El Niño cycle has a big effect on a major greenhouse gas
Nitrous oxide is commonly associated with laughing gas — the pleasantly benign vapor that puts patients at ease in the dentist’s chair. But outside the dentist’s office, the gas plays a serious role in...
View ArticleQuantifying the benefits of a national emissions trading system in China
Earlier this year, China took a major step in combating climate change by launching a pilot CO2 emissions trading system within some of its provinces. This is the first step in a series of planned...
View ArticleThe unintended benefits of pollution rules
China's unprecedented economic growth has created a more affluent society that demands more energy. The current growth is leading to more emissions from power plants and industries, which threaten...
View ArticleEmeritus: David Wilson was an early proponent of the concept of energy-use fees
The concept of a market-based mechanism to curb emissions of greenhouse gases — and thus slow the pace of climate change — has often been suggested in recent decades. But one particular version of such...
View Article‘Hybrid’ nuclear plants could make a dent in carbon emissions
Many efforts to smooth out the variability of renewable energy sources — such as wind and solar power — have focused on batteries, which could fill gaps lasting hours or days. But MIT’s Charles...
View ArticleConfronting climate change from the bottom up
As international climate negotiators meet this month for the 19th meeting of the UN Conference of Parties (COP19), there’s an increasing realization that top-down efforts to confront climate change...
View ArticleFeeding the world without consuming the planet
Global population is expected to rise from about 7 billion today to close to 11 billion by the end of the century. This growing population will increase the demand for food, putting further strain on...
View ArticleHow do we balance needs of energy, water, and climate?
In deciding how best to meet the world’s growing needs for energy, the answers depend crucially on how the question is framed. Looking for the most cost-effective path provides one set of answers;...
View ArticleStudy: Current efforts not enough to prevent climate consequences
As international negotiators discuss global efforts to confront climate change at the 19th United Nation’s Conference of Parties (COP19), a group of MIT researchers suggest that the current regional...
View ArticleA possible cause of the end-Permian mass extinction: Lemon juice?
Rain as acidic as undiluted lemon juice may have played a part in killing off plants and organisms around the world during the most severe mass extinction in Earth’s history. About 252 million years...
View ArticleExperts quantify impacts of policies to curb transportation emissions in China
The MIT-Tsinghua China Energy and Climate Project and Emory University held a workshop on Nov. 21 with researchers and government officials to discuss new research analyzing the impacts of China’s...
View Article3 Questions: Benjamin Olken on the economic impact of climate change
How is climate change going to affect our economic activity in the future? Many researchers have dug into this subject empirically in recent years, including economists Michael Greenstone and Benjamin...
View ArticleStoring carbon in the Arctic
For the past three decades, as the climate has warmed, the massive plates of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean have shrunk: In 2007, scientists observed nearly 50 percent less summer ice than had been seen...
View ArticleStudy finds piece-by-piece approach to emissions policies can be effective
Discussions on curbing climate change tend to focus on comprehensive, emissions-focused measures: a global cap-and-trade scheme aimed at controlling carbon, or a tax on all carbon emissions. But a new...
View ArticleMIT research in concrete gets funding boost
The MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub), a research center devoted to concrete and infrastructure science, engineering, and economics, has received $10 million in funding from its industry partners...
View ArticleUncovering the Costs of Climate Mitigation
Policies to curb greenhouse gas emissions will come at a cost to energy producers, industry and consumers. Policymakers around the globe are working to determine the most effective and cost efficient...
View ArticleAir pollutants in the Arctic act as global indicators
Despite global treaties and national regulations limiting toxic chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), many of these chemicals still remain in the environment for long periods of time...
View ArticleGlobal black carbon emissions double previous estimates
Black carbon is one of the most potent air pollutants that contributes to global climate change, and is produced by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and forest fires. While scientists have...
View ArticleThe dark and stormy side of science-policy mixology
Climate-change policy is inextricably linked to science, but the complexity of modeling Earth’s systems feeds into an imperfect policy process that often warps ideal economic instruments beyond...
View ArticleA brighter future for filtered seawater
The challenge of dwindling fresh-water supplies looms ever larger as droughts become more common and population increases. To combat this challenge, MIT researchers evaluate the potential for cheaper,...
View Article3 Questions: Francis O’Sullivan on the climate impact of ‘leaky methane’
Natural gas has been touted as a “bridge fuel” to a less carbon-intensive future, as it generates far less carbon dioxide than energy produced by burning coal. But the natural gas production,...
View Article3 Questions: JoAnn Carmin on helping cities plan for climate change
Because cities hold a growing portion of the world’s population, they are an increasingly important locus of planning for climate change. JoAnn Carmin, an associate professor in MIT’s Department of...
View ArticleStudy: Volcanoes contribute to recent warming ‘hiatus’
By the late 1990s, scientists had observed more than two decades of rapid global warming, and expected the warming trend to continue. Instead, despite continuing increases in greenhouse gas emissions,...
View ArticleCalculating China’s carbon emissions from trade
China is the world’s second-largest national economy and largest exporter. This growth has come at a cost, with energy demands and associated environmental damages on the rise. China is now the world...
View ArticleHow the ocean reins in global warming
The ocean plays a critical role in climate change, especially in setting the climate's response to increasing anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. As excess heat accumulates in various parts of...
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