Showing 20 articles starting at article 281

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Energy: Alternative Fuels, Geoscience: Severe Weather

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

With recent requirements for reducing greenhouse gas emissions of autonomous ships, an emerging body of research is focused on assessing the path-following performance of maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) at low speeds under adverse weather conditions. To combat the poor accuracy of traditional methods, in a new study, researchers investigated the path-following performance of MASS using a free-running computational fluid dynamics model. Their findings can help ensure safer autonomous navigation with reduced propulsion power.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientific researchers draw inspiration from nature's brilliance as they seek to develop transformative solutions to unresolved challenges.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

While fog presents a major hazard to transportation safety, meteorologists have yet to figure out how to forecast it with the precision they have achieved for precipitation, wind and other stormy events. This is because the physical processes resulting in fog formation are extremely complex, Now researchers report their findings from an intensive study centered on a northern Utah basin and conceived to investigate the life cycle of cold fog in mountain valleys.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a solid electrolyte for transporting hydride ions at room temperature. This breakthrough means that the full advantages of hydrogen-based solid-state batteries and fuel cells can be had without the need for constant hydration. This will reduce their complexity and cost, which is essential for advancing towards a practical hydrogen-based energy economy.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Research reveals a steady increase in the number of people at risk from tropical cyclones and the number of days per year these potentially catastrophic storms threaten health and livelihoods. The findings could help relief agencies, development banks, and other organizations plan more effective strategies for mitigating extreme weather impacts.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists outline the first direct evidence linking seemingly random weather systems in the ocean with climate on a global scale. The team's work creates a promising framework for better understanding the climate system.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using conventional X-rays and lasers to detect the atomic state of hydrogen is challenging, given its small size. A group of researchers may have overcome this barrier by unveiling a new visualization technique that employs an optical microscope and polyaniline to paint a better picture of how hydrogen behaves in metals.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers report that local rivers and streams were the source of the Salmonella enterica contamination along coastal North Carolina after Hurricane Florence in 2018 -- not the previously suspected high number of pig farms in the region.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A winter wonderland calls to mind piles of fluffy, glistening snow. But to reach the ground, snowflakes are swept into the turbulent atmosphere, swirling through the air instead of plummeting directly to the ground. Researchers found that regardless of turbulence or snowflake type, acceleration follows a universal statistical pattern that can be described as an exponential distribution.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The word 'drought' typically conjures images of parched soil, dust-swept prairies, depleted reservoirs, and dry creek beds, all the result of weeks or seasons of persistently dry atmospheric conditions. In the sun-soaked islands in the Caribbean, however, drought conditions can occur much more rapidly, with warning signs appearing too late for mediation strategies to limit agriculture losses or prevent stresses on infrastructure systems that provide clean water to communities.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Positive tipping points must be triggered if we are to avoid the severe consequences of damaging Earth system tipping points, researchers say.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers sought to investigate whether socioeconomically vulnerable households experienced longer power outage durations after extreme weather events. The team analyzed data from the top eight major Atlantic hurricanes between 2017 and 2020 that knocked out power for over 15 million customers in nine states across the southeastern U.S. The team found that people in lower socioeconomic tiers wait significantly longer to have power restored after a major storm -- nearly three hours longer on average.  

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Two new studies based on data from 2009 to 2018 show that renters living along the East and Gulf coasts of the United States face rent increases, higher eviction rates, and a lack of affordable housing in the aftermath of a hurricane.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Even in the precipitation-heavy Pacific Northwest, more frequent heatwaves are threatening a key source of water supply. A Washington State University study that intended to look at snow melting under a single, extreme event, the 2021 'heat dome,' instead revealed an alarming, longer-term rising trend of successive heatwaves melting snowpack earlier in the year. From temperature records spanning from 1940 to 2021, springtime heatwaves in the region have doubled in frequency, intensity or both since the mid-1990s. The findings have implications for many areas worldwide that are dependent on snow-capped mountains to provide summer water since heatwaves have been on the rise globally.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Strong precipitation may cause natural disasters, such as floodings or landslides. Global climate models are required to forecast the frequency of these extreme events, which is expected to change as a result of climate change. Researchers have now developed a first method based on artificial intelligence (AI), by means of which the precision of coarse precipitation fields generated by global climate models can be increased. The researchers succeeded in improving spatial resolution of precipitation fields from 32 to two kilometers and temporal resolution from one hour to ten minutes. This higher resolution is required to better forecast the more frequent occurrence of heavy local precipitation and the resulting natural disasters in future.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

What would be the most effective use of a certain plot of land in terms of the climate crisis: planting a forest, which is a natural means of absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, or erecting fields of solar panels, which reduce the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere? This dilemma has long been debated by decision-makers around the world. Now, for the first time -- based on findings from arid areas and on comprehensive measurements of the energy flow exchanged between the ground and the atmosphere -- we may have an answer to this question.  

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study finds that precipitation levels during nesting season are not related to reproductive success for wild turkeys, which runs counter to the conventional wisdom regarding the role that rainfall plays in wild turkey nesting success. The findings shed new light on how climate change may affect wild turkey populations.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A 20-year experiment in the Sierra Nevada confirms that different forest management techniques -- prescribed burning, restoration thinning or a combination of both -- are effective at reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire in California. These treatments also improve forest health, making trees more resilient to stressors like drought and bark beetles, and they do not negatively impact plant or wildlife biodiversity within individual tree stands, the research found.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The global surge in electric vehicle sales has prompted an Australian university to explore how it could offer free or nominal EV charging facilities to staff and students by optimizing its solar PV system and minimizing workplace electricity costs.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Why did professional skateboarding arise in southern California in the 1970s? Was it a coincidence, or was it a perfect storm of multiple factors? It's fairly well-known that a drought in southern California in the mid-1970s led to a ban on filling backyard swimming pools, and these empty pools became playgrounds for freestyle skateboarders in the greater Los Angeles area. But a new cross-disciplinary study shows that beyond the drought, it was the entanglement of environmental, economic and technological factors that led to the explosive rise of professional skateboarding culture in the 1970s.