New research from visiting scientist Judah Cohen suggests that “severe winter weather in the United States is often tied to (relatively) high heat in the North Pole,” writes Eleanor Cummins for Popular Science. “If the Arctic is cold, that favors less severe winter in the eastern U.S.,”said Cohen. “When the Arctic is warm, it’s the opposite relationship.”
Matt Simon of Wired describes research led by visiting scientist Judah Cohen, which used the “Accumulated Winter Season Severity Index”, to reveal that warming in the arctic is associated with severe winter weather conditions. “[The researchers] looked at peaks in arctic temperatures and found that these anticipated severe weather by five days, which would suggest a link,” Simon writes.
A study from senior researcher Rolland Pellenq finds that grid-like cities retain more heat than those that are less-linear, due to the “Urban Heat Island” effect. “For new cities, or even neighborhoods, our findings can be used…in designing block layouts that would help optimize temperature,” Pellenq explains to Marlene Cimons of Popular Science.
Researchers utilized weather data from the region between Texas, North Dakota, and Ohio to see if an increase in crop growth had an effect on area climate change. Kimberly Hickok writes for Science that there is "strong indication" that the regional changes in climate in the late 20th century can be attributed to “agriculture, and not changing sea surface temperature."
A study by Prof. Daniel Rothman shows that there could be enough carbon in the Earth’s oceans by 2100 to trigger a sixth mass extinction, reports Mark Fischetti and Jen Christiansen for Scientific American.
Meghna Chakrabarti of WBUR’s Radio Boston speaks to Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello ‘01 about the needs and the status of the island, plans to rebuild infrastructure, and how the new tax plan will affect Puerto Rico’s economy. Rossello was in Boston for the MIT Conference on the Resilient Reconstruction of the Caribbean.
Boston Globe reporter David Abel reports on Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló's ’01 visit to MIT for the Conference for the Resilient Construction of the Caribbean. The governor shared his frustration with proposed federal tax policies while expressing optimism about working with MIT on solutions for climate-resilient reconstruction after this fall’s hurricanes.
In an article for The Wall Street Journal, Christopher Matthews highlights a new study by Prof. Kerry Emanuel that shows Texas faces an increased risk of devastating rainfall due to climate change. The study demonstrated how greenhouse gas emissions, “help warm offshore waters—a phenomenon that can magnify the severity of storms and generate more rain, creating bigger floods.”
A recent study from Prof. Kerry Emanuel suggests that, due to climate change, “massive hurricanes like Harvey are expected to strike Houston and Texas with much greater frequency in the future than they do now,” writes Deborah Netburn for the Los Angeles Times.
A study by Prof. Kerry Emanuel finds that storms like Hurricane Harvey, which produced 20 inches of rain, are six times more likely to occur as a result of global warming, reports Robinson Meyers of The Atlantic. Rainfall will worsen because “storms of all types—not just hurricanes—will retain more moisture in a warmer climate,” explains Meyers.
Chris Mooney at The Washington Post writes about a new study from Prof. Kerry Emanuel, which suggests that the extreme rains during Hurricane Harvey were made more likely by climate change, and “such extreme flooding events will only become more frequent as the globe continues to warm.”
Writing for U.S. News & World Report, Alexa Lardieri highlights how Prof. Daniel Rothman has analyzed carbon changes over the past 540 million years and found that the next mass extinction could start in 2100. Rothman found that, “mass extinctions can occur if changes in the carbon cycle over long time periods outpace global ecosystems' abilities to adapt to those changes.”
In this video, Nicholas Cardona reports for USA Today that Prof. Daniel Rothman has predicted that the Earth’s next mass extinction event could begin in 2100, based on an analysis of the last five mass extinction events. Rothman found that, “each of the events saw high increases in global carbon. That leads to a destabilized ecosystem,” Cardona reports.
In a new study, Prof. Daniel Rothman has predicted that the oceans may hold enough carbon to trigger a sixth mass extinction by 2100, reports Trevor Nace for Forbes. Rothman’s analysis showed that, “given the current rate of carbon being emitted into the atmosphere, we will likely reach a mass extinction threshold by the year 2100.”
HuffPost reporter Thomas Tamblyn writes that Prof. Daniel Rothman has analyzed the Earth’s five previous mass extinctions and found that a sixth could be triggered by 2100. Rothman found that, “if a certain amount of carbon dioxide was added to the oceans on top of its existing levels it would result in a sixth mass extinction event.”