How to Make the Electricity Grid Tougher During Weather Disasters

New Orleans is suffering now, but almost everywhere in the country can experience power problems during extreme weather. View in browser

Image credits: Tom Clausen/Shutterstock How to Make the Electricity Grid Tougher During Weather Disasters New Orleans is suffering now, but almost everywhere in the country can experience power problems during extreme weather. Tom Metcalfe, Contributor September 9, 2021                                                                                                                                                                                  (Inside Science) -- As Hurricane Ida tore across the U.S. last week, it took out power from New Orleans to New York. The damage highlighted the need to upgrade the electricity grid so it better withstands extreme weather, or at least bounces back more quickly after failing. In many places, the infrastructure that supplies power to homes, businesses and vital services is out-of-date. Meanwhile, scientists are concerned that climate change could make extreme weather more common and more damaging. "The bottom line is that we are seeing more stress on the grid, whether it's from stronger hurricanes, more rainfall, or more extended heatwaves… especially on older aspects of the grid that are operating beyond the assumptions that they were built with," said Jeff Schlegelmilch, the director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University's Earth Institute in New York... Read more Copyright 2021 American Institute of Physics. Inside Science syndicates its articles, columns, blogs and videos to news organizations. To initiate syndication, or request permission to republish our content (on a one-time or continuing basis), please contact Inside Science at insidescience@aip.org. News organizations seeking permission to republish Inside Science content must fully credit Inside Science as the original source of the content, include the author byline, and republish the original, unaltered form (excluding content titles, headlines, or sub-headlines). The reprint format can be seen here. Copyright conditions and usage terms are subject to change at any time without consent or any type of prior notice. To unsubscribe from all future mailings from Inside Science please click here. To manage your email subscriptions please click here.

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