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History of climate science and broad overview of climate system physics.
![Susan Solomon, the Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will receive the 2017 National Academy of Sciences, Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship Susan Solomon](https://globalchange.mit.edu/sites/default/files/styles/490x340_manual/public/news/Screen%20Shot%202017-01-30%20at%208.54.14%20AM.png?itok=z1sZ_CMr)
Susan Solomon, the Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will receive the 2017 National Academy of Sciences, Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship.
![“There’s no question that carbon dioxide is the biggest contributor to human-caused climate change, so that’s the big focus of mitigation efforts. But there are a number of others that are also significant,” says Jessika Trancik, the Atlantic Richfield Career Development Associate Professor in Energy Studies at MIT’s Institute for Data, Systems, and Society. MIT-Explain-Greenhouse-1_0.jpg](https://globalchange.mit.edu/sites/default/files/styles/490x340_manual/public/news/MIT-Explain-Greenhouse-1_0.jpg?itok=i_2otS07)
When hearing the words “greenhouse gas,” most people think immediately of carbon dioxide. This is indeed the greenhouse gas that is currently producing the greatest impact on the Earth’s rapidly changing climate. But it is far from the only one making its mark, and for mitigating climate change...
![MIT's Maria T. Zuber and Conservation International's Peter Seligmann sign an agreement for a multiyear collaboration to develop and advance nature-based solutions to global climate change, through research, education, and outreach efforts. (Photo: Jose-Luis Olivares/MIT) MIT-CI-Partner-1-Press.jpg](https://globalchange.mit.edu/sites/default/files/styles/490x340_manual/public/news/MIT-CI-Partner-1-Press.jpg?itok=v9RiGPeU)
MIT and Conservation International (CI) will participate in a multiyear collaboration to develop and advance nature-based solutions to global climate change, through research, education, and outreach efforts, the organizations announced today.
![Fires burning throughout Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand Wang_ACP2_Photo.jpg](https://globalchange.mit.edu/sites/default/files/styles/490x340_manual/public/news/Wang_ACP2_Photo.jpg?itok=-aPLfbK5)
The skies above Southeast Asia are often dimmed by a persistent haze, due largely to high concentrations of aerosols emitted from fires set intentionally to clear forests for oil palm plantations, burn agricultural waste or serve some other human need. The forest-clearing fires are of particular...
![Credit: Ian Sane Flickr (CC BY 2.0)](https://globalchange.mit.edu/sites/default/files/styles/490x340_manual/public/in-the-news/Monier_E%26E.jpeg?itok=NwHO2Jxo)
MIT Joint Program Principal Research Scientist Erwan Monier comments
Shifting climate patterns in North America could hit U.S. crop production hard, possibly even halving the production of corn by the end of the century, a new study finds.
Scientists believe that the spike in average temperatures that is widely predicted by climate models for North America...
![](https://globalchange.mit.edu/sites/default/files/styles/490x340_manual/public/news/Web_Launch_Web.jpg?itok=exWqn5sX)
Mapping out a low-carbon future
Water scarcity, air pollution and climate change
Projecting the impacts of land-use change
![January-December-2016-Global-Temp-Percentiles-Map.jpg](https://globalchange.mit.edu/sites/default/files/styles/490x340_manual/public/in-the-news/January-December-2016-Global-Temp-Percentiles-Map.jpeg?itok=jDf_1llE)
![The SMAP observations are providing an unprecedented level of detailed, worldwide information on the amount of water in those top 2 inches (5 centimeters) of soil, collected globally every two to three days. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech MIT-SMAP-Press_Small.jpg](https://globalchange.mit.edu/sites/default/files/styles/490x340_manual/public/news/MIT-SMAP-Press_Small.jpg?itok=RT95hd-d)
The top 2 inches of topsoil on all of Earth’s landmasses contains an infinitesimal fraction of the planet’s water — less than one-thousandth of a percent. Yet because of its position at the interface between the land and the atmosphere, that tiny amount plays a crucial role in everything from...