News

August 28 2017
Strength of Global Stratospheric Circulation Measured for First Time
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Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office Estimate will help gauge hang time of greenhouse gases, water vapor, and ozone in upper atmosphere.
August 24 2017
Paola Malanotte-Rizzoli to Give Rachel Carson Lecture at AGU's Fall 2017 Meeting
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Lauren Hinkel

The chosen female scientist exemplifies Rachel Carson’s work with cutting-edge ocean science, especially science relevant to societal concerns.

August 24 2017
For the Love of Ice: Journeys to the Remote and Inhospitable
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Kate Repantis | MIT Alumni Association

Alison Criscitiello PhD '14 seeks ice cores in inhospitable locations, sometimes camping on ice sheets and sleeping with a shotgun in case of bear attacks.

August 24 2017
Saving Venice, MIT-style
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Lily Keyes | MISTI MISTI interns and MIT faculty tackle rising sea level challenges at Italian research camp this summer
August 14 2017
Atmospheres, Oceans and Climate Summer Round Up
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Lauren Hinkel

Before the summer ends and we start in on our next year of exciting research and events, catch up on some stories you may have missed from last year. Features from the previous academic year include exciting climate research, new planetary findings, faculty awards and events. 

August 14 2017
New Faculty
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Helen Hill | EAPS NEWS

EAPS is delighted to introduce three new members of faculty: Brent Minchew will join EAPS as an Assistant Professor with PAOC and Geophysics in January 2018, Julien de Wit as an Assistant Professor in July 2018, and Katherine de Kleer as an Assistant Professor in July 2019.

August 4 2017
Phytoplankton & Chips
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Helen Hill | EAPS News

Microbes mediate the global marine cycles of elements, modulating atmospheric CO2 and helping to maintain the oxygen we all breath yet there is much about them scientists still don’t understand. Now, an award from the Simons Foundation will give researchers from the Darwin Project access to bigger, better computing resources to model these communities and probe how they work.

July 24 2017
The Sticky Intertropical Convergence Zone
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Lauren Hinkel

Ocean circulation coupled to changes in trade winds efficiently damps ITCZ movement to transport heat across the equator.

July 24 2017
Indian Monsoons Have Strengthened Over Past 15 Years
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Jennifer Chu | MIT News

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

July 21 2017
Understanding Climate Change’s Ground Zero
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Mark Dwortzan | MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change

Study highlights need to improve modeling of carbon-rich Northern Eurasia

July 18 2017
Susan Solomon Honored for her Contributions to Atmospheric Science
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Helen Hill | EAPS News

Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies Susan Solomon to receive the Royal Society's 2018 Bakerian Medal and give the Bakerian Lecture.

July 11 2017
Climate Change to Deplete Some US Water Basins, Reduce Irrigated Crop Yields
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Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office

By 2050, the Southwest will produce significantly less cotton and forage, researchers report.

July 6 2017
Rising Temperatures are Curbing Ocean’s Capacity to Store Carbon
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Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office

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

July 5 2017
de Wit Named Innovators Under 35 -- 2017 Innovator of the Year, Belgium
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Helen Hill | EAPS News

Innovators Under 35, also known as TR35, is an annual list published by MIT Technology Review magazine, naming the world's top 35 innovators under the age of 35.

June 26 2017
Costa Christopoulos Wins the Christopher Goetze Prize for Undergraduate Research
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Lauren Hinkel

The award is given for innovative experimental design, care in data collection, and sensitive application of results to research problems.

June 23 2017
Pauline Morrow Austin: Radar & Weather Maven
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MIT Video Productions

 Pauline Morrow Austin (PhD '42) joined MIT's Weather Radar Research Project at its inception in 1946 and went on to direct the project from 1956-1979. Her pioneering work to interpret weather radar echoes laid the foundation for modern radar meteorology.

June 22 2017
Recognizing a Legacy of Citizenship and Devotion to MIT
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Lauren Hinkel

Michael McClellan Receives the 2017 Karl Taylor Compton Prize.

June 9 2017
MIT-NASA Study Evaluates Efficiency of Oceans as Heat Sink, Atmospheric Gases Sponge
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Ellen Gray | NASA's Earth Science News Team

New MIT-NASA research using models of Atlantic circulation finds that the ocean absorbs atmospheric gases more easily than heat energy, and the slowing circulation that results, reduces its ability to absorb both.

June 9 2017
2017 Senior Thesis Presentations
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Helen Hill | EAPS News

Each year, graduating seniors majoring in EAPS present a thesis in completion of their Bachelor of Science Degree. This year, EAPS had a class of 8 students specializing in areas across the earth, atmospheric and planetary sciences, 5 of whom were advised by PAOC members.

June 5 2017
Measuring Biological Dust in the Wind
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Lauren Hinkel

A new technique developed in the Cziczo Lab may be the most accurate way of identifying biological aerosols from mineral dust in the atmosphere, constraining their contribution to cloud formation and climate change.

June 2 2017
MIT issues statement regarding research on Paris Agreement
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MIT News Office

MIT issued the following statement on Thursday, June 1 2017.

May 30 2017
An Ocean of Curiosity
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Lauren Hinkel

MIT oceanographers explore Earth’s seas with the Boston community for the 2017 Cambridge Science Festival at the MIT Museum.

May 23 2017
Happy 100th Birthday to the Father of Chaos
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Kerry Emanuel

Today, May 23rd, Edward N. Lorenz, longtime professor of meteorology at MIT, would have turned 100. Widely recognized as the father of the modern theory of chaos, he profoundly altered the way we view the natural world.

May 22 2017
Kepler Telescope Spies Details of TRAPPIST-1 System's Outermost Planet
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Peter Kelley | University of Washington

A University of Washington-led international team of astronomers, among them Julien de Wit from PAOC in Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT, has used data gathered by the Kepler Space Telescope to observe and confirm details of the outermost of seven exoplanets orbiting the star TRAPPIST-1. 

 

May 15 2017
Varied Increases in Extreme Rainfall with Global Warming
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Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office

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

January 11 2013
The Global Warming Conundrum: Greenhouse Gases vs. Aerosols Genevieve Wanucha for Oceans at MIT There’s a tricky chemical trade-off at work in our skies. As greenhouse gases provide their famous warming effect to Earth’s surface, aerosol pollution in the atmosphere actually partly counteracts it.
January 10 2013
Reducing the Risks of Mercury Vicki Ekstrom, Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change Noelle Selin, along with a team of ten MIT graduate students, will present scientific results to negotiators in Geneva next week.
December 21 2012
Congratulations Dr. Dutkiewicz Center for Global Change Science Stephanie Dutkiewisz is promoted to PRS
December 20 2012
Freedom to Try the Untested Genevieve Wanucha for Oceans at MIT More about the Moore Foundations recent microbiology award
December 6 2012
A New 'Branch' of Math Jennifer Chu for MIT News Dan Rothman and his group find a common angle and tipping point of branching river valley networks.
December 6 2012
Marine Microbiology Award MIT News Office Mick Follows receives award to pursue high-risk research in marine microbial ecology.
November 29 2012
Pike Thackray takes the Prize Helen Hill Grad student Colin Pike Thackray is project winner of this year's Quantifying Uncertainty class, 12.S990 led by Sai Ravela.
November 7 2012
New method could help communities plan for climate risk Vicki Ekstrom, Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change Adam Schlosser and co-workers develop tool to assess regional risks of climate change, potential impacts on local infrastructure and planning.
November 5 2012
Clearing the Air Jennifer Chu, MIT News Office Atmospheric chemist Susan Solomon finds hope in past environmental challenges.
November 2 2012
Sitting still or going hunting: Which works better? David L. Chandler, MIT News Office Former Ferrari Group postdoc John Taylor (now a University Lecturer, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, UK) worked with Roman Stocker (CEE) in this study showing if you’re a microbe floating in the ocean, there’s no single best strategy for getting food.
October 31 2012
Was Hurricane Sandy Caused by Climate Change? Here and Now, WBUR Whenever there’s an extreme weather event, from a hurricane to a record drought, the question always arises: Is it climate change? Kerry Emanuel told NPR's Here & Now program that it’s hard to know for sure, but it is clear that as coastal waters warm up, storms will carry more rain, due to the added water vapor.
October 30 2012
Sandy make you miss Tim Palmer's talk Monday? Here is Prof. Palmer's presentation 'The "real" butterfly effect?'
October 30 2012
More Than Just a "Category 1" New York Times How could we improve the rating systems for natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes: Kerry Emanuel shares his thoughts in the New York Times.
October 30 2012
What the past teaches: meeting today's global environmental challenge Vicki Ekstrom, Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change Atmospheric science pioneer, EAPS Professor Susan Solomon speaks on past environmental accomplishments, technology’s role and how history should be our guide to meeting today’s global challenges.
October 30 2012
Where to find a tasty codepod? Oceanus Magazine, WHOI MIT-WHOI Joint Program grad student Nick Woods and the team from the Autonomous Systems Laboratory at WHOI are helping to untangle the combination of physical and biological processes that create dense patches of the tiny marine organism (codepods) favored by basking sharks, cod, haddock and the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
October 30 2012
Ocean Microstructure and Why Study It? NASA Earth Observatory "Notes from the Field" Blog Grad student Alec Bogdanoff is currently at sea making ocean microstructure measurements. Find out what that means and meet the team he works with at WHOI in today's NASA Earth Observatory blog entry.
October 30 2012
Coral Reefs, Sinking Islands, and the Half-Complete Theory of Charles Darwin Oceans at MIT MIT-Joint program student Michael Toomey joins geomorphologists Taylor Perron (EAPS) and Andrew Ashton (WHOI) in an exploration of why Darwin's theory of atoll evolution doesn't fit the observed life-cycle of some volcanic ocean island chains.
October 23 2012
Could We One Day Send Humans to the Newly Discovered Planet Orbiting Alpha Centauri B? The Atlantic Magazine Put on your thinking caps and let's get planning! Sarah Seager talks to "The Atlantic"
October 17 2012
At MIT, Dalai Lama calls for better stewardship of Earth’s resources Tibetan Buddhist leader urges a more enlightened view of self-interest in remarks at a conference held at MIT this week. EAPS' Kerry Emanuel participates in "Ethics, Economics and Environment" panel.
October 2 2012
Oceans Online John Marshall and the Oceans at MIT team, pull together all things "ocean" to create a new cross-campus website. Immerse yourself in this new resource for what is going on at MIT and within the MIT-WHOI Joint Program.
September 17 2012
Exploring the Arctic Ocean and Sea Ice Researcher An Nguyen reports on a numerical modeling study to better understand the origin and character of the western arctic upper halocline.
July 22 2012
Which skink's which? Otaga Daily Times Tools developed by Sai Ravela and co-workers being used in New Zealand to study skink ecology.
July 20 2012
Program will identify skinks Ecological Informatics by Photography A new method to understand the migratory behavior of individuals in ecosystems through pattern recognition
July 20 2012
Congratulations Dr. Dail and Dr. Ivy PAOC Congratulates newest doctoral graduates Holly Dail and Diane Ivy.
July 13 2012
Following the Ice: Is this Global Warming? Ben Linhoff MIT-WHOI Joint Program student Ben Linhoff's is blogging from the Greenland Ice Sheet for Scientific American this summer