MSGID: 1:317/3 645091e3   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Prolonged power outages, often caused by weather events, hit some parts   
   of the U.S. harder than others    
      
     Date:   
         May 1, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of Washington   
     Summary:   
         New research found that Americans already bearing the brunt of   
         climate change and health inequities are most at risk of impact   
         by a lengthy power outage.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
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   Joan Casey lived through frequent wildfire-season power outages when   
   she lived in northern California. While waiting for the power to return,   
   she wondered how the multi-day blackouts affected a community's health.   
      
   "For me it was an inconvenience, but for some people it could be life-   
   threatening," said Casey, now an assistant professor in the University   
   of Washington's Department of Environmental and Occupational Health   
   Sciences. "If you had an uncle that had an electric heart pump, basically,   
   his heart wouldn't work without power. You could use a backup battery for   
   eight hours, but after that, if you don't have access to electricity, you   
   have to go to the emergency room. This is a really dangerous situation."   
   Years later, Casey has answers. A study published April 29 in the   
   journal Nature Communicationsanalyzed three years of power outages   
   across the U.S., finding that Americans already bearing the brunt of   
   climate change and health inequities are clustered in four regions --   
   Louisiana, Arkansas, central Alabama and northern Michigan -- and that   
   they are most at risk of impact by a lengthy blackout.   
      
   The findings could help shape the future of local energy infrastructure,   
   especially as climate change intensifies and the American power grid   
   continues to age. Last year's Inflation Reduction Act included billions   
   of dollars to revamp energy systems, and Casey hopes federal agencies   
   will consult the newly published findings to target energy upgrades.   
      
   The study is the first county-level analysis of power outages, which the   
   federal government reports only at the state level. That poses a problem   
   for researchers: a federally reported outage in Washington state could   
   occur in Seattle, Spokane, or somewhere in between, making it difficult   
   to understand specifically which population is affected.   
      
   Casey and her team found that between 2018 and 2020, more than 231,000   
   power outages lasting more than an hour occurred nationwide. Of those,   
   17,484 stretched at least eight hours -- a duration widely viewed as   
   medically relevant.   
      
   Most counties that experienced an electrical outage had at least one event   
   lasting more than eight hours. These counties were most concentrated in   
   the South, Northeast and Appalachia.   
      
   Next, researchers looked at how power outages overlapped with severe   
   weather.   
      
   They wanted to know which weather events are most likely to cause   
   an outage, and which parts of the U.S. are most often hit with a   
   blackout-causing storm.   
      
   They found that heavy precipitation in a given area makes a power   
   outage five times more likely. Tropical cyclones, storms with high winds   
   that originate over tropical oceans, make a power outage 14 times more   
   likely. And a tropical cyclone with heavy precipitation on a hot day --   
   like the hurricanes that each fall hit the Gulf Coast? They make power   
   outages 52 times more likely.   
      
   "We look at weather reports and decide whether or not to bring an   
   umbrella or stay home," Casey said. "But thinking about being prepared   
   for an outage when one of these events is rolling through is a new   
   element to consider."  Then came questions of equity. Incorporating a   
   combination of socioeconomic and medical factors, Casey's team identified   
   communities that would likely be especially vulnerable during a long   
   power outage. Using that data, the researchers were able to identify   
   communities that experienced both high social vulnerability and frequent   
   power outages.   
      
   A map of those counties shows a bright cluster in Louisiana and Arkansas,   
   with more clusters in central Alabama and northern Michigan. In   
   those places especially, the country's inevitable change in energy   
   infrastructure provides the greatest opportunity to improve public health.   
      
   "Any time we can identify another factor that we can intervene on to get   
   closer to health equity, it's exciting," Casey said. "I think we're going   
   to see tremendous change, especially in the way our energy systems are   
   set up, in the next couple decades. It's this huge opportunity to get   
   equity into every conversation and talk about what we're going to do to   
   make two decades from now look different from where we are."  This study   
   began while Casey was a professor in Columbia University's Mailman School   
   of Public Health. Other authors are Vivian Do (first author), Heather   
   McBrien, Nina Flores, Alexander Northrop and Jeffrey Schlegelmilch at   
   Columbia University and Mathew Kiang at Stanford University. The research   
   was funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute   
   of Environmental Health Sciences.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Matter_&_Energy   
                   # Electricity # Energy_Technology # Solar_Energy   
             o Earth_&_Climate   
                   # Energy_and_the_Environment # Renewable_Energy #   
                   Severe_Weather   
             o Science_&_Society   
                   # Energy_Issues # STEM_Education # Public_Health   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Environmental_impact_assessment o Global_warming_controversy   
             o Kyoto_Protocol o Effects_of_global_warming   
             o Global_climate_model o Energy_development o   
             Consensus_of_scientists_regarding_global_warming o   
             Climate_change_mitigation   
      
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   Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Washington. Original   
   written by Alden Woods. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Vivian Do, Heather McBrien, Nina M. Flores, Alexander J. Northrop,   
         Jeffrey Schlegelmilch, Mathew V. Kiang, Joan   
         A. Casey. Spatiotemporal distribution of power outages with climate   
         events and social vulnerability in the USA. Nature Communications,   
         2023; 14 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38084-6   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230501164012.htm   
      
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