Notices by CelloMom On Cars (cellomomoncars@mastodon.social)

"Climate change and fundamental shifts to hydrology are key drivers of drought. But drought and water scarcity (when there is not enough water to meet ecological and human needs) are also shaped by human decisions about land and water, like whether water is over-allocated, wetlands are drained or forests are clear-cut. Community planning and choices about land and water management influence how much of a buffer we have and our ability to adapt to drought and scarcity."

https://theconversation.com/how-to-tackle-persistent-drought-lessons-from-british-columbia-288513

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."

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/12/opinions/climate-crisis-change-extreme-weather-infrastructure/index.html

"Policymakers can often be overly focused on whether their part of the world is becoming wetter or drier overall. But as this new research shows, it’s variability they should be worried about.

Our findings have major implications for [cities'] preparedness for #FlashFlooding. More intense downpours are likely to overwhelm stormwater systems designed for past conditions."

https://theconversation.com/landmark-new-research-shows-how-global-warming-is-messing-with-our-rainfall-233432

"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.

https://research.noaa.gov/2024/06/28/national-academies-unveils-strategy-to-modernize-probable-maximum-precipitation-estimates/

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."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-15/climate-change-leaves-world-s-electricity-networks-unable-to-cope

" 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. "

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/12/opinions/climate-crisis-change-extreme-weather-infrastructure/index.html

#SystemChange

#DisasterPreparation in a changed climate

"Emergency managers may not order evacuations because hurricanes are rapidly intensifying after the evacuation window has closed.

More often now, coastal residents will find themselves sheltering at home.

That means having enough food and water for an extended period in the event of power outages. It may also mean having a backup generator as well as a solar charger for your phone if you can afford it, Montano added. "

https://edition.cnn.com/weather/hurricanes-global-warming-preparation-climate/index.html

Updates of flood maps are urgently needed, but also estimates of the Probable Maximum Precipitation as that informs the design of stormwater management systems.

"Researchers led by Zhang Wenxia at the China Academy of Sciences studied historical meteorological data and found about 75% of the world's land area had seen a rise in "precipitation variability" or wider swings between wet and dry weather."

https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/climate-change-causing-more-change-rainfall-fiercer-typhoons-scientists-say-2024-07-26/

"Residents who have watched their life savings get washed away multiple times are left with few choices — leave the communities where their families have lived for generations, pay tens of thousands of dollars to rebuild their houses on stilts as building codes require, or move into a recreational vehicle they can drive out of harm’s way.

That’s if they can afford any of those things."

https://apnews.com/article/hurricane-helene-climate-change-florida-big-bend-182d68761b3d2328e56e3fb8d9cdb802

"While climate change does not cause hurricanes, we are certain it makes them more destructive. Humans have increased sea level, leading to more destructive storm surge, and a warmer atmosphere produces more rain.

[These effects] push our physical environment beyond thresholds that infrastructure was designed to handle."

https://www.theclimatebrink.com/p/you-will-not-escape-the-climate-crisis

"From hurricanes to deadly heatwaves, crippling droughts to crop failures – the consequences of #ClimateChange are potentially catastrophic.

Yet many governments do not routinely consider extreme climate scenarios in their security plans, and instead continue to assume that climate risks will gradually evolve over the long term.

This approach is proving to be grossly insufficient."

https://theconversation.com/climate-emergencies-threaten-our-collective-security-but-governments-are-flying-blind-into-the-storm-240814

Another reality:

Who Will Care for Americans Left Behind by #ClimateMigration?

"As people move away from flooding and heat, new research suggests that those who remain will be older, poorer and more vulnerable."

https://www.propublica.org/article/climate-change-migration-hurricane-helene

"The government enjoys broad legal authority to move people out of their homes to promote the public interest, so long as it provides property owners with what the U.S. Constitution calls “just compensation.”

This seemingly universal doctrine is unfair in a fundamental sense, however, since it makes it far easier for a government to buy out and relocate a poor neighborhood than a wealthy one."

https://grist.org/migration/climate-change-home-buyouts-displacement-managed-retreat/

The non-linear interactions between climate change, local soil conditions, the effects of large cities, local hydrological cycle, etc. would not be included in planetary-scale climate models.

https://www.technologynetworks.com/applied-sciences/news/heat-waves-surpassing-climate-model-predictions-alarm-scientists-393785

Looks like we're in the "finding out" stage.

One post upthread says that climate change has moved the Probable Maximum Precipitation.
Looks like the probably maximum heat also needs to be revisited.

"We should brace for worse-than-expected #heatwaves in the years ahead, as climate models are underestimating the potency of these events in some areas, including the UK and northern France, southern Australia and northern Canada."

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2458421-heatwaves-are-surpassing-the-extremes-predicted-by-climate-models/#Echobox=1732901350

How huge parts of the U.S. could become uninhabitable within decades — even so-called ‘climate havens’

"From poisoned water supplies to infrastructure issues to polar vortices, the entire U.S. is being threatened by #ClimateChange, and why you can’t just move to Vermont to escape it

“The costs of failure are way more than the cost of doing something about it,” Chester adds. “You can’t turn away from the LA wildfires or NYC flooding. The costs are astronomical.”"

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/usa-cities-unlivable-climate-change-b2687239.html

"The biggest lesson that we need to learn is that we are just plain not prepared for the climate that we have created. Our world is not built for the #climate that we live in, and the biggest change is going to require acknowledging that fact.

I’m scared that we’re going to rebuild LA more or less the same way, without using this as an opportunity to rethink how LA is built and reinvest in public infrastructure, [and] a retreat from building in the most risky areas. "

https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/18/climate/jeff-goodell-rebuilding-la-fires/index.html

"Across #Canada, about 10,000 kilometres of winter roads are constructed each year, many crossing ice-covered lakes. For northern communities, these #IceRoads are essential for economic stability, health and security.

In some regions, #ClimateChange has already disrupted transportation."

https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-making-canadas-ice-roads-hard-to-navigate-242569

#ClimateChange: “#Greece Was Built for a Climate That No Longer Exists,” Warns University of Athens Professor

"Greece has experienced such wildfires over the past three years, he noted. Paradoxically, extended droughts are often followed by extreme weather events causing floods and significant damage to urban and rural areas. These phenomena are intensified by rising sea surface temperatures, increasing by 0.5 degrees Celsius per decade."

https://greekcitytimes.com/2025/04/04/climate-change-greece/

Why Los Angeles Burned

"We’re in trouble not because we’re helpless, or because we have broken the planet beyond repair. We’re in trouble because we live in a world that was built for a climate that no longer exists, and the rebuilding of our world to adapt to this new, hotter, more dangerous climate is a task that we have hardly begun to undertake."

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/climate-change-la-fires-cause-1235263674/