State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Earth’s crust

  • How Does Earth’s Continental Crust Form? A New Bottom-Up Theory

    How Does Earth’s Continental Crust Form? A New Bottom-Up Theory

    Scientists have long believed that continental crust forms in volcanic arcs. The lingering question has been how exactly that happens.

  • The Breathing Ocean

    The Breathing Ocean

    Far south and farther south, where winds are cold and screaming, Waters churn, and deep below, old sediments lie dreaming. A million years’ residuum of life and death and dust, A library of ice ages reposed upon Earth’s crust.

Earth Month Graphic Collage: "Our Power, Our Planet - April 2025"

The first Earth Day in 1970 ignited a movement to stop polluting our planet. This Earth Month, join us in our commitment to realizing a just and sustainable future for our planet. Visit our Earth Day website for ideas, resources, and inspiration.

  • How Does Earth’s Continental Crust Form? A New Bottom-Up Theory

    How Does Earth’s Continental Crust Form? A New Bottom-Up Theory

    Scientists have long believed that continental crust forms in volcanic arcs. The lingering question has been how exactly that happens.

  • The Breathing Ocean

    The Breathing Ocean

    Far south and farther south, where winds are cold and screaming, Waters churn, and deep below, old sediments lie dreaming. A million years’ residuum of life and death and dust, A library of ice ages reposed upon Earth’s crust.