nuclear-news

We can’t say that Hurricane Harvey was caused by climate change. But it was certainly worsened by it. — Dr. Michael Mann

Harvey is already the worst rainstorm in U.S. history and it’s still raining. — Meteorologist Eric Holthaus

******

It’s the fifth day of an unprecedented rain event that one of the world’s top scientists is saying was made worse by climate change. Flood totals as of earlier this morning topped a record-smashing 49 inches. Emergency management officials are saying that this is a 1,000 year flood event (and it could get worse). And the rains are still falling as levees in and around the city of Houston over-top or fail.

If peak rainfall was the…

Opinion:

¶ “Trump Rolled Back The Country’s Best Flood Protection Standards Two Weeks Before Harvey” • On August 15th, Trump signed an executive order rolling back various environmental rules in order to streamline approvals for infrastructure projects. One of them set a federal infrastructure standard to reduce the risk of flood damage. [Pacific Standard]

Waiting in a flood (Photo: Scott Olson | Getty Images)

¶ “Why We Won’t Be Ready for the Next Hurricane Harvey Either” • Houston is far from the only place in the US vulnerable to disastrous flooding as a result of bad policy. It happens in every state. And experts say sea level rise and increased precipitation related to climate change could exacerbate the problem in the coming years. [TIME]

World:

¶ A £2 billion wind farm off the coast of Scotland would create 2,000 construction jobs and more than 200 jobs…

The US-Japan joint military exercise was to have ended on the 28th of August though the bottom article seems to imply that Northern Viper ended on the 26th. Perhaps it ended early because of Hurricane Harvey? The firing of missiles appears a sort of parting shot. Perhaps North Korea didn’t dare shoot the missiles during the exercise?

“170818-F-FK724-1822
Osprey is approved for takeoff
U.S. Marine Corps joint terminal attack controllers communicate with a MV-22 Osprey during takeoff in Hokkaido, Japan, for a media day event during exercise Northern Viper 17, Aug. 18, 2017. Misawa Air Base is serving as a hub for U.S. Marine personnel and aircraft, exercising Team Misawa’s ability to thrive with an influx of other service members. Various agencies, including the 35th Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels flight, 35th Force Support Squadron, 35th Medical Group, 35th Fighter Wing public affairs office and many more, offered equipment, resources…

Opinion:

¶ “Cyclones and climate change: connecting the dots” • Scientists freely acknowledge they don’t know everything about how global warming affects hurricanes like the one pummeling southeast Texas. But what they do know is enough to keep them up at night. The amplifying impact of climate change is basic physics. [Phys.Org]

Hurricane Harvey’s destruction

¶ “States Dare to Think Big on Climate Change” • There is a bright spot amid gloomy news about climate change and the Trump administration’s resistance to doing anything about it. It is the determination of a number of governments of California and the states in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to take action on their own. [New York Times]

World:

¶ The Australian city of Canberra has its first all-electric and hybrid buses, following the launch of a new 12-month public transportation fleet trial. The $900,000 trial involves leasing two all-electric…

In 2017, the world will add about 80 gigawatts of new solar capacity. It will also add another 60 gigawatts of new wind capacity. This combined 140 gigawatts will push wind and solar to 940 gigawatts of global capacity — or nearly one trillion watts. A pace that’s ahead of even recent optimistic projections by about 25 gigawatts:

(Historic and projected global wind and solar capacity. Image source: Forecast International.)

Such a total renewable energy generation capability compares to a global 391.5 gigawatts of nuclear energy now in use around the world. In other words, solar energy by end 2017 will come close to surpassing total global nuclear energy capacity. And wind and solar combined will account for 2.4 times the amount of installed nuclear around the world.

The reason wind and solar are now rapidly eclipsing global nuclear capacity is due to simple economic competitiveness…