Climate Lynx

We may think the local weatherperson controls our weather at 10 PM each evening, but they do not. It is controlled primarily by massive ocean currents, which transport heat away from the equator. Conversely, cold water flows along the ocean floor towards the equator, which evens our temperatures out a bit. The amount of water transporting heat is massive and has its own mathematical term, a Sverdrup, which is 1 million cubic meters of water moving per second. You can use a square yard instead of a square meter and be close enough when attempting to visualize this volume of movement. Oceanographers and climate scientists have been raising the alarm that one of the ocean currents is getting squirrely. It is the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Its rate varies from 30 to 150 Sverdrups per second. To give some perspective of how much water is moving, at 100 Sverdrups per second, it is over 35,000 times more water than what goes over Niagara Falls.   The (AMOC...

On the third of December, I watched the news. I do not often watch the news on TV because I do not have a TV. The news was on PBS. At the very end of the program, Amna Nawaz reported in one sentence, "China has prohibited the export of five critical metals to the United States." Knowing this could have grave implications for our clean energy industries, I said, "What? That is all you have to say!"    After some research, it turns out that the five metals are gallium, germanium, antimony, tungsten, and graphite. It should be noted that this prohibition is in response to the United States' prohibition on exporting high-tech chips to China.  Gallium is used in semiconductors, LEDs, and solar cells. China mines 98% of the world's gallium. Germanium is important for fiber optic cables, infrared optics, and solar cells. China mines 93% of the world's germanium. Antimony is used in flame retardants, batteries, armor-piercing ammunition, night-visio...

Given the new administration will purge the oversight of government agencies of "elitists," there is no telling what our energy future, climate future, or our future in general will look like. To set the record straight, in most parts of the world, elitists are not called elitists but are known as dedicated experts, professionals, and scientists. In the quest for non-carbon emitting electric energy, one energy source may reemerge in our new political climate. It is nuclear with a new face, called SMRs. \ Nuclear Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are designed to be smaller, safer, and more flexible than traditional nuclear reactors. SMRs typically produce up to 300 megawatts (MW) of electricity per unit, compared to traditional reactors that often exceed 1,000 MW. Their modular design allows components to be factory-built and transported to the site for assembly, reducing construction times and costs. The SMRs require a smaller physical footprint, making them suitable for re...