State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

seafloor spreading

  • Marie Tharp’s Adventures in Mapping the Seafloor, In Her Own Words

    Marie Tharp’s Adventures in Mapping the Seafloor, In Her Own Words

    The pioneering mapmaker explains how she and colleagues discovered underwater mountain ranges 40,000 miles long, and helped to prove that the continents move.

  • Walter Pitman and the Smoking Gun of Plate Tectonics

    Walter Pitman and the Smoking Gun of Plate Tectonics

    “We had this magic key, this magic magnetic profile,” Pitman said. “We were able to date it and eventually use it not only as a tool that proved continental drift but a tool by which we could actually reconstruct the pattern of drift, that is the relative position of the continents, and the actual timing…

Overhead view of Columbia campus with text Columbia Climate School Class Day 2026: Congratulations Graduates

Congratulations to our Columbia Climate School Class of 2026 and all of our 2026 Columbia University graduates! Learn more about our May 15 Climate School Class Day celebration. 💙 #Columbia2026 #ColumbiaClimate2026

  • Marie Tharp’s Adventures in Mapping the Seafloor, In Her Own Words

    Marie Tharp’s Adventures in Mapping the Seafloor, In Her Own Words

    The pioneering mapmaker explains how she and colleagues discovered underwater mountain ranges 40,000 miles long, and helped to prove that the continents move.

  • Walter Pitman and the Smoking Gun of Plate Tectonics

    Walter Pitman and the Smoking Gun of Plate Tectonics

    “We had this magic key, this magic magnetic profile,” Pitman said. “We were able to date it and eventually use it not only as a tool that proved continental drift but a tool by which we could actually reconstruct the pattern of drift, that is the relative position of the continents, and the actual timing…