Earth and Environmental Science

Strongest nor’easters getting stronger

Research from Professor Michael Mann and Ph.D. students Annabelle Horton and Mackenzie Weaver shows that as the worst of these East Coast winter storms intensify, so does their destructive potential—a facet that current coastal risk assessments often ignore.

2 min. read

Racing to save Stone Harbor’s Scotch Bonnet Island before it’s swallowed by rising seas

Scientists at Penn predict that Scotch Bonnet Island in New Jersey will lose a third of its acreage by 2050.

Satellite image of Hurricane Helene, 2006

Paris Perdikaris led research on lifesaving and more cost-effective weather predictions

Penn professor Paris Perdikaris and collaborators developed Aurora, a machine-learning model that has predictive capabilities for air quality, ocean waves, tropical cyclone tracks, and weather.

5 min. read

Many on the Navajo Nation blindsided by a hydrogen pipeline change

Joe Romm of the School of Arts & Sciences says that blended gas doesn’t make sense, since the chemical nature of hydrogen will tunnel through and destroy materials like normal steel.

What behavioral strategies motivate environmental action?

A collaborative study from researchers affiliated with the Annenberg School for Communication, Annenberg Public Policy Center, and School of Arts & Sciences tested 17 strategies in an “intervention tournament.”

4 min. read

A climate map showing temperatures and contours.

Using climate modeling to guide global economic and political decisions

Irina Marinov, associate professor in Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences’ Department of Earth and Environmental Science, explains how climate modeling works and the information these models provide.

2 min. read

Why we’re ‘perilously close’ to a global warming threshold

Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that a critical warming threshold will be passed in little more than a decade if society continues on its current course.

EPA to review landmark 2009 finding that greenhouse gases are a danger to public health

According to Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences, overwhelming scientific evidence indicates that climate change is the greatest threat faced today.

EPA head says he’ll roll back dozens of environmental regulations, including rules on climate change

Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that the EPA’s recent actions are the latest form of Republican climate denial.

Can surface fractures on Earth, Mars, and Europa predict habitability on other planets?

Geophysicist Douglas Jerolmack has used the mathematical framework developed for understanding fracture patterns on Earth to survey two-dimensional fracture networks across the solar system, which could offer insights into detecting potentially habitable environments on other planets.

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