A new study found that hurricanes intensify more quickly now than they did 30 years ago. Hurricanes from 2017 like Irma (center), and Jose (right) are examples of these types of hurricanes. Hurricane Katia is seen on the left.  (Photo: NOAA)

usatoday.com - by Doyle Rice - May 10, 2018

With the start of hurricane season just three weeks away — and memory of last year's disastrous storms still fresh — scientists reported that powerful hurricanes are strengthening faster than they did 30 years ago.

Four of the monster hurricanes last year (Harvey, Irma, Jose and Maria) all intensified rapidly — when the maximum wind speed increases at least 29 mph within 24 hours . . .

 . . . According to a study out this week, the main cause appears to be a natural climate phenomenon that warms the seawater where hurricanes typically intensify in the Atlantic.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

submitted by Krae Van Sickle

Figure 1: Distribution-scale solar costs more than wholesale power, but it costs less if you fairly value all benefits

rmi.org - by Titiaan Palazzi Thomas Koch Blank - May 1, 2018

“New Record Set for World’s Cheapest Solar.” A headline like this makes for great social media fodder. The downward trend in renewables prices is fantastic—it’s the most important driver for the growth of solar and wind energy.

However, when your business or utility is comparing different energy projects, looking at cost alone is not enough. Even energy projects at very low costs can be “out of the money” if the value created by a project is less than its cost.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

(Photo: Getty Images)

CLICK HERE - Scripps Institute of Oceanography - CARBON DIOXIDE IN THE ATMOSPHERE HITS RECORD HIGH MONTHLY AVERAGE

usatoday.com - by Doyle Rice - May 4, 2018

Carbon dioxide — the gas scientists say is most responsible for global warming — reached its highest level in recorded history last month, at 410 parts per million.

This amount is highest in at least the past 800,000 years, according to the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. Prior to the onset of the Industrial Revolution, carbon dioxide levels had fluctuated over the millennia but had never exceeded 300 parts per million.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

sciencedaily.com - April 30, 2018

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Impact of Healthy Lifestyle Factors on Life Expectancies in the US Population - https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.032047 - Circulation. 2018;CIRCULATIONAHA.117.032047

Summary:  Maintaining five healthy habits -- eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, keeping a healthy body weight, not drinking too much alcohol, and not smoking -- during adulthood may add more than a decade to life expectancy, according to a new study.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLES WITHIN THE LINKS BELOW . . .

CLICK HERE - These 5 healthy habits could help you live a decade longer, study suggests

CLICK HERE - Healthy lifestyle may prolong life expectancy in US adults

A new study by an SMU geophysical team found alarming rates of ground movement at various locations across a 4000-square-mile area of four Texas counties. (Zhong Lu and Jin-Woo Kim, SMU) Credit: Zhong Lu and Jin-Woo Kim, SMU

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Association between localized geohazards in West Texas and human activities, recognized by Sentinel-1A/B satellite radar imagery

phys.org - Southern Methodist University - March 21, 2018

Two giant sinkholes near Wink, Texas, may just be the tip of the iceberg, according to a new study by a Southern Methodist University, Dallas geophysical team that found alarming rates of new ground movement extending far beyond the infamous sinkholes . . .

 . . . Now the team has discovered that various locations in large portions of four Texas counties are also sinking and uplifting.

 . . . ”These hazards represent a danger to residents, roads, railroads, levees, dams, and oil and gas pipelines, as well as potential pollution of ground water," Lu said. "Proactive, continuous detailed monitoring from space is critical to secure the safety of people and property" . . .

This valve assembly is the aboveground portion of an injection well, which can be used to dispose of fluid deep in the subsurface. Recent studies show that the cumulative effects from injection in numerous disposal wells can contribute to seismic activity far from the injection sites. Credit: Leonid Eremeychuk/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

High-volume fluid injection can cumulatively increase underground pore pressure and induce earthquakes in regions unexpectedly far from injection wells, recent Kansas studies show.

eos.org - by Shelby L. Peterie, Richard D. Miller, Rex Buchanan, and Brandy DeArmond - April 17, 2018

Seismologists largely attribute widespread earthquakes in southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma over the past several years to injection of extracted oil field brine deep into Earth’s crust. Recently, however, the frequency of earthquakes has increased significantly in areas of Kansas well beyond the initial high-seismicity zones near injection wells.

HEAT ISLANDS  Heat claims more lives than floods, hurricanes and other weather-related disasters. How will cities cope as temperatures rise?  ULTRAFORMA/ISTOCKPHOTO

When days and nights get too hot, city dwellers are the first to run into trouble

sciencenews.org - by AIMEE CUNNINGHAM - April 3, 2018

Since 1986, the first year the National Weather Service reported data on heat-related deaths, more people in the United States have died from heat (3,979) than from any other weather-related disaster — more than floods (2,599), tornadoes (2,116) or hurricanes (1,391). Heat’s victim counts would be even higher, but unless the deceased are found with a fatal body temperature or in a hot room, the fact that heat might have been the cause is often left off of the death certificate, says Jonathan Patz, director of the Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

As greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere, heat’s toll is expected to rise. Temperatures will probably keep smashing records as carbon dioxide, methane and other gases continue warming the planet. Heat waves (unusually hot weather lasting two or more days) will probably be longer, hotter and more frequent in the future.

dshs.state.tx.us - March 3, 2016

DSHS Launches Lab Testing, Birth Defects Review, Website, Community Guidance

The Texas Department of State Health Services has ramped up efforts to protect people from Zika virus and is urging people to follow mosquito precautions.

“Mosquito season is approaching, and the number of travel-related cases continues to inch up for Texas. It’s only a matter of time before Zika virus is locally transmitted here by mosquitoes,” said Dr. John Hellerstedt, DSHS commissioner.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Cape Town, South Africa

meetingoftheminds.org - by Manohar Patole - April 3, 2018

The growth of urban settlements is subject to a range of factors influenced by demographic, economic, political, environmental, cultural, and social factors. Weather variability, or climate change, has recently risen up this list. These two factors: climate change and urban population growth, are dramatically affecting urban water management. On one hand, growing populations increase urban water demand and on the other, climate change has increased water variability (volume, distribution, timing and quality) . . . 

 . . . How will cities adapt? Reframe. Develop new responses.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Microgrid at Princeton University

utilitydive.com - March 20, 2018

The National Academy of Sciences defines “resilience” as the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from, and more successfully adapt to adverse events.  Since the September 2017 DOE NOPR to FERC, the energy industry has been working overtime to better define resilience.  FERC unanimously set aside the “90 days on-site fuel storage” provision espoused by DOE and opened a new docket (AD18-7) to more fully examine the current state of grid resiliency, asking the nation’s seven RTO’s and ISO’s to provide their definition of resiliency relative to the bulk power system by March 9.  Those ISO/RTO comments reflected regional variances as expected while sharing a common thread of the paradigm shift underway from central station power plants to more distributed generation . . . 

Hurricane Harvey’s toxic impact on Houston was more widespread than publicly reportted, an AP Houston Chronicle investigation has found.  In the more than 100 spills catalogued by reporters, environmental testing was limited.

apnews.com - by FRANK BAJAK of THE ASSOCIATED PRESS and LISE OLSEN of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE - March 23, 2018

HOUSTON (AP) — A toxic onslaught from the nation’s petrochemical hub was largely overshadowed by the record-shattering deluge of Hurricane Harvey as residents and first responders struggled to save lives and property.

More than a half-year after floodwaters swamped America’s fourth-largest city, the extent of this environmental assault is beginning to surface, while questions about the long-term consequences for human health remain unanswered.

County, state and federal records pieced together by The Associated Press and The Houston Chronicle reveal a far more widespread toxic impact than authorities publicly reported after the storm slammed into the Texas coast in late August and then stalled over the Houston area.

An expanding list of news resources on Zika virus . . .

CLICK HERE - CDC - Zika Virus - Case Counts in the US

CLICK HERE - DAILY ZIKA UPDATES - Florida Department of Health

CLICK HERE - Texas Department of State Health Services - Zika in Texas - http://www.texaszika.org

CLICK HERE - Zika circulates among wild animals in the Americas, making eradication nearly impossible - November 1, 2018

CLICK HERE - Zika Linked to a Spike in Birth Defects in the U.S. - January 26, 2018

CLICK HERE - Researchers identified three new mosquito carriers of Zika virus in Mexico and say all three are potential vectors of the disease - January 16, 2018

CLICK HERE - U.S. Study Sheds Light on How Zika Causes Nerve Disorder - December 13, 2017

dailytimes.com - by John Sniffen - March 19, 2018

Four partners are working with the Kerrville Public Utility Board on developing community solar power generating systems.

During their regular monthly meeting Wednesday morning, KPUB directors will consider authorizing agreements with Mo-Ranch, the Texas Lions Camp, Schreiner University and the City of Kerrville for systems to be installed on their properties . . .

 . . . The community solar effort is the result of KPUB being selected by the Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative to participate in a $5 million prize competition aimed at expanding solar electricity access . . . 

 . . . The systems will provide power to the hosting nonprofits, and to low- to moderate-income homes. It will also help reduce summertime peak demands and associated costs.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)