We built our world for a climate that no longer exists
"Once you start to look, danger signs of Old World infrastructure are everywhere.
Reservoir dams around the world are stressed by extreme rainfall events. Airport tarmacs soften in the heat, causing flights cancellations. Cities are becoming human frying pans.
The Summer Olympics become dangerous games in 100-degree heat. The insurance business [is unable to] deal with permanent flooding from sea level rise."
" Our dependence on AC, in fact, masks the true scope and scale of the challenges we face.
In the end, addressing the climate crisis is not about building better technology. It’s much bigger than that. We need to rebuild our world. Fast-rising temperatures and more extreme weather are forcing us to rethink everything about how we live – where we get our energy, how we grow our food, how we build our cities, and, mostly importantly, who we vote for. "
The World’s Power Grids Are Failing as the Planet Warms
"#ClimateChange affects power distribution in lots of ways. Extreme heat increases demand for cooling, while reducing the efficiency of solar panels, crimping supply. High temperatures can cause lines to sag and transformers to overheat, leading to equipment failing and increasing risks of fires."
"For more than 75 years, high-hazard structures in the United States, including dams and nuclear power plants, have been engineered to withstand floods resulting from the most unlikely but possible precipitation, termed Probable Maximum Precipitation or PMP. "
It's time to update the PMP estimates to account for climate change.
As climate change continues to supercharge storms that threaten existing infrastructure, there’s an urgent need to modernize estimates of probable maximum precipitation and improve the science behind them.
@CelloMomOnCars
This is an enormous risk. My town (of 25k people) had a flood in the early 2000s which killed a few people. Since then, there's been a big focus on water management - but they're using the PMP, not anticipating what the 100 year storm will be in 15-30 years from now.
That means it's going to be a lot of money spent every decade adjusting piecewise to the current environment.
There are a bunch of things that need updating in a changing climate, including:
This Probable Maximum Precipitation or PMP;
The FEMA "100-year" flood maps;
The probable location of landfall of hurricanes;
The *minimum* precipitation that feeds water basins;
I'm sure you can think of a few other things.
CelloMom On Cars
Alex 🔧🔮🌎🪿