Past Events
May 18, 2009
Dr. Matt Rigby of the MIT Center for Global Change Science will present in the MIT Atmospheric Science Seminar Series. Abstract: Measurements by the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) show renewed growth of atmospheric methane from early 2007 to present. This rise follows almost a decade of relatively stable global levels and has occurred at all monitoring locations almost simultaneously.
May 18, 2009
Senator Tom Carper Hosts Nuclear Recycling Roundtable at MIT. Abstract: One of the long-term questions about nuclear energy is how to manage the waste. For many years, U.S. nuclear utilities have paid fees to the federal government for nuclear waste disposal. But work on disposal has come with delays and roadblocks. It is time to responsibly move forward to address the nuclear waste issue. Senator Carper's roundtable brings together MIT and Harvard professors to investigate options for handling the United States' nuclear waste through recycling and reprocessing.
May 15, 2009
Prof. Ken Golden of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Utah will present a series of three Houghton Lectures on the topics of sea ice and climate (May 11), modeling ice process and feedbacks (May 14), and monitoring the response of sea ice to climate change (May 15). Abstract: The polar sea ice packs are key components of the climate system and are critical indicators of climate change. As our climate has warmed up, the precipitous decline of the summer Arctic ice pack is probably the most visible, large scale change on the planet's surface over the past decade.
May 15, 2009
Nicholas Ashford, Professor of Technology and Director of the Technology and Law Program at MIT, will discuss his new book on how environmental law cases have led to important legal, economic, and scientific developments, and how use of the law can stimulate technological change and industrial transformation. The book, Environmental Law, Policy, and Economics, is co-authored by Charles C. Caldart, Director of Litigation of the National Environmental Law Center and a Lecturer in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT. The book is published by the MIT Press.
May 14, 2009
Prof. Ken Golden of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Utah will present a series of three Houghton Lectures on the topics of sea ice and climate (May 11), modeling ice process and feedbacks (May 14), and monitoring the response of sea ice to climate change (May 15). Abstract: The polar sea ice packs are key components of the climate system and are critical indicators of climate change. As our climate has warmed up, the precipitous decline of the summer Arctic ice pack is probably the most visible, large scale change on the planet's surface over the past decade.
May 12, 2009
Speaker: Deborah Cramer, Science Writer and MIT Earth System Initiative Visiting Scholar. Abstract: Ms. Cramer will present her latest book Smithsonian Ocean: Our Water, Our World as a case study in communicating complex scientific concepts to a general audience. Renown biologist E.O. Wilson has said her book is: "Authoritatively researched, clearly written, and beautifully illustrated, this book is best in its class."