Credit: Reuters/Jonathan Bachman

As Hurricane Florence pelts the southeast coast, forecasters are warning residents of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia of life-threatening flooding from storm surge and heavy rainfall.

Storm surge occurs when strong winds from an approaching hurricane push the ocean — which is these days higher because of sea level rise — into the shore. Florence could bring a storm surge as high as 13 feet to some parts of North Carolina. But a much larger area outside the coastal flooding zone will be affected by heavy rain and is at risk of inland flooding.

Earlier this year, in a paper in Environmental Research Letters, we learned that that Americans are at far greater risk from this kind of river and surface flooding than official estimates reveal — as in, three times the risk.

“Florence’s heavy rains will cause ponding and flooding in places that neither the FEMA coastal flooding maps or the FEMA river flooding maps are going to do a good job of predicting,” said Joe Fargione, science director at the Nature Conservancy, […]

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Fat red states

Obesity rates in the United States are at an all-time high. But now, seven states throughout the country have an obesity rate of at least 35%. It’s the first time this many states have had such a serious obesity problem (it’s up from five states in 2016), and the issue doesn’t seem to be getting better any time soon. The following seven states have the highest obesity rates in the country* — do you live in one?

Credit: lucidenergy.com

You’d be forgiven if the phrase “Portland goes green with innovative water pipes” doesn’t immediately call to mind thoughts of civil engineering and hydro-electric power.

And yet, that’s exactly what Oregon’s largest city has done by partnering with a company called Lucid Energy to generate clean electricity from the water already flowing under its streets and through its pipes.

Portland has replaced a section of its existing water supply network with Lucid Energy pipes containing four forty-two inch turbines.

As water flows through the pipes, the turbines spin and power attached generators, which then feed energy back into the city’s electrical grid. Known as the “Conduit 3 Hydroelectric Project,” Portland’s new clean energy source is scheduled to be up and running at full capacity in March.

According to a Lucid Energy FAQ detailing the partnership, this will be the “first project in the U.S. to secure a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for renewable energy produced by in-pipe hydropower in a municipal water pipeline.”

A short promotional video describes the technology and benefits […]

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As climate change brings rising temperatures, droughts, shifting patterns of precipitation and longer growing seasons, plants and animals are evolving to keep pace.

Biologists have observed squirrels and salmon developing at an accelerated pace, causing them to reproduce at a younger age. Earlier summers have caused some flowers to bloom earlier in the year. And corals are forging new relationships with microscopic algae to survive in warmer, more acidic seas.

As the planet continues to warm, evolutionary changes are expected in other species as well — including Homo sapiens. Climate change will alter the internal workings of our bodies in subtle but significant ways and will likely cause a noticeable shift in our appearance.

Inside the body

A warmer climate means malaria, West Nile virus and other diseases long confined primarily to the tropics will spread into temperate zones. As a result, people living in the U.S. and other developed nations will be exposed to these illnesses, and our immune systems will be forced to evolve new defenses. That, in turn, could […]

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