State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Tag: El Niño2

  • Forecasting Climate, with Help from the Baobab Tree

    Forecasting Climate, with Help from the Baobab Tree

    To improve climate forecasts, scientists study the complex interactions and mechanisms within the climate system. But they also need to hear from potential users of climate information, such as farmers, to get a better understanding of how people may use that information in their decision making.

  • 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.

  • Bleach Patrol: Turning Surfers into Scientists to Help Coral Reefs

    Bleach Patrol: Turning Surfers into Scientists to Help Coral Reefs

    With coral bleaching spreading, a new project and app called Bleach Patrol is putting surfers, divers and snorkelers to work as citizen scientists, keeping an eye on the world’s coral reefs.

  • El Niño and Global Warming—What’s the Connection?

    El Niño and Global Warming—What’s the Connection?

    The United Nations has declared 2015 the hottest year since record keeping began. It was also a year marked by the occurrence of a “super” El Niño. Are the warming temperatures and El Niño connected?

  • 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?”

  • It’s Beginning to Look Not a Lot Like Christmas

    It’s Beginning to Look Not a Lot Like Christmas

    Much of the eastern two-thirds of the United States was balmy on Christmas Day, with high temperatures more than 20°F above average from Texas to Maine. According to NOAA, 789 daily high temperature records were tied or broken on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the continental United States. What’s behind this unusual weather?

  • How Bad Will this El Niño Be? Worse Than You May Think

    How Bad Will this El Niño Be? Worse Than You May Think

    Today’s El Niño is unfolding over a world that is in many ways more vulnerable than the world of 1997-1998. Just as today’s climate continues to generate extremes without historical precedent, we are starting to see elements of social vulnerability also without historical precedent. That is an alarming combination.

  • With El Niño, Be Careful What You Wish for

    With El Niño, Be Careful What You Wish for

    In Southern California, a strong El Niño usually signals rain. Given that California is now in the throes of a severe drought, it seems like that should be a good thing, even if it comes with risk of floods. But the reality of climate is more complex and counter-intuitive than it first appears.

  • International Conference on El Niño, Nov. 17-18

    International Conference on El Niño, Nov. 17-18

    A live-streamed international conference on El Niño takes place on Nov. 17 and 18 at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society.

Science for the Planet: In these short video explainers, discover how scientists and scholars across the Columbia Climate School are working to understand the effects of climate change and help solve the crisis.
  • Forecasting Climate, with Help from the Baobab Tree

    Forecasting Climate, with Help from the Baobab Tree

    To improve climate forecasts, scientists study the complex interactions and mechanisms within the climate system. But they also need to hear from potential users of climate information, such as farmers, to get a better understanding of how people may use that information in their decision making.

  • 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.

  • Bleach Patrol: Turning Surfers into Scientists to Help Coral Reefs

    Bleach Patrol: Turning Surfers into Scientists to Help Coral Reefs

    With coral bleaching spreading, a new project and app called Bleach Patrol is putting surfers, divers and snorkelers to work as citizen scientists, keeping an eye on the world’s coral reefs.

  • El Niño and Global Warming—What’s the Connection?

    El Niño and Global Warming—What’s the Connection?

    The United Nations has declared 2015 the hottest year since record keeping began. It was also a year marked by the occurrence of a “super” El Niño. Are the warming temperatures and El Niño connected?

  • 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?”

  • It’s Beginning to Look Not a Lot Like Christmas

    It’s Beginning to Look Not a Lot Like Christmas

    Much of the eastern two-thirds of the United States was balmy on Christmas Day, with high temperatures more than 20°F above average from Texas to Maine. According to NOAA, 789 daily high temperature records were tied or broken on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the continental United States. What’s behind this unusual weather?

  • How Bad Will this El Niño Be? Worse Than You May Think

    How Bad Will this El Niño Be? Worse Than You May Think

    Today’s El Niño is unfolding over a world that is in many ways more vulnerable than the world of 1997-1998. Just as today’s climate continues to generate extremes without historical precedent, we are starting to see elements of social vulnerability also without historical precedent. That is an alarming combination.

  • With El Niño, Be Careful What You Wish for

    With El Niño, Be Careful What You Wish for

    In Southern California, a strong El Niño usually signals rain. Given that California is now in the throes of a severe drought, it seems like that should be a good thing, even if it comes with risk of floods. But the reality of climate is more complex and counter-intuitive than it first appears.

  • International Conference on El Niño, Nov. 17-18

    International Conference on El Niño, Nov. 17-18

    A live-streamed international conference on El Niño takes place on Nov. 17 and 18 at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society.