State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

water matters

Water Matters, the blog of the Columbia Water Center, focuses on the assessment, understanding and resolution of the potentially global crisis of freshwater scarcity.

  • Mangroves, Tigers and Shopping

    Mangroves, Tigers and Shopping

    The last part of our trip was a whirlwind of seeing multiple sites in the Sundarbans mangrove forest and its wildlife, more interviews with villagers, historic and cultural sites and shopping, followed by tearful goodbyes.

  • Poets and Polders

    Poets and Polders

    Continuing on our journey, we visited the shrine and former home of Bangladeshi cultural icons, continued our interviews, and boarded a boat to take us to the embanked islands known as polders.

  • A Special Trip to Bangladesh

    A Special Trip to Bangladesh

    In Bangladesh, a large and growing population lives in one of the most dynamic and sensitive environments on Earth, subject to multiple natural disasters and threatened by climate change.

  • World Water Film Festival Makes a Splash at Columbia Climate School

    World Water Film Festival Makes a Splash at Columbia Climate School

    The event featured films and speakers from around the world who spotlighted humanity’s essential relationship with water and how it continues to evolve in our changing climate.

  • Strategies for Safe Drinking Water: Ensuring Lead-Free Taps for All

    Strategies for Safe Drinking Water: Ensuring Lead-Free Taps for All

    On World Water Day, Columbia researchers explore the best options for replacing America’s aging pipes.

  • For This Graduating Senior, Climate, Culture and Community Go Hand in Hand

    For This Graduating Senior, Climate, Culture and Community Go Hand in Hand

    Charitie Ropati’s Indigenous heritage informs her education, research and activism.

  • Finishing the Coastal Service Run

    Finishing the Coastal Service Run

    Traveling by boat, we are finishing our data collection and equipment servicing in coastal Bangladesh.

  • Land Subsidence in the Netherlands

    Land Subsidence in the Netherlands

    At a symposium on land subsidence, I learned about how the Dutch transformed their country so that about a quarter of it is below sea level and how they cope with it.

  • Taking My Class to Bangladesh

    Taking My Class to Bangladesh

    My undergraduate Sustainable Development course is in Bangladesh for a Spring Break trip to see what they have been learning about. We will be touring the country by bus and boat to learn about the environment and people of Bangladesh.

Earth Month Graphic Collage: "Our Power, Our Planet - April 2025"

The first Earth Day in 1970 ignited a movement to stop polluting our planet. This Earth Month, join us in our commitment to realizing a just and sustainable future for our planet. Visit our Earth Day website for ideas, resources, and inspiration.

  • Mangroves, Tigers and Shopping

    Mangroves, Tigers and Shopping

    The last part of our trip was a whirlwind of seeing multiple sites in the Sundarbans mangrove forest and its wildlife, more interviews with villagers, historic and cultural sites and shopping, followed by tearful goodbyes.

  • Poets and Polders

    Poets and Polders

    Continuing on our journey, we visited the shrine and former home of Bangladeshi cultural icons, continued our interviews, and boarded a boat to take us to the embanked islands known as polders.

  • A Special Trip to Bangladesh

    A Special Trip to Bangladesh

    In Bangladesh, a large and growing population lives in one of the most dynamic and sensitive environments on Earth, subject to multiple natural disasters and threatened by climate change.

  • World Water Film Festival Makes a Splash at Columbia Climate School

    World Water Film Festival Makes a Splash at Columbia Climate School

    The event featured films and speakers from around the world who spotlighted humanity’s essential relationship with water and how it continues to evolve in our changing climate.

  • Strategies for Safe Drinking Water: Ensuring Lead-Free Taps for All

    Strategies for Safe Drinking Water: Ensuring Lead-Free Taps for All

    On World Water Day, Columbia researchers explore the best options for replacing America’s aging pipes.

  • For This Graduating Senior, Climate, Culture and Community Go Hand in Hand

    For This Graduating Senior, Climate, Culture and Community Go Hand in Hand

    Charitie Ropati’s Indigenous heritage informs her education, research and activism.

  • Finishing the Coastal Service Run

    Finishing the Coastal Service Run

    Traveling by boat, we are finishing our data collection and equipment servicing in coastal Bangladesh.

  • Land Subsidence in the Netherlands

    Land Subsidence in the Netherlands

    At a symposium on land subsidence, I learned about how the Dutch transformed their country so that about a quarter of it is below sea level and how they cope with it.

  • Taking My Class to Bangladesh

    Taking My Class to Bangladesh

    My undergraduate Sustainable Development course is in Bangladesh for a Spring Break trip to see what they have been learning about. We will be touring the country by bus and boat to learn about the environment and people of Bangladesh.