Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences

Ocean surface temperature trends over the last 50 years. While the Arctic warms rapidly, the Southern Ocean around Antarctica has not warmed much, if at all.

Solving the mystery of the Antarctic’s missing heat

New research may explain why sea temperatures around Antarctica haven’t risen as much as surface temperatures around the globe.

June 17, 2016

Eight from MIT awarded 2016 Fulbright grants

Grantees will spend the 2016-2017 academic year conducting research abroad.

June 16, 2016

Andrea Campbell (left), head of the MIT Department of Political Science and the Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science, and Valerie Karplus, assistant professor of global economics and management, take part in a panel discussion at the Technology and Policy Program 40th anniversary event.

Technology and Policy Program celebrates 40 years

Special event marks four decades of TPP and looks to the future of technology and policy.

June 9, 2016

J-WAFS' 2015 grantees present their ongoing research at the poster session of the J-WAFS Food and Water Conference, held April 27-28 at MIT.

J-WAFS awards $1.3 million in second round of seed grant funding

Principal investigators will receive grants of up to $100,000 per year for up to two years for innovative research on food and water challenges.

May 18, 2016

MIT scientists say that the Great Oxygenation Event (GOE), a period that scientists believe marked the beginning of oxygen’s permanent presence in the atmosphere, started as early as 2.33 billion years ago.

Study pinpoints timing of oxygen’s first appearance in Earth’s atmosphere

Beginning 2.33 billion years ago, atmospheric oxygen built up in just 10 million years.

May 13, 2016

A photo of the edge of the Greenland ice sheet. “With our technique, we can continuously monitor ice sheet volume changes associated with winter and summer,” Germán Prieto says.

Tracking Greenland’s ice melt with seismic waves

Technique uses vibrations generated by ocean waves to monitor ice sheet’s seasonal changes.

May 6, 2016

This artist’s rendering shows an imagined view of the three planets orbiting an ultracool dwarf star just 40 light-years from Earth that were discovered using the TRAPPIST telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory. In this view, one of the inner planets is seen in transit across the disc of its tiny and dim parent star.

Scientists discover potentially habitable planets

Just 40 light years from Earth, planets are best targets so far for search for extraterrestrial life.

May 2, 2016

Higher coal use in Asia could increase water stress

Aerosol emissions would slow warming but suppress rainfall.

April 28, 2016

Colette Heald describes her current work as “trying to understand the sources, transformation, and impact of gases and particles in the atmosphere, which is very dynamic with a lot of chemical compounds that interact.”

There’s something in the air

Colette Heald studies atmospheric gases and particles, and how they affect air quality and climate.

April 28, 2016

MIT Energy Initiative awards nine seed fund grants for early-stage energy research

Winning teams will use grants to advance research in areas including fuel cells, solar-powered desalination, and impacts of electric vehicle charging on the power grid.

April 25, 2016

“Everybody agrees that on geological timescales over hundreds of millions of years, tectonics control the climate, but we didn’t know how to connect this,” says Oliver Jagoutz.

Study: Ancient tectonic activity was trigger for ice ages

Continental shifting may have acted as a natural mechanism for extreme carbon sequestration.

April 18, 2016

QS World University Rankings rates MIT No. 1 in 12 subjects for 2016

MIT ranked within the top 5 globally for 19 of 42 subject areas.

April 8, 2016

“For China, it looks like industrial growth [has the greatest impact on water shortages] as people get wealthier,” Charles Fant says. “In India, population growth has a huge effect. It varies by region.”

Water problems in Asia’s future?

Study finds high risk of severe water stress in Asia by 2050.

March 30, 2016

This artist’s rendering shows the super-Earth 55 Cancri e in front of its parent star. The planet is essentially a heat-seeking fireball, orbiting extremely close to its star. It circles in just 18 hours, compared to Earth’s leisurely 365-day journey around the sun.

First temperature map of a “super-Earth” reveals lava world

Exoplanet lacks atmosphere, is covered in rivers of magma.

March 30, 2016

School of Science honors staff with 2016 Infinite Mile Awards

March 28, 2016

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