Climate System Science Major
Announcement by DEES, in partnership with the Columbia Climate School
Columbia University proudly announces its first climate science major. The ‘Climate System Science (CSS) Major’ launched in November 2022 in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (DEES), in partnership with the Columbia Climate School. A central goal of the CSS major is to attract a large and diverse pool of undergraduate students to address the critical needs of climate science, beginning with an education at Columbia and its new Climate School --- where they will join an inclusive program that will prepare them as highly informed citizens, and for professional opportunities in the rapidly growing and diversifying climate job market, from academia to Wall Street to Big Tech to the United Nations.
The Climate System Science major is designed for students who are interested in how the past, present, and future climate system works – and in creating strategies for solutions to the rapidly accelerating climate crisis. While building a fundamental science understanding of the climate system, CSS majors will develop solution-oriented analytical thinking and expertise. The flexible course structure combines geology, physics, biology, chemistry and math with a core in climate-system science and additional elective climate solutions, justice, policy and communications courses. Tracks like those in sea-level change, decarbonization, and modern climate link to the mission and applied centers of Columbia’s Climate School. We believe that every student admitted to Columbia has the potential to succeed in the CSS major and that CSS students will be able to connect broadly to research and collaborations across the Climate School and to exercise the Fourth Purpose of Columbia University.