State of the Planet

UNFCCC plenary room at the June climate meetings during the research dialogues, setting the scene for two weeks of negotiations. Jim Skea, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, speaking.

Researchers used more than 200 drone videos, lava samples and numerical modeling to reconstruct how lava flow changed as it moved toward the ocean. Near the vent, the lava was nearly 80% gas bubbles by volume; as it traveled, gas escaped, crystals grew and the lava became much more resistant to flow. Bubble behavior, not just bubble abundance, strongly influenced how fast and how far the lava traveled.

It’s hard to comprehend the pace of development when we live through it day to day—until we see photos like those of Shenzhen below, taken nearly four decades apart. Shenzhen’s designation in the 1980s as China’s first special economic zone kickstarted its breakneck industrialization from small fishing village to global economic powerhouse. It is a testament to humanity’s ability to reshape our environment in the name of economic growth. But at what cost? Shenzhen in 1980. Credit: Leroy W.

Columbia Climate School and the Paris Climate School at Sciences Po are launching a new dual master’s program at the intersection of climate science and ecological governance. Students will spend one year in Paris and one year in New York, earning a Master of Arts in Ecological Transition, Risks and Governance from Sciences Po and a Master of Science in Climate from the Columbia Climate School.

This piece was originally published by Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre.

Last November, a study led by Adrien Wehrlé, a researcher in the department of geography at the University of Zürich, Switzerland, looked at the massive calving response of one of West Greenland’s active glaciers, Sermeq Kujalleq in the Kangia icefjord (SKK), to the drainage of two surface lakes. Called supraglacial lakes, these are temporary meltwater ponds that form and accumulate in the depressions or holes on the surface of glaciers and ice sheets.

As another dangerous heat wave blankets much of the U.S., more than 160 million people are now under extreme heat warnings or advisories. Temperatures in the U.K. and France have already broken records, with Europe seen as one of the fastest warming continents on the planet. Our oceans are also feeling the heat.

In December 2025, the U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA) passeda resolution in its seventh session, held in Nairobi, Kenya, acknowledging the impacts of a shrinking cryosphere and calling for member nations to take action. The proposed activities are meant to increase efforts to save glaciers and to incorporate the needs and voices of Indigenous peoples, local communities and other local stakeholders into cryosphere preservation efforts.

This summer, the 2026 FIFA World Cup brings 48 teams and millions of fans to 16 cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico. In New York and New Jersey alone, eight games at MetLife Stadium throughout June and July, including the World Cup final, are estimated to draw more than 1.2 million spectators, generate $3.3 billion in revenue and create 26,000 new jobs in the metropolitan area.

Flooding in Porto Alegre–Salgado Filho International Airport in May, 2024. Photo: Ricardo Stuckert / PR On June 10 and 11, Columbia Climate School and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law co-hosted their second conference on Attribution Science and Climate Law.