[HN Gopher] Nearly 200M in U.S. under heat advisories, warnings ... ___________________________________________________________________ Nearly 200M in U.S. under heat advisories, warnings as two heat domes form Author : montalbano Score : 96 points Date : 2021-08-13 19:21 UTC (3 hours ago) (HTM) web link (www.axios.com) (TXT) w3m dump (www.axios.com) | shock-value wrote: | Note, this article is from two days ago and references | predictions made then for yesterday. | throaway46546 wrote: | It's a been pretty weird experience sitting comfortably here in | the Mojave desert while my family in the PNW is suffering in the | heat. | edgefield wrote: | If we don't respond to climate change now and aggressively, | like we are fighting a war, humanity is toast. Climate change | will quickly wipe out most life on earth. The IPCC "code red" | report doesn't even take into account several enormous feedback | effects such as methane off gassing from rock formations. | albertgoeswoof wrote: | Climate change will probably help increase life on earth, | given it will likely remove the most invasive and bio- | suppressant species on earth today, humans | edgefield wrote: | True. Just give the planet 1M years to recover. | rootusrootus wrote: | The odds of humans actually going extinct due to climate | change seem pretty long. A massive reduction, sure, but | _all_ of them? | alexose wrote: | At 6degC (the very upper end of the IPCC report), the planet | loses its ability to create clouds. Which itself means | another 7degC due to the lowering of the albedo. Certainly a | civilization-ending event, and perhaps a life-ending one. | rchaud wrote: | > Climate change will quickly wipe out most life on earth. | | I think the resource shortages, water wars and refugee crises | that precede the actual climate-driven apocalypse will get us | there a lot faster than we imagine. | dotcommand wrote: | Why is a weather article from august 11 being brigaded to the | frontpage now. A 2 day old article about the weather? | k33n wrote: | Didn't you hear? The sea level will rise to an untenable level | by 1975! We must shut down our society completely! | NationalPark wrote: | Why is it that one conspiracy breeds another with you guys? I | just skimmed your history and not only are you a climate | science denier, you are also a covid denier, and you believe | that the "mainstream media" is conspiring to depress | GameStop's stock price! Surely you at least recognize how | unlikely it is that all of these are true _and_ you just | happen to be one of the special few who figured it out? | Cmon... | k33n wrote: | I deny most of the lies mainstream media pushes. I'm sorry | that having your spoonfed worldview challenged is so hard | for you. Wish you all the best! Hundreds of millions if not | billions share my views. Not too special. Hurry up and get | off the computer! You're missing Anderson Cooper 360! | s5300 wrote: | Main character syndrome appears to be fairly rampant | amongst conspiracy theorists. | Terretta wrote: | From below: | | > _"if not billions"_ | | Narrator: "It's not billions." | | On the other hand, that post provoked a thought: | | Society has lost valuable herd immunity to bad thinking. | Used to be kooks had to try hard to spread nonsense. | | Redefine _kook_ as _edgy_ , _influencer_ , or _in-the-know | contrarian_ , and the nonsense practically spreads itself. | | And your remark raised a point too: it's indeed about | feeling special. Now that everything is noisy, that takes a | special kind of noise. | bobobull wrote: | because it's really friggin hot out ( and in ) | dotcommand wrote: | Shocking. Oh all the months for it to be friggin hot outside, | it had to be august. Who would have guessed. | kaminar wrote: | Oh no oh no oh no...everybody run for the hills! Nothing like | this has ever happened before, what'll we do?! | | Smh...lemme know when winter comes and they predict we're headed | for an ice age...again. | akomtu wrote: | I wonder if the reason the US elites are moving to NZ is these | heat waves: perhaps modeling revealed that most of the US will | become uncomfortably hot and humid in the next decade or so, | while NZ will stay cool. | scrollaway wrote: | Air conditioning is a lot easier than moving to New Zealand. | | The whole NZ citizenship for the rich is a mix of preppers | nonsense and elite club FOMO. If it gets bad enough that NZ is | the easiest answer, then NZ won't be the answer. | | Remember these are the same people doing young blood | transfusions to stave off death. Hey, maybe history will prove | me wrong, but it's not impossible they're flawed humans with | fears and insecurities like everyone else. | decebalus1 wrote: | My hypothesis about why rich people moving to NZ is that it's | a mix of hype, NZ climate and the relative isolation. The | latter is one of the most important. It's pretty hard to get | to NZ. The distance itself will basically guarantee you won't | get overrun by climate change refugees. Unlike the mainland | US or Europe. | vavooom wrote: | Source? | xwdv wrote: | Becoming a common thing now, maybe people will finally believe | something must be done, but it's likely already too late. | alexose wrote: | It's not too late. | | There have been recent (huge!) advances in renewable energy, | chemistry, and climate modeling that open the door to solving | this problem. | | The path I see in front of us involves temporarily | geoengineering our way to a +1C ceiling while massively scaling | up carbon capture operations. At the same time, we transition | as much industry to renewable energy as possible. | | This _can_ be done. It 's entirely within our grasp. | kzrdude wrote: | It's probably impossible to teach the broader public about the | time scales involved in this. What we do now affects the world | in decades to come (and more). And what we did for decades | affects us now. | rybosworld wrote: | The next decade we are going to see a lot more heat related | deaths. And unfortunately, it will disproportionally affect the | poorest/most vulnerable people. | x14km2d wrote: | should we even make it to the next decade. So far, this seems | to look rather complicated. | FFRefresh wrote: | Your comment sounds like you are predicting a mass human | extinction, or close to it? | | I personally think that's incredibly far off base, but if you | are confident in your prediction for mass doom, I recommend | throwing some money into prediction markets around it. It | could be a great way to calibrate your model of reality (and | potentially make money if you are right!). | vkou wrote: | If you're betting on collapse, and you are right, you | aren't going to be around to collect. | | If you're betting against collapse, and you are wrong, you | aren't going to be around to pay up. | FFRefresh wrote: | A few variations in line with that: If you're betting on | near-total collapse, and you are right (and you survive | from living in the developed world), you will be around | to collect | | If you're betting on collapse, and you are wrong, you | will be around to pay up | | If you bet against collapse, and you are right, you will | be around to collect | | It should also be said that with prediction markets, you | don't have to wait until the event happens before selling | your position. | lostlogin wrote: | > unfortunately, it will disproportionally affect the | poorest/most vulnerable people. | | There isn't much that is bad that this doesn't hold true for. | hitpointdrew wrote: | The data suggests there is a slight down trend in heat related | deaths since 1999. https://www.epa.gov/climate- | indicators/climate-change-indica... | | I doubt heat related deaths will be a large factor in the next | decade. More people than ever have access to AC and clean | water. | mbgerring wrote: | Take a look at what happened earlier in the summer in | Portland. Extreme heat events are becoming more common in | places where homes often don't have air conditioning. | | Also, I feel like this should go without saying but the | climate has changed perceptibly since 1999 and will continue | to get warmer for the foreseeable future, so relying on past | trend lines like this is a mistake. | ryanobjc wrote: | I think the go comment is kinda of like the infamous slash | dot review of the iPod: "I don't think heat deaths will be | a thing in the next decade" - uh huh | throwanem wrote: | My local power utility has ramped up its (thus far) voluntary | load shedding campaign this year with rebates for usage | reductions during high-demand periods (including today!), and | is also pushing "smart" thermostats pretty hard, also in | exchange for a minor rebate. They're "smart" in that they | allow the utility to remotely shut down your AC for a 75% or | 50% duty cycle, which you are not allowed to override. | | Don't count on AC saving all that many lives as the decade | wears on. | rdtwo wrote: | Nobody is going to throttle the ac to your million dollar | home unless it's Cali and even then probably not. Likely | will only affect poor people. | s0rce wrote: | I lost power for about 45min last year during one of the | highest load days in California. No AC though so it | didn't really do much except people went outside and | talked about not having power. | knownjorbist wrote: | East coast here, if you elect to participate in the | program they can toggle your usage to 75% or 50% with | advance notice. | gizmo686 wrote: | 50% duty cycle is more than enough to keep the temperature | at a survivable level. If the utilities use the load | shedding program to reduce AC usage to the point of killing | people, the situation would already be so bad that the | alternative load shedding approach of black outs would kill | far more people. | toomuchtodo wrote: | Rooftop solar (if you can) is the future. The cost will | (must, really) come down, even if we need a "Solar Corps" | (volunteers, Habitat for Humanity style) or similar to get | generation on the roofs of the disadvantaged. AC load | shedding will become untenable in the hottest of places, | and the power grid will become taxed from demand faster | than infrastructure upgrades can occur. | rootusrootus wrote: | Rooftop solar is tempting. I'm in the PNW so the | economics don't work out favorably (even at $1.5/W | installed, which is what I was recently quoted). But | there are some non-economic advantages to having solar | (as long as you have batteries) so it may still be | worthwhile. | Retric wrote: | There is quite a bit of room between what most people set | their AC and what's actually uncomfortable and an even | larger gap to what's unhealthy. That delta is what allows | load shedding in a heat wave. | | In rich countries like the US throwing money at the | problem works, but for the much of the world the extra | infrastructure simply isn't worth the extra comfort. | [deleted] | cj wrote: | Tesla Solar Roof comes to mind. | | https://www.tesla.com/solarroof | | It's unfortunately roughly double the cost of a regular | roof (and 3x as much if your current roof is already due | for replacement). | toomuchtodo wrote: | In Australia, the cost for rooftop solar is about | $1/watt. In the US, we're still higher from soft costs | such as permitting, utility review and approval, and | similar, putting the cost closer to $2-$3/watt (pre 26% | federal tax credit). The NREL recently released an app | that automates the permitting process [1], but there are | still places to squeeze the fat out to drive the cost | down. | | Tesla's solar tiles are interesting, but cost prohibitive | for anyone but the wealthy. | | [1] https://solarapp.nrel.gov/ | [deleted] | Arrath wrote: | Makes me wonder how hard it would be to either just snip | the control circuit from the utility provided thermostat to | your AC unit and run your own in its place while retaining | the discount, or setup an rPi or such as a MITM and | intercept the control commands. | | Alternatively: just don't overthink things and install a | mini-split/window unit/small portable that doesn't get | connected to the house thermostat in the first place. | throwanem wrote: | Oh, it's trivial to take any thermostat off the wall and | bridge the same contacts its relay would. That's not what | concerns me, so much as that I think I see the thin end | of a wedge. | toomuchtodo wrote: | These programs are optional. Google's Nest (among others) | integrates with utility signaling to perform this | shedding, and it's typically allowable for you to enable | cooling and override the load shedding activated during | peak demand (in the programs I'm familiar with). | Arrath wrote: | I get that, I was just pondering the fraudulent | possibilities of netting the discount while subverting | any control the utility would take over your HVAC | equipment. | throwanem wrote: | You have to have a smart meter to qualify for the | program, so it's not like they can't tell if you cheat | from consumption data. | throwanem wrote: | The smart thermostats BGE offers allow only two overrides | per day, iirc 30 or 60 min each. Not sure on that part, | but the specific period isn't so much at issue as that | somebody else has the privilege of deciding when I am | allowed not to swelter. | | (I saw some mention of a "smart switch" also installed | under this program, which I assume is there to prevent | "overriding" the meter by just yanking it off the wall | and shorting the contacts.) | toomuchtodo wrote: | > Not sure on that part, but the specific period isn't so | much at issue as that somebody else has the privilege of | deciding when I am allowed not to swelter. | | You signed up for a discount for them to have permission | to adjust your AC condensing demand run time when | necessary, correct? I have never heard of a mandatory | residential load shedding program in the US, but that | doesn't mean they might be out there. | | https://bgesavings.com/programs/ac/ | | > BGE's PeakRewards Air Conditioning program helps | prevent the need for additional power plants, keep down | the overall cost of electricity and ease the burden on | Maryland's electricity delivery system as the state's | population continues to grow. Plus, participants receive | up to $100 in BGE bill credits each summer (June - | September). | | > The PeakRewards program is _completely voluntary_ and | is open to all BGE residential customers with central air | conditioning or an electric heat pump in good working | order, regardless of their choice of electricity | supplier. | rdtwo wrote: | Just put a heated blanket on it if you need to override | mindslight wrote: | If this became enough of a problem, it would be easy | enough for them to start auditing your hourly power | usage. I wouldn't be surprised if they were already doing | so to see the impact of such programs, and also because | bypassing a thermostat or installing a window AC unit is | within the reach of most people. | xxpor wrote: | >they allow the utility to remotely shut down your AC for a | 75% or 50% duty cycle, which you are not allowed to | override. | | Switches can be bypassed ;) | bamboozled wrote: | I guess that's why nothing is done about climate change in a | hurry. | | We're told it will affect us _all_ , but obviously, some people | believe that with money it will affect them less. | | Although, it will be interesting to se what people with money | do when their air conditioner breaks and the AC mechanic is out | due to heat stroke. | forrestthewoods wrote: | > We're told it will affect us all, but obviously, some | people believe that with money it will affect them less. | | I mean, yes. Poor people are definitely going to | disproportionately suffer the consequences of climate change. | Obviously. | | You'd be a fool to claim poor and rich people will suffer | equally. That does not mean that rich people will not suffer. | Only that they'll suffer less. Because obviously. | mindslight wrote: | Turn up their second AC system, pay a different AC technician | more to travel further, go into their furnished basement, | hang out in their running car, travel to a friend's spacious | house, pay someone else to keep up their daily necessities | while they fix the system themselves, or it won't have broken | due to having better maintenance to begin with. | | No doubt there will be some schadenfreude. But there is a | reason these things affect the poor harder. | mywittyname wrote: | Money doesn't solve all your problems, but it sure does | solve a lot of them. | irrational wrote: | I'm in Oregon. After that lingering week of 110+ temperatures in | June the temperature gauge at my house said it got to 119 one | afternoon), these three days of about 100 degree temperatures | seems downright cool in comparison. | LatteLazy wrote: | (for anyone else wondering 110F is 43C) ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2021-08-13 23:00 UTC)