Researchers from MIT and the University of Washington have found that centuries-old ocean currents have been keeping the Southern Ocean cold, reports Sarah Emerson for Motherboard. The researchers found that “Antarctica’s unique currents and strong westerly winds are constantly dredging up ancient currents from deep beneath the ocean’s surface.”
The Economist writes that MIT researchers have developed a new method for measuring changes in the world’s ice sheets, using earthquake sensors to monitor vibrations. “If more sensors are put into place, then Greenland’s ice sheets (and, presumably, those of other places) can be monitored on a daily basis.”
Washington Post reporter Chris Mooney writes that MIT researchers have found that the Paris climate agreement pledges would let the world warm by as much as 3.5 degrees Celsius by 2100. The researchers found that “with each year that countries wait to strengthen their current pledges, the rate at which emissions must decline gets steeper and steeper.”
In this Reuters video, Ben Gruber reports that MIT researchers have found a risk of water stress across Asia by 2050 due to economic and population growth. "We are looking at a region where nations are really at a very rapid developing stage,” explains Dr. Adam Schlosser, “so you really can't ignore the growth effect.”
MIT researchers have found that countries in Asia may face water shortages by 2050, the Press Trust of India reports. The researchers found that “the median amounts of projected growth and climate change in the next 35 years in Asia would lead to about 1 billion more people becoming ‘water-stressed’ compared to today.”
Voice of America reporter Kevin Enochs writes that a new study by MIT researchers has found that large portions of Asia could face a high risk of severe water stress by 2050. Enochs writes that the researchers found that, “global climate mitigation efforts can result in a measurable decrease in the risk of water stress.”
MIT researchers have found that population and economic growth could lead to severe water stress across Asia by 2050, reports Robert Ferris for CNBC. "We simply cannot ignore the fact that growth in population and the economies can play just as or more important a role in risk," explains Dr. Adam Schlosser.
MIT researchers have demonstrated that power plant emissions can be turned into liquid fuels using engineered microbes, reports Damian Carrington for The Guardian. Carrington explains that the process “uses bacteria to convert the waste gases into acetic acid - vinegar - then an engineered yeast to produce an oil.”
In an interview with Eduardo Porter of The New York Times, Prof. Christopher Knittel speaks about whether a carbon tax could be effective in the U.S. According to Porter, Knittel explains that “a properly calibrated carbon price in the United States could effectively replace all the climate-related regulations businesses hate so much.”
In an article for CBS News about carbon capture, Jonathan Berr speaks with Senior Research Engineer Howard Herzog about why the technology has not been more widely implemented. "It comes down to financing," says Herzog. "The markets are just not developing."
Engadget’s Timpthy Seppala reports that MIT researchers have developed a model for estimating gas and electricity for every building in Boston. Seppla explains that, “the idea here is to use the model as a way of making Beantown more energy efficient across the board.”
In an article for BloombergView, Prof. John Deutch writes that industry must invest in the clean energy sector in order to encourage innovation. Deutch and his co-authors write that “there is an imperative for industry to explore the commercialization of new innovative low-carbon technologies.”
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.”
In an article for The Boston Globe, David Abel writes about MIT’s efforts to combat climate change. Abel notes that, “MIT is embarking on an unprecedented program to accelerate progress on low-carbon energy technologies.”