It’s hard to believe that we are just halfway through the normal hurricane season with the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, Irma and Maria. The connection to climate change to these storms are becoming more evident. Because of global warming and the rise in temperature in the air and water, climate scientists have linked these developments to bigger storms with stronger winds, massive amounts of rain and flooding resulting in devastating conditions. Scientists are saying storms like Harvey, Irma and Maria are the new norm.
Power in Puerto Rico before and after Maria
The situation is still very dire in Puerto Rico where almost all the local power lines have been downed by the 155 mph winds of Hurricane Maria. The heavy winds also knocked out radar, weather stations, cell towers. It’s been a week since Maria tore through Puerto Rico downing lines and even though the hurricane somehow averted the island’s power plants, no electricity is flowing in any of the 2,470 miles of transmission lines that run from its power plants, or the almost 31,500 miles of shorter lines that also transmit electricity from the power grid to some 3.4 million Americans. The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) has said that most local power lines have been destroyed. PREPA has been running an antiquated grid but hasn’t been able to afford to bring it up to date. It’s estimated that $30 billion the damage has been caused by Maria. For very few Puerto Ricans, the only source of electricity is coming from generators.
As global temperatures
