Scientists have found evidence that the ozone hole over Antarctica is getting smaller and forming later in the year, reports Seth Bornstein for the Associated Press. Prof. Susan Solomon, lead author of the study, says the findings are a "tremendous cause for hope" for fixing other environmental problems.
USA Today reporter Doyle Rice reports that a team of researchers led by MIT Prof. Susan Solomon has found that the Antarctica ozone heal is beginning to heal. “The discovery shows global attempts to improve Earth's environment can work, providing a template for how humanity could tackle the exponentially larger issue of climate change,” Doyle writes.
New York Times reporter Henry Fountain writes that researchers have found evidence that the ozone hole over Antarctica is getting smaller. “We are seeing the planet respond as expected to the actions of people,” says Prof. Susan Solomon. “It’s really a story of the public getting engaged, policy makers taking action, and business getting engaged.”
Researchers from MIT and other institutions have found that the Antarctic ozone hole has begun to heal, reports Chris Mooney for The Washington Post. “If you use the medical analogy, first the patient was getting worse and worse, and then the patient is stabilized, and now, “explains Prof. Susan Solomon, “the patient is really starting to get better.”
BBC’s Colin Barras writes about research from Prof. Paul O’Gorman which finds that extreme snowfalls are an expected consequence of climate change. O’Gorman says “extreme snowfall events respond to climate change quite differently from total seasonal snowfall."
Prof. Paul O’Gorman spoke at Columbia University regarding a study he conducted on how climate change might impact extreme snowfall, reports Andrea Thompson for Scientific American. O'Gorman found that while average annual snow amounts and extreme snowfalls would decline as temperatures rose, “extreme snowfalls would become a bigger proportion of all snow events.”
Research affiliate Judah Cohen speaks with Boston Herald reporter Erin Smith about his predictions for how much snow Boston might see this winter. “I think there will be a snowier second half of winter. That’s still very plausible,” says Cohen. “But matching anything like last year it would be difficult — near impossible.”
Prof. Kerry Emanuel speaks with Chris Mooney of The Washington Post about the formation of a rare tropical cyclone off the coast of Yemen. “While it is unusual for Arabian Sea TCs to affect Yemen, it is not unprecedented,” explains Emanuel.
Professor Kerry Emanuel speaks with Associated Press reporter Seth Borenstein about how Hurricane Patricia strengthened so rapidly. "I was really astounded," says Emanuel. "It was over the juiciest part of the eastern Pacific."
In an interview with Elisabeth Gawthrop of The Daily Beast, Prof. Kerry Emanuel weighs in on why tracking hurricanes is more difficult than predicting land-based weather. Emanuel explains that hurricanes and low-pressure systems over land “have completely different physics.”
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.”
Professor Kerry Emanuel weighs in on President Obama’s statements on the relationship between climate change and extreme weather events, writes Chris Mooney for The Washington Post. “In his remarks at the National Hurricane center, President Obama presented a balanced view of how climate change is expected to affect hurricanes,” explains Emanuel.
AP reporter Seth Borenstein writes that Prof. Kerry Emanuel conducted an analysis of past hurricane trends and found that a number of U.S. metro regions may be overdue for large storms. ‘‘It’s just the laws of statistics,’’ explains Emanuel. ‘‘Luck will run out. It’s just a question of when.’’
Curt Woodward writes for BetaBoston about how MIT graduate student Ben Letham developed a formula for measuring the misery and difficulty of a particular winter. Woodward explains that Letham’s formula, which gave more weight to snowfall concentrated in short periods of time, showed that “this winter’s snow was more relentless, and more miserable to live through, than any other.”
Boston Globe reporter Bella English writes about Dr. Judah Cohen, a research affiliate at MIT and director of seasonal forecasting for Atmospheric and Environmental Research, who accurately predicted this winter’s record-breaking snowfall. Cohen’s seasonal forecasts have been right “75 percent of the time, a rate that tops those of the major government weather centers.”