6 ms·

Natural catastrophe review 2018

42 points by 8bitsrule 8y ago

numbsafari 8y ago
If I’m reading this correctly, they are talking about worldwide $160B USD losses, not $160B in US losses only.
- fastball 8y ago
  Yeah, moderators please fix. Title is misleading / wrong.
  - sctb 8y ago
    Updated from “2018 US natural disaster losses: $160B”.
- cronix 8y ago
  Yes, the only thing US-centric about the post is they are using USD for the currency to compare the world-wide damages in multiple countries (USA, Japan, Philippines, Europe).
- scottlocklin 8y ago
  I dunno if anyone has pointed this out: the article is by a reinsurance company. I don't know why people are making the leap to "cleantech."
diafygi 8y ago
Howdy! I work in cleantech, and I guess it's that time again for a what-can-you-do-about-it post :) To start, here's my favorite climate change joke: "They say we won't act until it's too late... Luckily, it's too late!" ==So what can you do about it?== I work in cleantech, and you should, too! Solar and wind are economical, so now the biggest issue is scaling them up. That means tons and tons of problem solving, which means great tech and engineering jobs! If you think about it, the switch to renewables means we need to deal with situations where the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing, yet still keep the lights on. That means you have to build in a ton of storage and load control, which means good communication and analysis, which means software! Something like half of the impact of the energy transition will be done through software optimizing the deployment and operation of clean energy assets. Anyway, please check out my previous comments on recommendations when looking for climate impact work[1]. Also, working in cleantech can significantly reduce the feelings of hopelessness around disasters. Think of it like exercise. By working at it, your body naturally replaces anxiety with optimism and motivation. Physically doing something to fight your anxiety will make you feel better. [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15127154 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15127154
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  What is "cleantech"? It sounds good but I have no idea what it is.
  - tareqak 8y ago
    Cleantech is an industry term used to describe products or services that improve operational performance, productivity, or efficiency while reducing costs, inputs, energy consumption, waste, or environmental pollution [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_technology#Cleantech https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_technology#Cleantech
- vowelless 8y ago
  > Solar and wind are economical, so now the biggest issue is scaling them up. I appreciate your passion and desire to fix our planet. But am I the only one who thinks this is the biggest distraction to solving the energy problems of today and the next 100 years? It is just very difficult to get solar to produce the type of energy the world needs for the next 100 years. And it’s the 21st century — its embarrassing that we are talking about wind energy! Simply put, we need nuclear power. We need to spend more time and energy trying to innovate on nuclear energy. That’s what is needed to support the power needs of 10 billion people who will have the energy demands of a modern western nation today. Solar and wind will just not cut it. See this talk at NeurIPS 2017 https://nips.cc/Conferences/2017/Schedule?showEvent=8729 https://nips.cc/Conferences/2017/Schedule?showEvent=8729 https://youtu.be/HL60wgrT67k https://youtu.be/HL60wgrT67k
  - toomuchtodo 8y ago
    Nuclear is never going to happen, ever, due to a combination of issues (cost, regulation, liability, waste disposal and reprocessing). China is throwing in the towel on most of it's nuclear power plants [1]. I am deeply disappointed you dismiss wind and solar. They're extremely cheap (~2-4 cents/kwh at utility scale), require very little permitting to deploy, and fail safely. You're limited solely by how fast you can churn out PV panels, wind turbines, and get those components installed. Enough sunlight falls on the Earth in 30 minutes to power humanity for a year. The potential is there, and scaling is orders of magnitude more simple with renewables than nuclear. >90% of new generation in the US along each year are renewables. Coal fired plants are decomissioning decades earlier than predicted. Not even natural gas is as profitable as expected in some markets (Texas) due to how much wind power has been generated. 150+ GWac of new solar generation is planned to be online within the next five years in the US [2]. It would take two decades to replace all fossil generation with wind and solar. Faster if we taxed carbon and poured that money into renewables and battery storage. Nothing fancy required. Anyone can be trained to install solar panels, on rooftops or on ground mounts. [1] https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612564/chinas-losing-its-taste-for-nuclear-power-thats-bad-news/ https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612564/chinas-losing-its-... (China’s losing its taste for nuclear power. That’s bad news.) [2] https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2019/01/01/solar-tsunami/ https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2019/01/01/solar-tsunami/
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
alacombe 8y ago
Not a word about the 1.2 millions acres burnt in British Columbia, Canada ? That's pretty lame...

42 points by 8bitsrule 8y ago

numbsafari 8y ago

If I’m reading this correctly, they are talking about worldwide $160B USD losses, not $160B in US losses only.

fastball 8y ago
Yeah, moderators please fix. Title is misleading / wrong.
- sctb 8y ago
  Updated from “2018 US natural disaster losses: $160B”.
cronix 8y ago
Yes, the only thing US-centric about the post is they are using USD for the currency to compare the world-wide damages in multiple countries (USA, Japan, Philippines, Europe).
scottlocklin 8y ago
I dunno if anyone has pointed this out: the article is by a reinsurance company. I don't know why people are making the leap to "cleantech."

diafygi 8y ago

Howdy! I work in cleantech, and I guess it's that time again for a what-can-you-do-about-it post :) To start, here's my favorite climate change joke: "They say we won't act until it's too late... Luckily, it's too late!" ==So what can you do about it?== I work in cleantech, and you should, too! Solar and wind are economical, so now the biggest issue is scaling them up. That means tons and tons of problem solving, which means great tech and engineering jobs! If you think about it, the switch to renewables means we need to deal with situations where the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing, yet still keep the lights on. That means you have to build in a ton of storage and load control, which means good communication and analysis, which means software! Something like half of the impact of the energy transition will be done through software optimizing the deployment and operation of clean energy assets. Anyway, please check out my previous comments on recommendations when looking for climate impact work[1]. Also, working in cleantech can significantly reduce the feelings of hopelessness around disasters. Think of it like exercise. By working at it, your body naturally replaces anxiety with optimism and motivation. Physically doing something to fight your anxiety will make you feel better. [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15127154 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15127154

maxxxxx 8y ago
What is "cleantech"? It sounds good but I have no idea what it is.
- tareqak 8y ago
  Cleantech is an industry term used to describe products or services that improve operational performance, productivity, or efficiency while reducing costs, inputs, energy consumption, waste, or environmental pollution [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_technology#Cleantech https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_technology#Cleantech
vowelless 8y ago
> Solar and wind are economical, so now the biggest issue is scaling them up. I appreciate your passion and desire to fix our planet. But am I the only one who thinks this is the biggest distraction to solving the energy problems of today and the next 100 years? It is just very difficult to get solar to produce the type of energy the world needs for the next 100 years. And it’s the 21st century — its embarrassing that we are talking about wind energy! Simply put, we need nuclear power. We need to spend more time and energy trying to innovate on nuclear energy. That’s what is needed to support the power needs of 10 billion people who will have the energy demands of a modern western nation today. Solar and wind will just not cut it. See this talk at NeurIPS 2017 https://nips.cc/Conferences/2017/Schedule?showEvent=8729 https://nips.cc/Conferences/2017/Schedule?showEvent=8729 https://youtu.be/HL60wgrT67k https://youtu.be/HL60wgrT67k
- toomuchtodo 8y ago
  Nuclear is never going to happen, ever, due to a combination of issues (cost, regulation, liability, waste disposal and reprocessing). China is throwing in the towel on most of it's nuclear power plants [1]. I am deeply disappointed you dismiss wind and solar. They're extremely cheap (~2-4 cents/kwh at utility scale), require very little permitting to deploy, and fail safely. You're limited solely by how fast you can churn out PV panels, wind turbines, and get those components installed. Enough sunlight falls on the Earth in 30 minutes to power humanity for a year. The potential is there, and scaling is orders of magnitude more simple with renewables than nuclear. >90% of new generation in the US along each year are renewables. Coal fired plants are decomissioning decades earlier than predicted. Not even natural gas is as profitable as expected in some markets (Texas) due to how much wind power has been generated. 150+ GWac of new solar generation is planned to be online within the next five years in the US [2]. It would take two decades to replace all fossil generation with wind and solar. Faster if we taxed carbon and poured that money into renewables and battery storage. Nothing fancy required. Anyone can be trained to install solar panels, on rooftops or on ground mounts. [1] https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612564/chinas-losing-its-taste-for-nuclear-power-thats-bad-news/ https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612564/chinas-losing-its-... (China’s losing its taste for nuclear power. That’s bad news.) [2] https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2019/01/01/solar-tsunami/ https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2019/01/01/solar-tsunami/

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

alacombe 8y ago

Not a word about the 1.2 millions acres burnt in British Columbia, Canada ? That's pretty lame...