Posted on 22 September 2018 by John Hartz

Editor's Pick

Solar Energy Largely Unscathed by Hurricane Florence’s Wind and Rain

North Carolina gets nearly 5 percent of its electricity from solar panels. The state's solar farms survived Hurricane Florence with little damage. Credit: Duke Energy 

Faced with Hurricane Florence's powerful winds and record rainfall, North Carolina's solar farms held up with only minimal damage while other parts of the electricity system failed, an outcome that solar advocates hope will help to steer the broader energy debate.

North Carolina has more solar power than any state other than California, much of it built in the two years since Hurricane Matthew hit the region. Before last week, the state hadn't seen how its growing solar developments—providing about 4.6 percent of the state's electricity—would fare in the face of a hurricane.

Florence provided a test of how the systems stand up to severe weather as renewable energy use increases, particularly solar, which is growing faster in the Southeast than any other other region. 

Solar Energy Largely Unscathed by Hurricane Florence’s Wind and Rain by Dan Gearino, InsideClimate News, Sep 20, 2018 

Links posted on Facebook

Sun Sep 16, 2018

• Climate change: we need to start moving people away from some coastal areas, warns scientist by  Luciana Esteves, The Conversation UK, Sep 13, 2018
• U.S. climate summit aims for a new carbon goal: zero by Sebastien Malo, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Sep 14, 2018
• Acid is dribbling out of the melting permafrost in the Arctic by Michael Marshall, New Scientist, Sep 14, 2018
• Typhoon Mangkhut hits mainland China, lashes Hong Kong, dozens dead in Philippines by Sheena McKenzie, CNN, Sep 16, 2018
• ‘Major shift’: Nations face bottom-up pressure to act on climate change by Karl Mathiesen, Climate Home News, Sep 14, 2018
• Hundreds are still trapped from Florence's flooding, and 'the worst is still yet to come by Holly Yan, Cassie Spodak & Hollie Silverman, CNN, Sep 16, 2018
• “Running Out Of Time” – Local Communities Mobilise for the Climate by Tharanga Yakupitiyage, Inter Press Service (IPS), Sep 12, 2018
• This is how the world ends: will we soon see category 6 hurricanes? by Jeff Nesbitt, Guardian, Sep 15, 2018
• What bison in South Dakota can teach us about fighting climate change by Umair Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Sep 14, 2018
• California Had Its Own Climate Summit. Now What? by Brad Plumer, Climate, New York Times, Sep 15, 2018

Mon Sep 17, 2018

• Religion helps us understand the world': Season of Creation celebrated in Saskatoon by Darlene Polachic, Saskatoon Star Phoenix, Sep 15, 2018
• Recovery may take days as Hong Kong picks up the pieces after mauling by monster storm by Ernest Kao, Shirley Zhao, Naomi Ng & Sum Lok-ke, Health & Environment, South China Morning Post, Sep 16, 2018
• Democrats struggle to make voters care about climate change by David Siders, Energy & Environment, Politico, Sep 14, 2018
• Photos: The Aftermath of Hurricane Florence by Alan Taylor, In Focus, The Atlantic, Sep 16, 2018
• Extreme weather: The effects of climate change are already here, The Logic of Science, Sep 17, 2018
• Typhoon Mangkhut: Hong Kong in tatters; China evacuates millions by Euan McKirdy, Joshua Berlinger & Ben Westcott, CNN, Sep 17, 2018
• Hurricane Florence: Resources for Journalists, State of the Planet, Earth Institute, Columbia University, Sep 12, 2018
• USA Today op-ed ignores evidence to claim climate change had no role in Hurricane Florence, Edited by Scott Johnson, Climate Feedback, Sep 17, 2018
• California plans to show the world how to meet the Paris climate target by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Environment, Guardian, Sep 17, 2018
• You can’t put America first if you put climate change last, Opinion by Brian Klaas, Democracy Post, Washington Post, Sep 13, 2018

Tue Sep 18, 2018

• Climate change, water and the spread of diseases: connecting the dots differently by Lenore Manderson, The Conversation Africa, Sep 16, 2018
• Tsunami' of new wind and solar projects drives renewables output to a record by Peter Hannam, Environment, Sydney Morning Herald, Sep 17, 2018
• Photos: Typhoon Mangkhut ravages Philippines, Hong Kong, and southern China by Jen Kirby, Vox, Sep 17, 2018
• Voters Are Ready for a Green New Deal. Are Democrats? by Eric Leventz, Daily Intelligencer, New York Magazine, Sep 18, 2018
• Flooding causes a hog lagoon to breach; others are at capacity by Will Doran, Raleigh News & Observer, Sep 18, 2018
• We Gotta Get a Better Battery. But How? by Jason Pontin, Ideas, Wired, Sep 17, 2018
• Fear near Cape Fear rises with the river, and the death toll from Florence keeps rising by Holly Yan , Amanda Watts Kaylee Hartung, CNN, Sep 18, 2018
• 'This one feels different': Hurricane Florence can start a new conversation, Opinion by Megan Mayhew Bergman, Comment is Free, Guardian, Sep 15, 2018
• Typhoon Mangkhut bill could set Hong Kong record of US$1 billion in insurance claims by Denise Tsang, Enoch Yiu & Tony Cheung, South China Morning Post, Sep 17, 2018
• The Divestment Movement to Combat Climate Change Is All Grown Up by Carolyn Kormann, Dispatch, The New Yorker, Sep 14, 2018
• 'Dumbest Policy in the World': Report Details How Canada's Massive Fossil Fuel Subsidies Undermine Climate Action by Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams, Sep 17, 2018

Wed Sep 19, 2018

• An Equator Full of Hurricanes Shows a Preview of End Times by Adam Rogers, Science, Wired, Sep 14, 2018
• USA Today publishes still more climate misinformation, denying a link between climate change and hurricanes by Lisa Hymas, Media Matters for America, Sep 14, 2018
• Humans Have Been Messing With the Climate for Thousands of Years by Marlene Cimons, Nexus Media, Sep 17, 2018
• Attributing the Impact of Climate Change on Florence In Near Real Time by Laura Snider, NCAR & UCAR News, Sep 18, 2018
• At the Edge of the World, Facing the End of the World by Matt Simon, Science, Wired, Sep 17, 2018
• Climate change is real. Welcome to the new normal., Opinion by Eugene Robinson, Washington Post, Sep 18, 2018
• Trump Administration Formally Rolls Back Rule Aimed at Limiting Methane Pollution by Lisa Friedman, Climate, New York Times, Sep 19, 2018
• Jerry Brown Made Climate Change His Issue. Now, He’s Not Sure How Much Politicians Can Do. by Somini Sengupta, Climate, New York Times, Sep 18, 2018

Thu Sep 20, 2018

• Why hurricanes are expected to dump more rain in a warming world by Umair Irfan & Eliza Barclay, Energy & Environment, Vox, Sep 14, 2018
• Q&A: Why cement emissions matter for climate change by Jocelyn Timperley, Carbon Brief, Sep 13, 2018
• Greenland and the hunt for better climate science by Alister Doyle, Elizabeth Culliford & Lucas Jackson, Reuters, Sep 19, 2018
• A groundbreaking Hurricane Florence study could change how we think about climate by Kate Yoder, Grist, Sep 18, 2018
• Shell and Exxon's secret 1980s climate change warnings by Benjamin Franta, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Environment, Guardian, Sep 19, 2018
• The Private Intelligence Firm Keeping Tabs on Environmentalists by Adam Federman, Mother Jones, Sep 14, 2018
• 2 storms, Florence and Mangkhut, different as water and wind by Seth Borenstein, AP News, Sep 16, 2018
• At this rate, Earth risks sea level rise of 20 to 30 feet, historical analysis shows by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Sep 20, 2018

Fri Sep 21, 2018

• Melting Arctic Permafrost Releases Acid that Dissolves Rocks by Mindy Weisberger, LiveScience, Sep 18, 2018
• Spotted at the Climate Summit: Republican Mayors by Liz Enochs, City Lab, Sep 19, 2018
• We can't fight climate change without national leadership, Opinion by Daniel Cohan, Gray Matters, Houston Chronicle, Sep 19, 2018
• How Arctic warming could have steered Hurricane Florence towards the US, Guest Post by Jennifer Francis, Carbon Brief, Sep 17, 2018
• 'It's hyped up': climate change skeptics in the path of Hurricane Florence by Adam Gabbatt (in Fayetteville, NC), Environment, Guardian, Sep 20, 2018
• Energy efficiency can address climate change, drive prosperity, and strengthen national security, Press Release, Rocky Mountain Institute, Sep 18, 2018
• Stewardship: a user’s manual, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Sep 18, 2018
• Climate Change Made Florence a Monster—but Media Failed to Tell That Story by Jim Naureckas, FAIR, Sep 20, 2018

Sat Sep 22, 2018

• Limiting warming to 2C would prevent ‘worldwide increases’ in heat-related deaths by Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, Sep 13, 2018
• New Jersey Makes Way For 1.1 Gigawatt Offshore Wind by Joshua S Hill, CleanTechnica, Sep 21, 2018
• Crop losses to insects will accelerate as the globe warms: study by Mike Gaworecki, Mongabay, Sep 18, 2018
• Solar Energy Largely Unscathed by Hurricane Florence’s Wind and Rain by Dan Gearino, InsideClimate News, Sep 20, 2018
• Climate Summit Highlights States’ Commitment to Combating Global Warming by Russell Fortmeyer, Architectural Record, Sep 20, 2018
• Florence’s Floods Reveal Exposure of Rural Areas to Climate Change by Adam Aton & Daniel Cusick, E&E News/Scientific American, Sep 18, 2018
• Dam breach sends toxic coal ash flowing into a major North Carolina river by Brady Dennis,Steven Mufson & Juliet Eilperin, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Sep 22, 2018
• 'There is still more of hurricane season to go': Expert warns another tropical threat may make US landfall by Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather, Sep 22, 2018
• New research, September 10-16, 2018 by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Science, Sep 21, 2018