Hurricane Harvey has taught us many lessons, but the most valuable may be the oldest lesson of all, one we humans have been learning – and forgetting – since the dawn of time: how much we all have to lose when climate and weather disasters strike.
A new analysis shows that Hurricane Harvey was a once in 25,000 year event. But that doesn’t mean it will be another 25,000 years before another storm just like it occurs.
Low-income families are more likely to live in flood-prone areas with deficient infrastructure. Hurricane Harvey is yet another example of this pattern. While large parts of Houston flooded, low-income neighborhoods fared worse than wealthier areas.
Now that a bit of time has elapsed since Hurricane Harvey tore a path of destruction along the coast of Texas, things have begun to get clearer as regards the fate of Houston’s many petrochemical facilities.
First responders have filed suit against Arkema Chemical after its facility near Houston exploded and caught fire after Hurricane Harvey. They claim they suffered serious bodily injury as a result.
While the situation concerning a possible chemical release disaster at the Arkema plant in Houston has been in the news for a while now, it still remains unclear exactly what the current dangers are.
We published an article here at CleanTechnica just a few months back discussing the possibility that massive amounts of dangerous petrochemicals could be released into the city of Houston if the region was to hit by a storm bringing high levels of storm surge with it. Houston, you see, is home to coastal storage facilities that are host to chemicals produced by the regional fossil fuel refineries.
Unusually warm water and air temperatures are largely responsible for making Hurricane Harvey the most powerful storm to hit the United States in the last 12 years. Is anyone paying attention? Apparently not.
While Houston, Texas, is already regularly home to some of the worst flooding events that occur within the US, the reality is that, thanks to rising seas, increasingly extreme rainstorms, and increasingly powerful hurricanes, such events will actually become considerably worse over the coming decades.
America’s leading solar developer, SolarCity, has this week announced its expansion into the state of Utah, and is now hiring in sales, operations, and corporate positions. According to figures published by GTM Research earlier this year, SolarCity is responsible for 14% of non-residential solar installations, and 35% of residential installations, … [continued]
