Climate Change Science and Solutions

A YSE-led study predicts that climate change could lead to losses in carbon-storing biomass in tropical forests that could accelerate global warming.

Paulo Brando, an internationally recognized expert of tropical ecosystems, joins the Yale School of the Environment. His research explores the causes of deforestation and forest degradation in the Amazon and the associated consequences to climate, ecological stability, and the potential future pathways of forests.

Dozens of students, faculty, and staff from the Yale School of the Environment and Yale University are participating in key decision-making and negotiations centered on global climate action at the annual UN climate summit being held this year in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.

Two vice chairs and seven authors from the latest U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report took part in the recent Hixon Center Urban Conference, which covered a range of issues including infrastructure, transportation, energy, forests, and how urban areas can help mitigate climate change.

California will achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 at the latest, and the playbook 2022 Prospect Street Award winner Shereen D’Souza ’12 MESc and her colleagues created will serve as a model for the rest of the U.S. and the world.

At a recent conversation hosted by the Yale Environmental Dialogue and Yale Law School, former French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius explained the “unprecedented” legal challenges surrounding the climate crisis and called on nations to “urgently” fulfill their obligations set by the Paris Agreement.

Dr. Sparkle Malone, whose research focuses on disturbance regimes and how they alter the structure and functions of ecosystems, has joined the YSE faculty as an assistant professor.

• Read more about Rita Effah ’12 MFS

• Read more about Ben Girgenti ’22 MESc

To spur decarbonization, governments must move beyond the myths surrounding public investment in clean energy that discourage the use of public funds.

A team of researchers led by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication at YSE surveyed couples about their ideas on climate change and found that while many partners exhibited similar beliefs and behaviors around climate change, there also were some discrepancies.

The United States is among four nations projected to fall far short of the net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target established by the 2021 Glasgow Climate Pact — with over 50% of global emissions expected to come from the U.S., China, India, and Russia by 2050.

Whether leading climate protests, fighting for Indigenous land rights, or working the land at Yale-Myers, Kyle Lemle is keeping his focus on the importance of forests.

For Earth Day, Dean Indy Burke joined Yale University President Peter Salovey on his monthly Yale Talk podcast for a conversation covering a wide range of environmental issues.

As Earth Day renews the public’s focus on climate change, Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter Chris Mooney teaches YSE students how to effectively translate environmental data for public consumption.