News

Several inherent attributes of ocean, atmosphere and solid earth sciences contribute to making these disciplines challenging to teach and learn at the K-14 level. These include the large spatial scale of important processes, the consequent reliance on models and representations rather than actual target phenomena in hands-on activities, the centrality of systems thinking and emergent… read more

Since the first week of the Spring Campaign we have had a planned flight from Thule to Fairbanks. This trans Arctic flight will provide a valuable overview of the icecap and the condition of the Northwest Passage. The weather has caused reschedules in that flight until we are down to the last days of the… read more

The United Nations has awarded Taro Takahashi, a geochemist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, its highest honor for environmental leadership, the Champions of the Earth award, for his research on the oceans’ uptake of carbon dioxide and its implications for global warming. He was presented with a trophy and a $40,000 prize on Thursday, April 22,… read more

In a research career spanning more than four decades, Paul Richards, a seismologist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, has helped uncover Earth’s inner structure and advanced techniques for detecting nuclear explosions to ensure that bans on nuclear testing can be enforced. Richards will receive the Seismological Society of America’s Harry Fielding Reid medal at its annual… read more

It’s amazing to think that Greenland is only hours from Baltimore’s BWI Airport, but the aircraft loaded at 2AM and we arrived in Greenland six hours later at 8 AM local time. The science teams are transported on an Air Mobility Command flight, the US Military’s “airline” for service men and women, contractors, and others… read more

Wallace Broecker is a climate scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory who has helped shape our understanding of how the ocean moves heat around the globe, and how this so-called “great ocean conveyor” can switch the climate to a radically different state. Many scientists used to think that only periodic changes in earth’s orbit—so-called Milankovitch cycles–… read more

One of the events that Thule looks forward to hosting each year is Armed Forces Day. The festival attracts several hundred people, both Inuit families and Air Force personnel. Held on the ice of North Star Bay, the events include broomstick hockey, snowmobile rides, helicopter rides, children’s craft activities and dog sled races. The dog… read more

Taking off amidst snow flurries we are headed completely across the Greenland ice cap to the northeast corner of of the country. This flight will differ from most of the DC-8 flights during the Ice Bridge 2010 Greenland campaign. The DC-8 flights are mainly used to measure sea ice or surface mapping with high altitude… read more

We have flown three flights in the last week, with a fourth postponed as winds were too high for take off. Two of the flights have focused on sea ice in the Arctic. The first was flown north of Canada’s Ellsmere Island, where thick multiyear ice tends to accumulate. We examined the thickness of that… read more

Our ICE Bridge team of 34 scientists and NASA personnel has piled mounds of equipment, luggage, and emergency Arctic survival gear into the DC-8, setting off just before midnight for Thule, Greenland.All but two of the seats are filled, and every possible open area has been piled with our supplies for the next few weeks.Our… read more

Jim Cochran, Geophysicist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory ICE Bridge scientists gathering at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) in Palmdale, CA for our upcoming Greenland mission were greeted in true California style. We were awakened by a magnitude 4.4 earthquake in the middle of the night! Although small by California standards the event was centered only about… read more

A new set of web pages describes the Earth Institute’s wide-ranging involvement in helping bring relief to quake-battered Haiti, as well as plans for long-term recovery, and associated environmental and economic issues. One major program, the Haiti Regeneration Initiative involves the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Center for Research on Environmental Decisions, Tropical Agriculture… read more

Scientists have been sailing off the coast of Haiti to assess the recent earthquake there, and the potential for more. The cruise is now complete; here is the final update, from reports by chief scientist Cecilia McHugh of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and others. (Read the full story of the project, involving the Earth Institute and other major institutions.) The great January… read more

While installing our seismic network in Malawi, we interacted with everyone from scientists to schoolteachers, and journalists to villagers. The opportunity to provide information and education to Malawians has been the most rewarding aspect of our effort. We trained local scientists and technicians on seismic equipment and data analysis, and educated the public on earthquakes… read more

Scientists are sailing off the coast of Haiti to assess the recent earthquake there, and the potential for more. This is the latest update, emailed by chief scientist Cecilia McHugh from the research vessel Endeavor. (Read the full story of the project, involving the Earth Institute and other major institutions.) We had a successful day and were able to map… read more