DEPARTMENT OF EARTH, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND PLANETARY SCIENCES

Adopting zero-emission trucks and buses could save lives, prevent asthma in Illinois

Community partners advocated for research queries to support greater policy impact. Guided by the lived experiences of community partners, Northwestern University scientists have simulated the effects of zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) adoption on future air quality for the greater Chicago area.

The results were published today in the journal Frontiers of Earth Science.  Motivated by California’s Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) policy, Neighbors for an Equitable Transition to Zero-Emissions (NET-Z) Illinois members partnered with Northwestern researchers to explore how a similar strategy might play out in Cook County and the surrounding areas.

New Study Highlights Disparities in Traffic-Related Air Pollution Exposure and Challenges in Urban Emissions Modeling

Life is a highway, but what are the emissions along it? It turns out, that answer could change depending on which dataset one uses.

A new study led by Victoria Lang, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences at Northwestern University, sheds light on critical disparities in urban-scale vehicle emissions data and their implications for people in metropolitan Chicago. The study, "Intercomparison of Modeled Urban-Scale Vehicle NOx and PM2.5 Emissions–Implications for Equity Assessments," was published this February in Environmental Science & Technology.

Prehistoric rock in Japan reveals clues to ocean extinction event

New analysis pinpoints timing and duration of extreme environmental disruption that choked oxygen from Earth’s oceans.

By studying prehistoric rocks and fossils emerging from the side of Mount Ashibetsu in Japan, researchers have precisely refined the timing and duration of Ocean Anoxic Event 1a (OAE 1a), an extreme environmental disruption that choked oxygen from Earth’s oceans to cause significant extinction, especially among plankton.

Testing limestone’s ability to capture carbon from air

A Northwestern University-led team of interdisciplinary researchers has received $5.1 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to test the efficacy of enhanced weathering, a relatively new strategy to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the ever-warming atmosphere.

Turning Moon Dust Into Building Blocks

Is Farming the Key to Carbon Capture?

Underwater Achievements: Environmental-Earth scientist Patricia Beddows continues shaping the future of underwater science

Malformed seashells, ancient sediment provide clues about Earth’s past