New York Times reporter John Schwartz writes that a new study co-authored by Prof. Elfatih Eltahir has found that extreme heat events will be far more common in the Persian Gulf by the end of the century due to climate change. “When they happen, they will be quite lethal,” says Eltahir.
Matthew Nisbet, a professor at Northeastern University who focuses on climate change communication, writes for The Conversation about MIT’s Climate Action Plan. Nisbet writes that MIT’s plan can “serve as a model for how major research universities can accelerate effective societal actions on climate change by collaborating with a diversity of industry members.”
Researchers with the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology have found that fertilizing the ocean to create plankton blooms could lead to erratic rainfall patterns, reports Audrey Tan for The Straits Times. “This would have a drastic impact on the water cycle, the environment and human livelihoods,” writes Tan.
MIT researchers have developed a self-sustaining water-purification system for a remote Mexican village, according to The Guardian. “The villagers are able to operate and maintain the water purification system themselves,” The Guardian reports.
MIT researchers contributed to a new study that found that “severe floods – the kind likely to occur only every 500 years – may now strike every 24.4 years in the New York City area thanks to climate change,” writes Alan Neuhauser for U.S. News & World Report.
According to the Associated Press, a new study co-authored by MIT researchers finds that sea level rise due to climate change could dramatically increase storm surges and flooding in New York and New Jersey. The researchers found that “flood heights have risen nearly 4 feet from the year 850, largely because of the sea level rise.”
Prof. John Lienhard and Dr. Kenneth Strzepek write for The New York Times about the need for Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to successfully share water from the Nile. “The world needs to get good at sharing water, and right away,” they write. “The alternative is frequent regional conflicts of unknowable proportions.”
According to a new study co-authored by Prof. Kerry Emanual, “cities such as Tampa and Dubai will become increasingly vulnerable to rare, global-warming-fueled superstorms in the future,” writes Doyle Rice for USA Today. The study found that warmer seawaters will increase the probability of major storms.
A new study by Prof. Kerry Emanuel found an increased probability of major storms over the coming century, writes Andrea Thompson for Scientific American. “The increase in odds of extreme storms found in the study stems both from a shift toward more intense hurricanes as well as an overall increase in hurricane frequency,” Thompson explains.
New research by Prof. Kerry Emanuel shows that climate change is increasing the risk of tropical cyclones forming in the Persian Gulf, reports Alister Doyle for Reuters. The study also predicts that the frequency of extreme storms will increase in hurricane-prone areas.
Chris Mooney writes for The Washington Post about how in a new study Prof. Kerry Emanuel used computer models to demonstrate the effects of catastrophic hurricanes on a number of coastal cities. The study is meant “to raise awareness of what a very low probability, very high impact hurricane event might look like,” says Emanuel.
Prof. Kerry Emanuel's new research indicates that the risk of catastrophic hurricane disasters could increase ten-fold this century due to climate change, writes Eric Holthaus for Slate. Holthaus explains that the researchers embedded a “high-quality hurricane model into a broader scale climate change model” to examine the impact of future extreme storms.
Huffington Post contributor Derrick Crowe writes about a new MIT study that examines how increasing ocean acidification is impacting phytoplankton populations. The study showed how ocean acidification, “can throw off the balance of the plankton population, causing significant changes with profound implications for other species that depend on them.”
MIT researchers have found that increasing ocean acidification will impact phytoplankton species worldwide, reports Michelle Toh for The Christian Science Monitor. Toh explains that the researchers found, “the balance of various plankton species will radically change as the world’s oceans increase in acidity over the next 85 years.”
UPI reporter Brook Hays writes about new MIT research examining how ocean acidification will impact phytoplankton. The researchers found that “more acidic waters could allow some species to outcompete and wipe out entire other species" of phytoplankton.