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Earth and Environmental Science
300-million-year-old fish resembles a sturgeon but took a different evolutionary path
Tanyrhinichthys mcallisteri recasts the notion of what it means to be a “primitive” vertebrate, according to paleontologists Lauren Sallan and Jack Stack.
The joys and trials of defending a dissertation virtually
When most aspects of university life moved online because of COVID-19, so, too, did the thesis defense for Ph.D. candidates. Despite some challenges, the shift had unexpected benefits.
Life, death, and the Amazonian litter layer
Kristina Lyons’ new book explores the Colombian world of litter layers, seeds, and soils; Amazonian farmers, narcos, and the War on Drugs
Junior Paul Lin named a 2020 Udall Scholar
Junior Paul Lin, an earth science major in the College of Arts & Sciences, has been selected as a 2020 Udall Scholar.
Engaging with the climate crisis, online
Across a quartet of digital platforms, including one for this week’s Climate Sensing and Data Storytelling convening, the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities is encouraging public engagement and the pairing of environmental art and science on climate issues.
The Arctic could have almost no summer sea ice by 2040, decades sooner than expected
Statistical analysis by economists from Penn and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco could supplement current climate models and help global climate prediction.
New feathered dinosaur was one of the last surviving raptors
Dineobellator notohesperus lived 67 million years ago. Steven Jasinski, who recently earned his doctorate from the School of Arts and Sciences working with Peter Dodson, also of the School of Veterinary Medicine, led the effort to describe the find.
Greener economy ‘not science fiction anymore’
A new book from Penn sociologist Daniel Aldana Cohen and colleagues describes four key facets of the Green New Deal and why they could become a reality in the not-too-distant future.
Ecuador’s vice president talks biodiversity protection
Vice President Otto Sonnenholzner spoke to a packed Perry World House about protecting the environment while balancing economic growth.
The many lives of charcoal
Catherine Nabukalu, an alumna of the Master in Environmental Studies program, worked with School of Arts and Sciences Professor Reto Gieré to track the charcoal supply chain through research in Nabukalu’s native Uganda.
In the News
The world’s oceans just broke an important climate change record
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that the warming of the oceans is helping to destabilize ice shelves and fuel more powerful hurricanes and tropical cyclones.
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Forecast group predicts busiest hurricane season on record with 33 storms
A research team led by Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences is predicting the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season will produce the most named storms on record, fueled by exceptionally warm ocean waters and an expected shift from El Niño to La Niña.
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My Climate Story: Philly students take science from abstract to personal
The “My Climate Story” project at the Environmental Humanities Department helps students and teachers learn about climate change’s impact in everyday backyards, with remarks from Bethany Wiggin. The idea is credited to María Villarreal, a College of Arts and Sciences second-year from Tampico, Mexico.
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Satellite images capture extraordinary flooding in the United Arab Emirates
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences explains how three low-pressure systems formed a train of storms that battered the United Arab Emirates.
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Here’s why experts don’t think cloud seeding played a role in Dubai’s downpour
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that many people blaming cloud seeding for Dubai storms are climate change deniers trying to divert attention from what’s really happening.
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“Record-shattering” heat wave in Antarctica — yep, climate change is the culprit
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that persistent summer weather extremes like heat waves are becoming more common as people continue to warm the planet with carbon pollution.
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