Climate Change | Penn Today

natural Gas-Fired, Combined-Cycle Power Plant equipped with emissions control technology

Incentivizing an underused, more environmentally friendly method for carbon capture

A study by three 2021 graduates describes how a method for sequestering carbon from natural gas can be made more cost-effective with increased tax credits.

Hands working the soil around a new plant

Understanding climate stories

In the latest episode of Penn Today’s “Understand This …” podcast series, Bethany Wiggin of the School of Arts & Sciences and Jennifer Pinto-Martin of the School of Nursing discuss climate stories, climate grief, and climate literacy.

Three images of highway submerged with water, robot, and underwater scene that says Ecotopian Toolkit for Delaware Watershed Justice

A call for tools to navigate the future of the Delaware River watershed

The Penn Program in Environmental Humanities is partnering with Philadelphia’s Independence Seaport Museum to solicit designs for tools to help Delaware River watershed residents adapt and respond to climate change and other ecological challenges.

Hand-drawn images of charts and graphs and waves, measuring global rise in temperatures and sea levels.

Climate change and the problem with time

Episode 7 of “In These Times” brings together an oceanographer, a geophysicist, and a historian about the challenges to understanding the Earth’s 4.6 billion year history, and how our actions in the present impact a future we can only imagine.

Aftermath of severe storm on a neighborhood with damaged houses and strewn debris.

Preparing, and paying for, climate change-induced disasters

In the wake of a series of unusual and devastating December tornadoes, Carolyn Kousky of the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center tells Penn Today about strategies for resilience and recovery.

chemicals representing geoengineering float over a city skyline.

Before geoengineering, some fundamental chemistry

Research led by Joseph S. Francisco of the School of Arts & Sciences examines the chemistry of a proposal to curb climate change’s effects—creating a sunshade in the upper atmosphere made of sulfuric acid—and finds that there’s more work to do to successfully pull off such a feat.

From corals to humans, a shared trigger for sperm to get in motion

Coral sperm require a specific pH to move, according to research from the School of Arts & Sciences, which identifies a signaling pathway that is shared by organisms including humans. The results inform how corals may fare with climate change.

The seas are coming for us in Kiribati. Will Australia rehome us?

Perry World House Distinguished Global Leader-in-Residence Anote Tong, former president of the Republic of Kiribati, co-wrote an article about the uncertain future of Kiribati amid rising sea levels. “What we need is a model where displaced people can migrate to host nations when their homes become uninhabitable,” Tong and co-author Akka Rimon wrote. “Countries like Australia need workers—and we will soon need homes.”

How climate change can harm your skin

Misha Rosenbach of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about climate change’s effects on the skin, saying wildfire smoke can worsen eczema and increased sun exposure can heighten risk for skin cancer. “I think you would be very hard pressed to find someplace in the country that is completely unaffected,” he said.

Penn at COP26: By the numbers

A look at who is representing the University at this global conference, what they’re focused on, and how it fits into the bigger picture of worldwide climate action.

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