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Morocco: Building with Earthquake Resilience
Quakes kill relatively few, but the resulting building collapse kills many more. How do we keep people safe in their own homes?
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‘A Silent Killer’: How Saltwater Intrusion is Overtaking Coastal Farmland in the U.S.
As hurricanes get stronger, storm surges are bringing saltwater to farmland—and leaving salt there once waters evaporate. And as sea level increases due to climate change, the difference between ocean water levels and soil elevation is decreasing, making post-storm water runoff more difficult. With enough flooding, the soil on farms could become so salinized that crops can no longer be grown on that land. The salt eventually makes contact with freshwater aquifers, thus salinizing them.
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Human Destruction of Floodplains Significantly Increases Flood Risks
A study of human destruction of natural floodplains highlight the critical role floodplains play in wildlife preservation, water quality, and the reduction of flood risk for people. “The bottom line is that the world is at greater flood risk than what we realized, especially considering what effect human development has had on floodplains,” says an expert.
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Railroads May Use Their Monopoly Power to Buffer Coal Plants from a Carbon Emissions Tax
Railroads are likely to cut transportation prices to prop up coal-fired plants if U.S. climate policies further disadvantage coal in favor of less carbon-intensive energy sources. A new study argues that “If policymakers ignore real distortions in the market, like monopoly power in rail shipping, their climate policy efforts may not achieve the intended results.”
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100th Anniversary of the Great Kanto Earthquake: Is Japan Ready for the Next Big One?
Japan is marking 100 years since a devastating earthquake triggered a widespread inferno in Kanto, a region that includes the capital, Tokyo. Most of the tens of thousands of victims perished in the fire. seismologists put the likelihood of another major quake beneath the Kanto region of Tokyo and the surrounding prefectures at 70% in the next 30 years.
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WIFIRE Lab Forms New Partnership with DHS
For the past 10 years, the WIFIRE team at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at UC San Diego has been focused on meeting the growing needs of hazard monitoring, mitigation and response. Most recently, the team has partnered with DHS to integrate edge computing – a strategy emphasizing data collection and analysis at the site of or geographically near data sources. Joint effort aims to demonstrate workflows utilizing edge computing for wildfire monitoring, response and mitigation.
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The Causes of the 1931 Yangtze River Deluge
In the summer of 1931, an unprecedented calamity unfolded along the Yangtze River basin in eastern China—the 1931 Yangtze River flood, known as one of history’s deadliest natural disasters. This cataclysmic event submerged a staggering 180,000 km2, affected 25 million lives, and claimed over 2 million lives. What caused this monumental flood?
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Significant Design Advances Across Floating Offshore Wind Sector
The UK’s renewable energy sector is well placed to take advantage of the expected boom in floating offshore wind technology. Studies highlight the huge advances in platform technology which have taken place over the past two decades.
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More Efficient Battery Designed for Storing Energy from Wind or Solar Farms
Jimmy Jiang envisions a future where every house is powered by renewable energy stored in batteries — perhaps even those he and his students are designing today.
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Watching Trends: Helping the NRC Model Risk and Reliability
Nuclear power accounts for 0.03 deaths per terawatt-hour of electricity generated, when including both accidents and deaths due to air pollution. This fatality rate is a factor of 820 lower than electricity produced using coal. One reason U.S. nuclear power plants have such an impressive safety record is that utilities embrace a safety culture, one that uses probabilistic risk assessments, also known as PRAs.
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The Future of Grid Energy Storage Starts Today
In a decarbonized, electrified future, next-generation batteries will improve the reliability and resilience of the electrical grid while allowing increased integration of renewable energy. These batteries will also be able to provide backup power during or after natural disasters.
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How ERCOT Is Narrowly Getting Through an Extreme Summer — and How Experts Say It Could Do Better
Record-high power demand and faltering electricity sources have tested the grid in the past month, forcing the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to dig deep into its toolbox to keep power flowing.
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German Nuclear Phaseout Leaves Radioactive Waste Problem
While Germany searches for a permanent storage facility for its nuclear waste, it risks sitting on piles of dangerous waste for decades. The problem drains public finances by hundreds of millions of euros every year.
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Structural Engineers Stress-Test the Robustness of the World's Skyscrapers
The safety of tall buildings in the world’s cities, in the face of extreme external traumas like vehicle impacts, blasts or fires, has been tested using a model developed by structural engineers at the University of Surrey – with reassuring results.
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Shutting Off Power to Reduce Wildfire Risk on Windy Days Isn’t a Simple Decision – an Energy Expert Explains the Trade-Offs Electric Utilities Face
Maui County is suing Hawaiian Electric, claiming the utility was negligent for not shutting off power as strong winds hit the island in the hours before the city of Lahaina burned. Electricity is critical infrastructure and a foundational bedrock to many other services, so utilities have to balance the risk of keeping power on with the risks created by shutting power off.
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More headlines
The long view
Calls Grow for Sustainable Governance as Groundwater Resources Become Scarce
The depletion of groundwater resources, driven by unsustainable agricultural practices and increasing demands for food production, is a pressing issue, and it underscores the urgent need for sustainable groundwater governance.
Two-Way Water Transfers Can Ensure Reliability, Save Money for Urban and Agricultural Users During Drought in Western U.S.
Researchers offer a solution — two-way leasing contracts — to water scarcity during droughts amid the tug of economic development, population growth and climate uncertainty for water users in Western U.S. states.