Happy Friday everyone! This week we are asking you again (and for the last time) to provide us with your feedback as we wrap up our education series on renewable energy. Please take a second to fill out our survey if you haven't already - we would love to cover what you all are most interested in! Our headlines this week range from wacky weather to emissions goals to melting glaciers, so pretty much the usual here at ClimateRoots. Last, we are wrapping up our renewable energy education series with a final piece on nuclear energy and what makes it so divisive. This will also be our last newsletter until next year, so we wanted to wish you a happy holiday season from all of us here at ClimateRoots!

Nuclear Power Plant  / Image Courtesy of Pixabay

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Weekly Headlines

Uncommon Weather Patterns Continue Throughout the United States (NPR, Associated Press, Washington Post, Huff Post)

• Bizarre weather around the country has continued to be the theme this year, as Hawaii has seen more snow so far this year than Denver.

• The drought continues to fuel wildfires throughout the region (in December!), as much of the country recorded record high temperatures last week.

• These weather patterns come at a time where torrential rain has continued to devastate British Columbia and amid reports that mountainous western states could go snowless for multiple years at a time in less than 35 years. This would be catastrophic for the West’s water supply.

Antarctica Doomsday Glacier on the Verge of Complete Melting (Washington Post, BBC, Gizmodo)

• Scientists announced key findings on the ice shelf that is holding back the Thwaites Glacier; due to warming ocean temperatures the ice shelf is in extreme danger of giving way.

• If the Thwaites Glacier were to flow freely into the ocean, its speed into the sea would increase threefold and could lead to 2 feet of sea level rise on its own.

Federal Government to be Net Zero by 2050 (Associated Press, Axios, The Hill)

• In an executive order last Wednesday, President Biden required the federal government to reach Net Zero Emissions by 2050.

• The order also required the federal government to reduce its emissions by 65% by 2030, with all federal buildings running on renewable energy and replacing its 600,000 vehicle fleet with EV’s by 2035.

• This move was praised by many environmentalists, but some are arguing that it is still not a lofty enough goal.

Tornadoes Rip through Southeast US, and Climate Change is to Blame (NBC News, Climate Signals, Axios)

• Yet another devastating weather pattern has ripped through the United States this year, as tens of tornadoes devastated the Southeastern US this past weekend.

• Climate change fuels the storms that lead to these tornadoes, the most recent weather event made worse by our warming atmosphere.

• Tornadoes, especially of this magnitude, are rare in December; these offseason events are another example of what kind of impacts climate change can inflict on weather patterns.

Mountain range / Image Courtesy of Pixabay

The Nuclear Debate

Happy Friday everyone! 

Today's issue is bittersweet– we are so excited and proud to be wrapping up our first six months of ClimateRoots (can you believe it!) but that also means we are at the end of our focus on renewable energy here in the education section. We hope over the past few months, you have become better informed (and dare we say… familiar) with the mechanics and nuances of the energy sector in the United States. Our goal at ClimateRoots is to make climate science easily digestible and accessible and after 6 months, we would love your feedback!

If you read last week's piece (check it out here if you missed it) you'll know that nuclear power is a low carbon energy source that has been used in the United States for about 80 years. However, those 80 years have been far from smooth sailing. There has been intense debate about the use of nuclear energy in the United States since its inception, and in today's issue, we will be discussing some of the major points of contention surrounding nuclear energy, and fleshing out where popular opinion stands as we head into 2022.
 

Nuclear Waste:
One of the largest points of contention surrounding nuclear power is that it produces radioactive waste. Radioactivity is caused by an unstable atom whose nucleus releases energy through radiation in order to move back to a stable state (ARPANSA). Nuclear waste is the byproduct of the nuclear reactors, and can be categorized as either high level or low level (“Backgrounder on Radioactive Waste”). High level waste is primarily uranium (the fuel for nuclear reactors) that has been used and can no longer produce electricity. Because Uranium atoms split during nuclear fission​, “isotopes of lighter elements such as cesium-137 and strontium-90 [are created]. These isotopes, called ‘fission products,’ account for most of the heat and penetrating radiation in high-level waste.” (“Backgrounder on Radioactive Waste”). 

What makes this waste such a problem is that the half life (aka decay rate) of these radioactive isotopes varies, from 30 years to 24,000 years which presents an issue for storage, since there is currently no permanent method for storing nuclear waste. If directly exposed, high level wastes are hazardous to humans and the environment, leading to intense opposition from citizens and environmental groups alike (10 Reasons to Oppose Nuclear Energy | Green America). Until we discover a way to safely store this radioactive waste or dispose of it permanently, this issue will continue to plague the nuclear power sector.

Power Plant Safety:
The safety of nuclear power plants has been a huge concern for the American public, though the degree that it matters seems to swing generationally. Following the tragic Chernobyl accident in 1986, which resulted in 30 fatalities and 4000 thyroid cancer cases (Chernobyl | Chernobyl Accident | Chernobyl Disaster - World Nuclear Association) public opinion shifted toward skepticism and hate and there were anti-nuclear demonstrations in countries around the world (Blix). According to a June 1986 Gallup poll, 73% of Americans were against nuclear energy, a significant jump from the 45% against nuclear energy in their 1976 poll (Inc, “Gallup Vault”). However, recent studies have found that Americans are almost evenly split when it comes to nuclear safety concerns, with 47% believing the nuclear power plants are safe, and 49% saying they are unsafe (Inc, “40 Years After Three Mile Island, Americans Split on Nuclear Power”).

To finish reading this piece with full bibliography, check it out on our blog!

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