State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Tag: drought4

  • How Will Climate Change Impact Water Resources?

    How Will Climate Change Impact Water Resources?

    Richard Seager and Park Williams, climate scientists at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, discuss how water will be affected by warmer temperatures, and how their research increases understanding of these issues.

  • Colin Kelley: Food and Water Vulnerability in a Changing Climate

    Colin Kelley: Food and Water Vulnerability in a Changing Climate

    Colin Kelley, an associate research scientist with the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, studies regional climate in vulnerable areas like the Middle East in order to improve our ability to make forecasts, plan ahead and become more resilient to drought and other climate shifts.

  • Grasslands More Sensitive to Dryness than Rainfall, Study Says

    Grasslands More Sensitive to Dryness than Rainfall, Study Says

    A new study shows that dryness of the atmosphere affects U.S. grassland productivity more than rainfall does. The findings could have important implications for predicting how plants will respond to warming climate conditions.

  • Rising Temperatures Load the Dice for Megadrought Risk

    Rising Temperatures Load the Dice for Megadrought Risk

    As the American Southwest grows hotter, the risk of severe, long-lasting megadroughts rises, passing 90 percent this century if greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current pace, a new study from scientists at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory says. Aggressively reducing emissions can cut that risk.

  • Drought and Fire Activity: What’s Climate Change Got to Do with It?

    Drought and Fire Activity: What’s Climate Change Got to Do with It?

    Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory scientist Park Williams, recipient of a Center for Climate and Life Fellowship, is investigating the influence of climate change on droughts and wildfires.

  • Learning from El Niño as La Niña Odds Rise

    Learning from El Niño as La Niña Odds Rise

    Although El Niño is weakening, its ramifications continue to be felt around the world. Drought and resulting food insecurity is one of the major implications for southeast Asia, eastern and southern Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. Sixty million are in need of emergency relief today, according to the United Nations.

  • Attributing Extreme Weather to Causes—Including Climate Change

    Attributing Extreme Weather to Causes—Including Climate Change

    New research and more powerful computer models are advancing scientists’ ability to tease apart the forces that can worsen extreme weather. In a new report, a committee of the National Academy of Sciences that includes Columbia’s Adam Sobel assesses the young field of attribution studies.

  • Syria’s Drought Likely Its Most Severe in More than 900 Years

    Syria’s Drought Likely Its Most Severe in More than 900 Years

    “If climate change is having an impact and is making droughts worse, then we should see this in the record over several centuries—and we do,” said the study’s author, Benjamin Cook.

  • What Does El Niño Mean, in 3.4 Seconds

    What Does El Niño Mean, in 3.4 Seconds

    Scientists at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society took a moment from their work (a very brief moment) to answer the question, “What does El Niño mean?”

  • How Will Climate Change Impact Water Resources?

    How Will Climate Change Impact Water Resources?

    Richard Seager and Park Williams, climate scientists at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, discuss how water will be affected by warmer temperatures, and how their research increases understanding of these issues.

  • Colin Kelley: Food and Water Vulnerability in a Changing Climate

    Colin Kelley: Food and Water Vulnerability in a Changing Climate

    Colin Kelley, an associate research scientist with the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, studies regional climate in vulnerable areas like the Middle East in order to improve our ability to make forecasts, plan ahead and become more resilient to drought and other climate shifts.

  • Grasslands More Sensitive to Dryness than Rainfall, Study Says

    Grasslands More Sensitive to Dryness than Rainfall, Study Says

    A new study shows that dryness of the atmosphere affects U.S. grassland productivity more than rainfall does. The findings could have important implications for predicting how plants will respond to warming climate conditions.

  • Rising Temperatures Load the Dice for Megadrought Risk

    Rising Temperatures Load the Dice for Megadrought Risk

    As the American Southwest grows hotter, the risk of severe, long-lasting megadroughts rises, passing 90 percent this century if greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current pace, a new study from scientists at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory says. Aggressively reducing emissions can cut that risk.

  • Drought and Fire Activity: What’s Climate Change Got to Do with It?

    Drought and Fire Activity: What’s Climate Change Got to Do with It?

    Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory scientist Park Williams, recipient of a Center for Climate and Life Fellowship, is investigating the influence of climate change on droughts and wildfires.

  • Learning from El Niño as La Niña Odds Rise

    Learning from El Niño as La Niña Odds Rise

    Although El Niño is weakening, its ramifications continue to be felt around the world. Drought and resulting food insecurity is one of the major implications for southeast Asia, eastern and southern Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. Sixty million are in need of emergency relief today, according to the United Nations.

  • Attributing Extreme Weather to Causes—Including Climate Change

    Attributing Extreme Weather to Causes—Including Climate Change

    New research and more powerful computer models are advancing scientists’ ability to tease apart the forces that can worsen extreme weather. In a new report, a committee of the National Academy of Sciences that includes Columbia’s Adam Sobel assesses the young field of attribution studies.

  • Syria’s Drought Likely Its Most Severe in More than 900 Years

    Syria’s Drought Likely Its Most Severe in More than 900 Years

    “If climate change is having an impact and is making droughts worse, then we should see this in the record over several centuries—and we do,” said the study’s author, Benjamin Cook.

  • What Does El Niño Mean, in 3.4 Seconds

    What Does El Niño Mean, in 3.4 Seconds

    Scientists at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society took a moment from their work (a very brief moment) to answer the question, “What does El Niño mean?”