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Earth and Environmental Science
The alchemy behind the diamond: Unearthing baseball’s beloved mud
Researchers at Penn are working on cracking the code behind Major League Baseball’s “Magic Mud.”
A hub for water innovation and leadership
As the Water Center marks five years on campus, Penn Today takes a look at its achievements, ongoing projects, and plans for the future.
Using marine bacteria to detoxify asbestos
Researchers from the School of Arts and Sciences have shown that bacteria from extreme marine environments can reduce asbestos’ toxic properties.
Climate change’s impact on extreme weather events
Michael Mann and collaborators investigated the effects of climate change on the intensity, frequency, and duration of extreme weather events like wildfires, and found that “worst-case” scenario could lead to significant increases in all three.
2018 graduate awarded Knight-Hennessy Scholarship
Focused on tackling climate change, 2018 Penn graduate Krish Mehta, from Mumbai, has been awarded a 2023 Knight-Hennessy Scholarship for graduate studies and global leadership training at Stanford University.
Symposium highlights breadth and depth of Penn Global research
The Penn Global Research and Engagement Fund is supporting the 19 new faculty-led projects that span research, capacity-building, and development efforts across Africa, Latin America, India, China, and beyond.
What fossils tell us about the dining habits of dinosaurs
More than a century of research is vividly shared in ‘An Illustrated Guide to Dinosaur Feeding Biology’ by Ali Nabavizadeh of the School of Veterinary Medicine and David B. Weishampel of Johns Hopkins University.
Student climate champions gather to share stories and inspiration
More than 150 Philadelphia high schoolers came together at WHYY in a climate storytelling event organized by the public media company and the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities.
Cross-disciplinary collaboration for a healthier planet
The Environmental Innovations Initiative announces a third round of funded research communities to catalyze interdisciplinary research at Penn, investigating issues from regenerative agriculture to project-based learning for global climate justice.
Caring for the campus landscape with an ecological mindset
The Ecological Landscape Stewardship Plan, developed in 2018, offers a framework for the Division of Facilities and Real Estate Services to design, maintain, and celebrate the beauty of the campus landscape with an emphasis on its role as a balanced ecological system.
In the News
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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Scientists struggle to explain ‘really weird’ spike in world temperatures
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that tendencies to exaggerate climate science in favor of “doomist” narratives helps no one except the fossil fuel industry.
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Spring is here very early. That’s not good
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that plant-flowering, tree-leafing, and egg-hatching are all markers associated with spring that are happening sooner.
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We don’t have time for climate misinformation
In a co-written Op-Ed, Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that meaningful decarbonization in the U.S. is in jeopardy of being blocked or slowed if a significant portion of the electorate does not accept the basic scientific facts and implications of climate change.
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A famous climate scientist is in court, with big stakes for attacks on science
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences is suing a right-wing author and a policy analyst for defamation against the “hockey stick” climate change graph.
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