Infrastructure & Investment

This is what a scientist looks like

Three MIT Joint Program-affiliated researchers delivered seven-minute presentations at the second annual Global Food+ symposium, held at Tufts University in downtown Boston on February 16. They joined 23 other experts from Boston University, Harvard, MIT and Tufts to share their recent findings at the nexus of food, agriculture, environment and health.

GlobalFood+ Speed Talks advance more sustainable food systems

Amid much uncertainty about the future of the global climate and efforts aimed at preventing its most damaging impacts, graduate students affiliated with the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change are hard at work exploring some of the challenges and possible solutions that lie ahead. They are also sharing their knowledge with the MIT community.

Climate science and policy, 2018

Short-term variability and long-term change in climate pose a challenge to water planners. Some climate uncertainties can be reduced over time as new information is collected, while others are irreducible. This presentation shows how flexible water-supply infrastructure planning can help mitigate climate risk at lower cost, especially for uncertainties with high learning potential

Water management for future climate scenarios (Sarah Fletcher)

Hunkered down at 11 tables at Harvard Law School on January 17, more than 100 business, sustainability and emergency-management professionals spent three hours simulating how they might coordinate a response in the aftermath of a major hurricane in the City of Cambridge.

Flood risk under an uncertain future climate

MIT Joint Program-affiliated researcher and Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS) PhD student Sarah Fletcher has won a 2017 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Outstanding Student Paper Award for her paper, “Urban water supply infrastructure planning under predictive groundwater uncertainty: Bayesian updating and flexible design.” Granted to the top five percent of student participants, the award inc

Sarah Fletcher receives 2017 AGU Outstanding Student Paper Award

Critical to our ability to survive and thrive for generations to come is ongoing access to adequate supplies of clean, fresh water. For the foreseeable future, significant freshwater withdrawals will be needed for irrigation, thermal power plant cooling, and myriad industrial and residential uses. But in many regions, socioeconomic and environmental pressures pose growing threats to both the quantity and quality of local water resources. In order to take effective action to mitigate and/or adapt to rising risks, decision-makers will need robust, prediction-based strategies and tools.

Water Resource Risks: Integrated Approaches to Support Actions

MIT Climate Resilience Planning: Flood Vulnerability Study

The MIT Flood Vulnerability Study is one key part of a broader initiative led by the MIT Climate Resiliency Committee and the MIT Office of Sustainability to understand and recommend how MIT can continue to fulfill its mission in the face of intensifying climate risks over the next 100 years and beyond. Risks include precipitation flooding, sea level rise/storm surge and chronic heat stress. This study seeks to translate the science of campus-based flooding risk from climate change into operational and strategic guidance for informing campus planning and management.

Inspired by the MIT Plan for Action on Climate Change, one key research and academic objective of this study is to utilize the MIT campus as a test bed for climate innovation. The study engages MIT’s global research expertise in downscaling global MIT climate models for application testing on the MIT campus, as well as expertise and tools advancing the MIT Stormwater Management and Landscape Ecology Plan.

This Joint Program Report presents findings for Flood and Vulnerability Study Phase 1A – Evaluation of Precipitation Probabilities and Preliminary Campus Flood Risks. The primary purpose of Phase 1A is to quantify MIT Cambridge campus flood risks under current and future climate change conditions over a range of probabilities. Findings include predicted precipitation probabilities, campus flooding exposure from precipitation based on current and future climate conditions, campus flooding exposure from sea level rise and storm surges, and results from the testing of one potential flood mitigation solution. The co-authors conclude the report by outlining planning recommendations and next steps.

Nine of the ten biggest blackouts in U.S. history were caused by hurricanes, whose sustained winds knocked out power lines over broad geographical areas. Topping the list is Hurricane Maria, which in October disabled the electric grid in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, leaving the majority of the population without power for months.

Preventing the next blackout

Global Changes - Fall 2017

MIT Global Change

Infrastructure & Investment

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