Environment

MIT launches Institute-wide survey on commuting behaviors

October 27, 2016

3 Questions: Maria Zuber on stepping up MIT’s response to climate change

MIT’s vice president for research discusses the challenges ahead for MIT and the world.

October 19, 2016

This aerial view shows a similar solar farm in North Carolina, using the same type of solar panels, illustrating what the new project will look like when it is completed by the end of this year.

MIT to neutralize 17 percent of carbon emissions through purchase of solar energy

Partnership of three local organizations could set a sustainability example for others to follow.

October 19, 2016

Partho Sengupta (center) was one of more than 30 invited guests at the Tata Center Symposium.

Tata Center Symposium seeks collaboration for a better world

October 4, 2016

Ocean engineers from MIT, the University of Minnesota at Duluth, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have accurately simulated the motion of internal tides along a shelf break called the Middle Atlantic Bight — a region off the coast of the eastern U.S. that stretches from Cape Cod in Massachusetts to Cape Hatteras in North Carolina.

Researchers find explanation for interacting giant, hidden ocean waves

Better simulations of internal tides may benefit sonar communications, protect offshore structures, and more.

September 28, 2016

A panel discussion about the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals and their impact on higher education featured, from left, Peter Blaze Corcoran of Florida Gulf Coast University; John Fernandez, director of MIT's Environmental Solutions Initiative; Monika MacDevette, of the U.N. Environment Program in Nairobi, Kenya; Stephen Sterling, professor of sustainability education at Plymouth University in t...

Education leaders gather to chart a future for sustainability at universities

International meeting examines progress on campuses, explores goals for coming years.

September 22, 2016

MIT research scientist Stephanie Dutkiewicz in her office with a display of her phytoplankton model simulation

Computing the ocean’s true colors

Stephanie Dutkiewicz’ phytoplankton models project the future of the ocean as food source and carbon sink.

September 15, 2016

“The ocean has been the only true sink for anthropogenic emissions since the industrial revolution,” says MIT graduate student Sophie Chu, pictured here. “Right now, it stores about 1/4 to 1/3 of the anthropogenic emissions from the atmosphere. We’re expecting at some point the storage will slow down.”

Study finds increased ocean acidification due to human activities

More anthropogenic carbon in the northeast Pacific means weaker shells for many marine species.

September 7, 2016

A team of researchers, including graduate student Maher Damak (left) and associate professor of mechanical engineering Kripa K. Varanasi, have found a way to drastically cut down on the amount of pesticide liquid that bounces off plants.

Reducing runoff pollution by making spray droplets less bouncy

MIT researchers find a way to make pesticides stick to leaves instead of bouncing off.

August 30, 2016

Québec Premier Philippe Couillard delivers remarks after Professor Pierre-Olivier Pineau, chair in energy sector management at HEC Montréal; MIT Vice President for Research Maria Zuber; and Ouranos Executive Director Alain Bourque sign an agreement to launch a new research collaboration to analyze cross-border, low-carbon energy policy options.

MIT, Québec research institutions launch initiative to analyze low-carbon energy policy options

Focusing on New England/Québec Region, Québec premier and MIT vice president for research speak at Boston signing ceremony; Hydro-Québec CEO pledges funding.

August 29, 2016

A silicon solar cell with silicon-germanium filter using a step-cell design (large) and a gallium arsenide phosphide layer on silicon step-cell proof-of-concept solar cell (small).

New solar cell is more efficient, costs less than its counterparts

Exposed in step-like formation, layers of new photovoltaic cell harvest more of sun’s energy.

August 29, 2016

Collectively, piston-engine aircraft like this Cirrus SR22 constitute the nation’s largest remaining source of lead emissions.

Unfriendly skies: Piston engine aircraft pose a significant health threat

Study shows long-lasting health, economic impacts of lead emissions from U.S. general aviation flights.

August 26, 2016

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Philip Gschwend presents to members of the Cardinal and Gray Society and the Emma Rogers Society on “Environmental Pollution: Do Our Remedial Solutions Solve the Problems?”

Lifelong learning a hallmark of MIT pursuits

Professor Philip Gschwend discusses the importance of comprehensive systems approaches to curing environmental ills.

August 22, 2016

An aerial view shows flooded rice fields after Typhoon Haiyan hit Iloilo Province in central Philippines.

Assessing crop damage after extreme weather

New method to track the impact of typhoons and other natural disasters could enable more precise, timely delivery of food aid.

August 10, 2016

In an invited report and presentation at the White House ahead of the Paris climate negotiations, Jessika Trancik of the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society described an analysis that she and her colleagues at MIT and Tsinghua University performed, including results that demonstrate a mutually reinforcing cycle between emissions-reduction policies and technology development.

Reducing emissions, improving technology: A mutually reinforcing cycle

An MIT study on the connection between technology development and emissions-reduction policies informs Paris climate negotiations.

August 8, 2016

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology - On Campus and Around the world

Browse By

Topics

Departments

Centers, Labs, & Programs

Schools

Topic