Research News 2019

Using drones, laser scanners, and high-resolution models, researchers hope to find out more about the processes driving rapid melting in this region.

On Saturday, October 5, Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory opened its doors to the public once again.

A paleoecologist explains why it’s actually a bad idea to “drain the swamp.”

Visit us in Palisades, NY, for hands-on, family-friendly science activities and lectures — including a new panel that will address the challenges of reporting the climate story.

Short answer: Moderation is key.

Journalists at Univision teamed up with Lamont scientists to test how well Newark’s lead filters are working. The results support new findings from city officials.

Dozens of Earth Institute and Lamont staff and students took part in New York City’s Climate Strike march.

Two Months in the Southern Ocean, for Science Under the leadership of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory scientists, two different expeditions sailed to the stormy Southern Ocean to learn more about Earth’s climate history.

A team of researchers taught social science students to test for high fluoride levels in their own villages, and experimented with creative ways to get the word out about the dangers of fluorosis.

Join Lamont's Center for Climate and Life and our Earth Institute colleagues at a groundbreaking New York City climate event designed to inform and inspire.

Scientific experts from Lamont and leading finance professionals at AllianceBernstein are collaborating to create an intensive curriculum focused on how climate change can affect economic and financial outcomes.

Park Williams and Richard Seager, climate experts at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, discuss why California wildfires are expected to expand and intensify with climate change.

A student research project unveils that tiny plastics in laundry detergents and fabrics could potentially have a big impact on ocean health.

Two months at sea, collecting drill cores in the stormiest ocean on the planet, can feel both extremely epic and fairly routine.

Artificial and modified organisms could become essential tools to fight climate change, clean up pollution, protect biodiversity, and more.

A new study shows, for the first time, evidence of a link between human-caused global warming and melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Lower air pollution levels saved an estimated 5,660 lives in New York State in 2012, compared to 2002 levels, according to a new study.

We added a campaign monument to the tide gauge at Khepupara on the way to our last GPS and SET installation site at Patuakhali. We faced challenges such as bad roads and broken bridges, and leeches, but got the work done. The field work was now coming to a close.

We replaced the GPS at Khulna University, then met some colleagues in Barisal. We continued to Khepupara and the beach at Kuakata for more installations. The beach on the Bay of Bengal is fresh water in the summer due to the enormous water discharge at the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta.

Silting rivers and bad roads made it difficult to find a last site. After a successful installation and an upgrade to an existing GPS site, we left the boat for land. We then discovered the local river had washed away some of our equipment.

We sailed to Hiron Point in the Sundarban Mangrove Forest to upgrade old and install new equipment. I have been to this beautiful remote site several times before. After competing the work, we sailed for over a day to reach our next site on a primary school roof.

By working a 16-hour day, we managed to get both GPS and SETs completed at our first field site. We then sailed into the Sundarban Mangrove Forest, the world’s largest, to visit an existing site and make measurements.

Study picks apart factors that caused severe, long-lasting droughts and suggests increased risk for future.

A new study reveals how local factors influence the Ross Ice Shelf’s stability, refining predictions of how it will change and influence sea rise in the future.

Recovering ancient seafloor sediments requires complicated machinery and a skilled crew.

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory director Sean Solomon discusses how Apollo 11 affected the scientific community, how Lamont was involved, and what comes next for lunar exploration.

Climate change could worsen China’s already bad ozone pollution problem — but a new study shows that it doesn’t have to be that way.

A new study combs through the many factors that can promote wildfires in California, and concludes that in many, though not all, cases, warming climate is the decisive driver.

Polar explorer Robin Bell testifies before the U.S. House Committee on Science Space and Technology about the threats of melting ice sheets.

A new study finds that ENSO has caused widespread, simultaneous crop failures in recent history, running counter to the long-held assumption that crop failures in geographically distant breadbasket regions are unrelated.

Between 2016 and 2018, the Center for Climate and Life awarded $2.1 million to 10 leading scientists who are bringing a fresh perspective to one of the most pressing issues of our times.

Climate models predict that as a result of human-induced climate change, the surface of the Pacific Ocean should be warming. But one key part is not.

Warming temperatures, rising seas, and more extreme weather are going to cost us. But they’ll create new business opportunities, too.

The impacts of climate change don’t always come one at a time. A recent workshop focused on what’s needed to predict and adapt when multiple climate-related disasters happen simultaneously.

A new study reveals the inner workings of tidally triggered earthquakes and finds that even the slightest stress can set off a tremor.

Lynn Sykes, a pivotal figure in the development of plate tectonics, discusses a new memoir of his career.

Lamont paleoclimatologist William D’Andrea studies past climates to see how societies such as the Vikings and the Rapanui of Easter Island dealt with environmental change. His work may help us adapt to a hotter future.

Join us on Saturday, June 1st to explore one of New York’s most underrated treasures: our productive waterways!

Climatologist Radley Horton from Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory testified before the Senate’s Subcommittee on Science, Oceans, Fisheries, and Weather. Senator and chairman of the subcommittee Cory Gardner, R-Colo., convened the hearing — titled “Atmospheric Science Research and Forecasting Innovation” — to examine the current state of atmospheric and forecast research.

A science career can offer unique opportunities and challenges for juggling work and family.

A new book, the second in a series of primers with the Earth Institute imprint, provides an interdisciplinary overview drought, bringing together many fields including climate science, hydrology and ecology.

A new study suggests that bacteria may respire more carbon dioxide from the shallow oceans to the air as oceans warm, reducing the deep oceans’ ability to store carbon.

A Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory oceanographer answers this deep question from a reader as part of our Earth Month Q&A on Instagram.

Despite some unpredictable Antarctic weather, the final G-055 team member makes it off the ice.

In a new study, scientists use urine salts to reconstruct the timing and scale of the Neolithic revolution at a Turkish archaeological site.

New method helps determine how quickly silicates wear down over time, which is key to understanding natural processes that remove CO2 from air.

The Antarctic field team returns to humanity, showers, and hot breakfasts.

A new study is the first to untangle the effects of volcanic eruptions and El Niño events on hurricane patterns.