State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

viruses

  • Glacial Ice Cores Reveal 15,000 Year Old Microbes

    Glacial Ice Cores Reveal 15,000 Year Old Microbes

    Ancient ice contains a rich microbial record going back thousands of years. Recent advances have provided tools to study their genes and evolution, but climate change threatens to erase this frozen archive.

  • Keys to Success

    Keys to Success

    Humans hate to catch the flu, But here’s a fact that’s less well-known: Bacteria get infections too As many cultures have now shown.

  • Notes from an Increasingly Lonely Planet:  Humongous Killer Viruses and the New Life Form

    Notes from an Increasingly Lonely Planet: Humongous Killer Viruses and the New Life Form

    In Nature|News (18 July 2013), where one can check out the latest happenings in science, we learned that when Jean-Michel Claverie and Chantal Aberget from Aix-Marseille University in France discovered their new species of humongous killer virus, they experienced one of the most exciting things that could ever happen to any of us – they…

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

  • Glacial Ice Cores Reveal 15,000 Year Old Microbes

    Glacial Ice Cores Reveal 15,000 Year Old Microbes

    Ancient ice contains a rich microbial record going back thousands of years. Recent advances have provided tools to study their genes and evolution, but climate change threatens to erase this frozen archive.

  • Keys to Success

    Keys to Success

    Humans hate to catch the flu, But here’s a fact that’s less well-known: Bacteria get infections too As many cultures have now shown.

  • Notes from an Increasingly Lonely Planet:  Humongous Killer Viruses and the New Life Form

    Notes from an Increasingly Lonely Planet: Humongous Killer Viruses and the New Life Form

    In Nature|News (18 July 2013), where one can check out the latest happenings in science, we learned that when Jean-Michel Claverie and Chantal Aberget from Aix-Marseille University in France discovered their new species of humongous killer virus, they experienced one of the most exciting things that could ever happen to any of us – they…