Writing for The Washington Post, Prof. Maria Zuber, MIT’s vice president for research, outlines how the U.S. can reduce coal emissions without “declaring war on coal communities.” Zuber argues that the U.S. must “commit to helping the workers and communities that are hurt when coal mines and coal plants reduce their operations or shut down.”
President L. Rafael Reif spoke with Los Angeles Times reporter Deborah Netburn about MIT’s commitment to fundamental scientific research. Reif explained that at MIT researchers are working to “identify big problems and have people working on those. To me, the health of the planet and human health are the two critical ones that drive everything.”
During a trip to Rome to renew MIT’s partnership with Eni aimed at accelerating clean energy technologies, President L. Rafael Reif spoke with Alessia Rastelli of Corriere della Sera about MIT’s Climate Action Plan, the Campaign for a Better World and bringing world-changing ideas to the marketplace. Reif explains that MIT researchers want to “have an impact on a global scale.”
In an article for Salon about extreme weather, Paul Rosenberg highlights a new study by MIT researchers that shows climate change could cause California to “experience three more extreme precipitation events per year by 2100, although the number could be reduced by half that if aggressive policy measures are pursued.”
Writing for Forbes, Eric Mack highlights a study by MIT researchers that shows extreme precipitation events in California should become more frequent due to climate change. The researchers found that by 2100, California “should expect between one and three more extreme precipitation events…every single year.”
Atlantic reporter Robinson Meyer writes about an MIT study that shows greenhouse gases lingering in the atmosphere will cause sea levels to rise for years. “The ocean remembers, and that’s really the key message,” explains Prof. Susan Solomon. “The sea takes a very, very long time to cool down once you’ve heated it up.”
A new study co-authored by MIT researchers finds that methane lingering in the Earth’s atmosphere could cause sea levels to rise for hundreds of years after emissions have been curbed, reports Chelsea Harvey for The Washington Post. “The study underlines the importance of curbing greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible,” Harvey explains.
A study by MIT researchers provides evidence that California could see an increase in extreme precipitation events due to climate change, according to CBS San Francisco. “Using large scale future projections and factoring in policies to restrict global warming, researchers said the Bay Area could see more of those kinds of storms on a seasonal basis.”
UPI reporter Brooks Hays writes that MIT researchers have developed a new model that helps predict the frequency of extreme precipitation events. The researchers found that “a rise in global temperature of 4 degrees Celsius will yield an extra three extreme precipitation events per year in California by the end of the century.”
A study co-authored by Prof. Kristin Bergmann finds that nacre or mother-of-pearl can provide information about historical ocean temperatures, writes Kavya Balaraman for Scientific American. The researchers found that the layers of mother-of-pearl “provide a good estimation of the temperatures they grow in.”
In their round up of the top science stories of 2016, Science News highlighted several MIT research breakthroughs. The top story of the year was the successful detection of gravitational waves by researchers from MIT, Caltech and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. Another highlight was the discovery by Prof. Susan Solomon that the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica is shrinking.
BBC News reporter Soutik Biswas writes that research affiliate Moshe Alamaro will use a jet engine to create updrafts that send emissions to higher altitudes in an effort to make the toxic air in Delhi safer. "This could lead to a successful implementation of a new technology for smog mitigation all over the world," says Alamaro.
Research affiliate Moshe Alamaro hopes to reduce smog in Delhi using a jet engine, according to The Economist. By placing a jet engine next to one of India’s coal-fired power plants, Alamaro hopes to create a “‘virtual chimney’ which would carry the trapped pollution above it, so that it could be dispersed in the wider atmosphere.”
Brian Sullivan writes for Bloomberg about research affiliate Judah Cohen’s “Siberian Snow Theory,” which is based on the concept that the amount of snow covering the ground in northern Eurasia can be used to predict how cold winter will be in the northern hemisphere. Sullivan writes that Cohen “spies all the makings of an early, cold winter,” this year.
GE is joining MITEI as a sustaining member and will participate in several Low-Carbon Energy Centers, reports Curt Woodward for The Boston Globe. “It’s not enough for a university to develop a technology,” says Robert Armstrong, director of MITEI. “It’s critical to have a partner like GE who can help you get it to people.”