The Columbia Climate School’s mission is to further knowledge and educate leaders to achieve equitable and just solutions to the changing climate and related sustainability challenges.
News Highlights
Congratulations to the 2025 Graduates of the Columbia Climate School
On May 16, M.A. in Climate and Society students gathered to celebrate their accomplishments.
Energy Efficiency Begins at Home: A Conversation with Alexis Abramson
The Climate School dean discusses how she first became interested in energy efficiency, how heat pumps work, and how homeowners can minimize their carbon footprint and energy bills.
Nanoplastics Are All Around (and Inside) Us
How are humans exposed to these tiny and ubiquitous plastics? And is there anything we can do about it?
Learn more about Class Day 2025 and see our coverage on State of the Planet.
Education
The Columbia Climate School educates future climate leaders to address the urgent challenges facing our planet with graduate degree programs and offers other powerful learning opportunities for students, educators, and professionals.
Research
The Columbia Climate School nurtures and supports innovative research in the science, consequences, and human dimensions of climate change, including the methods of achieving a more sustainable and just world.

The Columbia Climate School encompasses Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and more than 20 other centers and programs, supporting a continuum of research from basic discovery to societal solutions.

Our Office of Research nurtures our community of established and future environmental leaders through proposal development, programmatic engagement, and compliance support.
Impact
The Columbia Climate School translates its academic work into evidence-based analysis and advice to inform decision- and policy-makers in communities, governments, industries, and nonprofits in the US and globally.
All of the Biggest U.S. Cities Are Sinking
From the coasts to the interior, urban areas are sinking. The main culprit: pumping of groundwater.
A New Interactive Tool Models Natural Hazards Fueled by Climate Change
Columbia Climate scientists launch the first long-term dataset to track and predict the occurrence of climate change–fueled extreme events.
Columbia Climate School’s Seed Grants Advance Interdisciplinary Research
Seven teams will pursue innovative and collaborative research to address urgent climate challenges around the world.