Environment

“The Freezer Challenge not only encouraged our lab to perform freezer maintenance and inventorying, but also provoked a collaborative effort with neighboring labs that resulted in the adoption of new freezer management practices within our building,” says MIT research technician Keven Dooley.

Putting the freeze on lab energy waste

MIT Green Labs’ first-ever Freezer Challenge encourages energy conservation through better freezer and sample storage practices.

August 9, 2017

Phytoplankton and chips

Simons Foundation supports enhanced computer infrastructure for MIT's Darwin Project, which focuses on marine microbes and microbial communities.

August 4, 2017

A new study shows that without significant reductions in carbon emissions, deadly heat waves could begin within as little as a few decades to strike regions of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. This map shows the maximum wet-bulb temperatures (which combine temperature and humidity) that have been reached in this region since 1979.

Deadly heat waves could hit South Asia this century

Without action, climate change could devastate a region home to one-fifth of humanity, study finds.

August 2, 2017

Geologists report that about 251.9 million years ago, a huge pulse of magma rose up through the Earth, in a region that today is known as the Siberian Traps.

Underground magma pulse triggered end-Permian extinction

Study ties specific interval during an extended period of volcanism to Earth’s most severe mass extinction.

July 31, 2017

After piloting its smart microgardening system in Boston homes and restaurants, and following a successful Kickstarter campaign last fall, SproutsIO is ramping up production and hitting the shelves in a few months.

SproutsIO aims to power a “Personal Produce” movement

Smart, soil-free microgarden lets users optimize growing conditions while cutting water and resource use.

July 26, 2017

“The Indian monsoon is considered a textbook, clearly defined phenomenon, and we think we know a lot about it, but we don’t,” says Senior Research Scientist Chien Wang. An image from Varanasi, India, shows flooding in 2011.

Study: Indian monsoons have strengthened over past 15 years

A 50-year dry spell has reversed, with more rain to come.

July 24, 2017

The Varanasi research group visits the MIT Central Utilities Plant cooling towers, where they will test their water-recapture technology with support from the new Campus Sustainability Incubator Fund.

New fund makes MIT a living sustainability lab

MIT Office of Sustainability announces awards to multi-departmental projects that test management, design, and operations solutions on campus.

July 21, 2017

$MIT climate scientists have found that the ocean’s export efficiency, or the fraction of total plankton growth that is sinking to its depths, is decreasing, due mainly to rising global temperatures.$

Rising temperatures are curbing ocean’s capacity to store carbon

Study finds large amounts of carbon dioxide, equivalent to yearly U.K. emissions, remain in surface waters.

July 6, 2017

New research finds certain aspects of how state-level renewable portfolio standards are designed and presented can set people’s minds for or against such policies — and that in this arena, public opinion does influence policymaking. For example, learning that a renewable energy policy will likely create several thousand jobs led to a significant increase in supporters of that policy.

Bolstering public support for state-level renewable energy policies

Analysis shows the design and framing of renewable energy policies can strengthen public support — or opposition.

June 30, 2017

Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change Research Scientist Kenneth Strzepek meets with Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture Tefera Deribew.

Charting a better future for Africa

Kenneth Strzepek applies models to help decision makers advance food security and sustainable development in a climate-compromised continent.

June 22, 2017

Researchers have found one of the last undisturbed tropical peat forests, in the nation of Brunei on the island of Borneo.

Peatlands, already dwindling, could face further losses

Climate change could damage the fragile zones, causing major carbon emissions.

June 12, 2017

Participants in the Metals and Minerals for the Environment initiative’s first public symposium on May 11 and 12 at MIT gathered for a group shot outside Fariborz Maseeh Hall.

Envisioning the future of metal and mineral production

MIT researchers team up with leaders from the metals and minerals industry to envision a more sustainable future.

May 24, 2017

"We can’t only care about global-scale climate change; we also need to consider the local quality of life because these two things are closely related. If you want to know more about China’s future, you need to understand its local life," says Siqi Zheng, faculty director of the Samuel Tak Lee MIT Real Estate Entrepreneurship Lab.

3Q: Siqi Zheng on air quality and urban development in China

Author of “Blue Skies over Beijing” links Chinese air quality and urban development.

May 19, 2017

Years of rapid urbanization, rising incomes, and transport investment focused on automobiles has led to a significant rise in traffic congestion in Beijing and other Chinese cities. An MIT study considers how effective new measures will be in reducing China’s air pollution.

Tackling air pollution in China

Combining climate policy and vehicle emissions standards could pack a one-two punch.

May 17, 2017

“The observations are telling us there will be increases [in extreme rainfall] at almost all latitudes, but if you want to know what’s going to happen at the scale of a continent or smaller, it’s a much more difficult question,” Paul O’Gorman says.

Varied increases in extreme rainfall with global warming

Intensification of extreme rainfall varies from region to region, study shows.

May 15, 2017

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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