you have superb writing, analytic and research skills? Apply by December 9 for this part-time research assistant position.

  • Cities: the Vanguard Against Climate Change

    Cities: the Vanguard Against Climate Change

    Cities are leading the fight against climate change. Here’s what some of the most forward-looking ones are doing.

  • Past This Absurd Election and Toward the Sustainable City

    Past This Absurd Election and Toward the Sustainable City

    Our cities can bring us together in wonderful shared experiences; now it’s time for our political processes to reflect rather than refute that reality.

  • Lessons of Climate Resilience in New York City

    Lessons of Climate Resilience in New York City

    The Earth Institute hosted a panel focused on how New York City, and other cities like it, can take steps to become stronger and more resilient in the face of climate change.

  • New Faculty: Nilda Mesa joins the Urban Design Lab

    New Faculty: Nilda Mesa joins the Urban Design Lab

    Nilda Mesa joins the Earth Institute to launch a new program in urban sustainability and equity planning at the Urban Design Lab.

  • The (Somewhat Less Fast) Growing Human Footprint

    The (Somewhat Less Fast) Growing Human Footprint

    The human footprint continues to expand, with three quarters of earth’s land surface now experiencing measurable pressures from buildings, roads, crops, pastures and other human structures and activities, according to a new report. But the report also finds an encouraging trend: In recent years, growth in the footprint has lagged far behind population and economic…

  • Interdependence, Sustainability, and a Sense of Place

    Interdependence, Sustainability, and a Sense of Place

    As important as global economic and cultural forces may be, I see the push for distinctive identity and a sense of place ensuring that communities and nation states will maintain their power in a more globally interconnected world. Part of it is expressed in Not in My Back Yard (NIMBY) local politics that resists development…

  • Understanding the Sustainable Lifestyle

    While I remain convinced that humans require live interaction and in person contact to be effective, a high proportion of communication is electronic and require few incremental resources to be undertaken. I am quite certain that we spend more time than ever communicating professionally and personally.

  • By the Numbers: Air Quality and Pollution in New York City

    By the Numbers: Air Quality and Pollution in New York City

    New York City is known for many things, but having clean air isn’t one of them. Explore some of the issues and challenges the Big Apple faces in clearing NYC’s air through interactive maps and data.