28Sep 2018 by Energy Equality No Comments
Humans Are Making Hurricanes Worse. Here’s How.

Humans Are Making Hurricanes Worse. Here’s How.

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A rescuer helped a resident of New Bern, N.C., from her home on Saturday.CreditCreditVictor J. Blue for The New York Times  When hurricane Florence struck the Carolinas last week, humanity played a role in the destruction. Human intervention is making natural disasters unnaturally harmful, both in causes and effects, and the number of ways our own influence is making things worse, taken together, is sobering. On a global scale, we are bolstering the destructive potential of hurricanes and other extreme weather events by driving climate change. At the local level, we remain reluctant to deal with the problems of our own making, building and rebuilding in risky areas even as we avoid the policies and investment that would help mitigate the threats. Kim Cobb, a climate scientist at the Georgia…
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28Sep 2018 by Energy Equality No Comments
Research forecasts US among top nations to suffer economic damage from climate change

Research forecasts US among top nations to suffer economic damage from climate change

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  Flooded street in Houston after Hurricane Harvey in 2017 Credit: © Irina K. / Fotolia For the first time, researchers have developed a data set quantifying what the social cost of carbon -- the measure of the economic harm from carbon dioxide emissions -- will be for the globe's nearly 200 countries, and the results are surprising. Although much previous research has focused on how rich countries benefit from the fossil fuel economy, while damages accrue primarily to the developing world, the top three counties with the most to lose from climate change are the United States, India and Saudi Arabia -- three major world powers. The world's largest CO2emitter, China, also places in the top five countries with the highest losses. The findings, which appear in Nature Climate…
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19Jun 2018 by Energy Equality No Comments
Warned 30 years ago, global warming ‘is in our living room’

Warned 30 years ago, global warming ‘is in our living room’

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We were warned. On June 23, 1988, a sultry day in Washington, James Hansen told Congress and the world that global warming wasn’t approaching — it had already arrived. The testimony of the top NASA scientist, said Rice University historian Douglas Brinkley, was “the opening salvo of the age of climate change.” Thirty years later, it’s clear that Hansen and other doomsayers were right. But the change has been so sweeping that it is easy to lose sight of effects large and small — some obvious, others less conspicuous. Earth is noticeably hotter, the weather stormier and more extreme. Polar regions have lost billions of tons of ice; sea levels have been raised by trillions of gallons of water. Far more wildfires rage. Over 30 years — the time period…
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12Jun 2018 by Energy Equality No Comments
Forecasters predict a near- or above-normal 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

Forecasters predict a near- or above-normal 2018 Atlantic hurricane season

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Forecasters predict a 35 percent chance of an above-normal season, a 40 percent chance of a near-normal season, and a 25 percent chance of a below-normal season for the upcoming hurricane season, which extends from June 1 to November 30. “With the advances made in hardware and computing over the course of the last year, the ability of NOAA scientists to both predict the path of storms and warn Americans who may find themselves in harm’s way is unprecedented,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “The devastating hurricane season of 2017 demonstrated the necessity for prompt and accurate hurricane forecasts.” NOAA’s forecasters predict a 70-percent likelihood of 10 to 16 named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher), of which 5 to 9 could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or…
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12Jun 2018 by Energy Equality No Comments
Puerto Rico seeks to delay releasing death records after hurricane; judge rejects motion

Puerto Rico seeks to delay releasing death records after hurricane; judge rejects motion

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    San Juan, Puerto Rico (CNN) Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló told CNN last month that there would be "hell to pay" if officials withheld records related to Hurricane Maria. Yet his government filed a motion late Monday asking for permission to stall the delivery of death certificates and other data a judge had ordered to be released to CNN and the Center for Investigative Journalism, or CPI, after the organizations sued for access to those records. In response, the court said it would not lift its requirement that records be released to CNN and CPI by Tuesday. "This new delay tactic (speaks) to the Rosselló government's credibility," said Carla Minet, executive director of CPI. "The government didn't need seven days to hand in most of the information -- and yet…
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12Jun 2018 by Energy Equality No Comments
Can off-grid renewables close the energy access gap?

Can off-grid renewables close the energy access gap?

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[caption id="attachment_487" align="aligncenter" width="720"] A solar off-grid energy setup in Rwanda. Photo by: Azuri Technologies / CC BY-NC-ND[/caption] BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Solar lightbulbs, mini power grids, and batteries could soon supply energy to disadvantaged, rural regions that old-fashioned transmission lines and centralized coal-fired generators will never reach. But while prices of renewables have tumbled, and some say the technology offers lower-income countries the chance to leapfrog over more cumbersome ways of delivering energy, significant challenges remain — particularly around how to finance energy access for the poor. Most of the world’s energy-poor populations live far from electricity networks. That includes about 57 percent of people in sub-Saharan Africa, or 588 million, who remain without access to electricity according to the International Energy Agency; and just over 1 billion worldwide, the United Nations estimates. The U.N.’s seventh Sustainable Development…
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23Jan 2018 by Energy Equality No Comments
Montecito braced for fire, but mud was a more stealthy, deadly threat

Montecito braced for fire, but mud was a more stealthy, deadly threat

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When the Thomas fire swept down from the Los Padres National Forest and took aim at this coastal town in December, the looming disaster was impossible to miss. Powerful winds picked up, smoke shielded the sun and brought an eerie darkness to the landscape, and towers of flames could be seen in the distance. Thousands of residents fled as what would become the largest fire on record in California pushed to the Pacific Ocean. More than two dozen homes were lost or damaged in the area, but no one died in the town. The mudslides that followed the fire this week were a much more stealthy and ultimately lethal threat. Though residents had been warned about heavy rain and potential debris flows, many took the threat far less seriously than…
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23Jan 2018 by Energy Equality No Comments
Officials Estimate It Will Be Another 10 Days Before Montecito Evacuees Can Go Home

Officials Estimate It Will Be Another 10 Days Before Montecito Evacuees Can Go Home

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Highway 101 reopened as human remains-detection dog teams make big push looking for last two missing victims California Highway Patrol officers staff a checkpoint at East Valley Road and Sycamore Canyon Road. County officials said Sunday that it may be another 10 days before residents are allowed back into Montecito. Click to view larger California Highway Patrol officers staff a checkpoint at East Valley Road and Sycamore Canyon Road. County officials said Sunday that it may be another 10 days before residents are allowed back into Montecito. (Urban Hikers / Noozhawk photo) By Giana Magnoli, Noozhawk Managing Editor | @magnoli | updated logo 10:18 p.m. | January 21, 2018 | 8:45 p.m. Share on email Share on print 25 It likely will be another 10 days before authorities start allowing…
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23Jan 2018 by Energy Equality No Comments

Portable Solar-Powered Generators Donated for First Responders

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By Samantha Silverman for Energy Equality for All | January 20, 2018 | 9:00 a.m. Energy Equality for All, a Santa Barbara-based nonprofit, is supplying local emergency responders with portable solar-powered energy generators to support the ongoing recovery efforts in Montecito. “We are devastated by the damage and loss of life from the fires and mud-slides which hit our community. When disaster hits, we are all one community," said Mark Harris, president of Energy Equality For All. "Experts believe the increasing frequency and force of weather-related events globally is due in large part to climate change, caused by global warming. This is likely to be a continued trend in our futures, unless we address the issue straight-on,” he said. Energy Equality for All provides renewable energy generators and storage systems…
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