Media Watch
Earth Just Had Its Hottest Month Ever. How Six Cities Are Coping.
The Wall Street Journal -
Taps are running dry in Tehran as millions in Iran and neighboring Iraq face water shortages that are being compounded by the effects of rising temperatures. … Roughly 80% of water use goes to agriculture, according to Soroosh Sorooshian, a University of California, Irvine professor of civil and environmental engineering, who grew up in Iran and whose family was in the farming business. [Subscription required, campus-wide access provided by UCI Libraries. Sign-up here: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/news/wsj] Read More
More than a million displaced as China’s Hebei region reels after record rains
CNN -
Shao Sun, [engineering visiting associate researcher], a climatologist who studies meteorological hazards at the University of California Irvine, told CNN that northern China has faced intensifying extreme rain over the past decade and needs to enhance its disaster defense capabilities. … “The drainage design standards in northern Chinese cities need further improvement to withstand the increasing frequency of extreme weather events caused by climate change,” he said. Read More
How Beijing’s deadly floods could be avoided
Nature -
One factor behind Beijing’s recent vulnerability to floods is its rapid development, says Shao Sun, [engineering visiting associate researcher], a climatologist at the University of California, Irvine. … “China’s rapid urbanization has led to a proliferation of impermeable surfaces,” he says. “Green spaces such as parks and gardens play a vital role in water retention. Their dwindling presence due to urbanization diminishes their capacity to effectively manage excessive rainfall.” Read More
King tides may bring another night of flooding to Newport Beach, Sunset Beach
The Orange County Register -
But this year, in the middle of summer with no rain for months, it could be El Nino’s warm-water influence causing the flooding, UC Irvine coastal engineering expert [and professor] Brett Sanders said. … The flooding local areas are experiencing could be a glimpse into the future with sea-level rise and warming waters that could make the higher ocean level an everyday occurrence, Sanders warned, meaning trouble for coastal highways, buildings and other infrastructure. [Subscription required, campus-wide access provided by UCI Libraries. Sign-up here: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/news/ocregister] Read More
Newport Beach streets have flooded twice this week — what gives?
The Orange County Register -
Data dating back to El Nino events in 1997 and 2015 show water levels hitting 6 inches to nearly a foot higher than predicted tide levels. And with extremely warm water in recent weeks, it seems the latest El Nino’s coastal impacts of higher water levels are following that trend, said Brett Sanders, a coastal engineering expert [and professor of civil and environmental engineering] at UC Irvine. And it could be a glimpse into the future, he said. … “The water levels we’ll see for the next few months potentially will be elevated in a way future sea level rise will be like on a regular basis.” [Subscription required, campus-wide access provided by UCI Libraries. Sign-up here: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/news/ocregister] Read More
Global warming is making big(ger) waves off the California coast, scientists say
Los Angeles Times -
“Beaches usually erode quickly during storms and then recover slowly under mild wave conditions,” said Brett Sanders, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Irvine, who runs UCI’s Flood Lab. “But when the coast experiences several storms in a row, with inadequate time for beach recovery, the impacts of winter storms magnify as we saw this year in Northern California. Given increases in wave energy and rising sea levels,” he said, “a takeaway message is that holding back coastal erosion is becoming even more challenging.” [Subscription required, you can request an electronic copy of the article by sending an email to communications@uci.edu.] Read More
How to get ready for an endless flood season
MSN -
It's often difficult to predict whether your home will experience flooding because governments have not done a good job publicizing information about flood risks, says Brett Sanders, professor of civil and environmental engineering, urban planning, and public policy at the University of California, Irvine. The most widely available flood maps are from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and they've been shown to "systematically underestimate the areas at risk," Sanders says. Read More
On a hydrogen hunt in San Francisco
Financial Times -
Jack Brouwer, an engineering professor [and Director Advanced Power and Energy Program] at University of California, Irvine who has worked for years on hydrogen issues, told me the reason the cost of hydrogen had surged is that state subsidies are being gobbled up by big businesses jumping into sustainable energy, such as biodiesel. These businesses “took all of the credits” that had been going to companies making and distributing hydrogen, he said. California’s legislature and governor know about this problem in hydrogen subsidies but for now it hasn’t been fixed. [Subscription required, campus-wide access provided by UCI Libraries. Sign-up here: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/news/ft] Read More
Engineer Armenia: Sustainable solutions for the homeland
The Armenian Weekly -
Karina Khadarian, founder and CEO of Engineer Armenia, was just two years into college as a chemical engineering undergraduate when she decided that she had to do something to impact change in the homeland. … She developed a team at the University of California, Irvine, starting with 19 volunteers, most of whom were not of Armenian descent and had no relationship with Armenia. As a student volunteer in other engineering organizations on campus, she began by networking with and recruiting UCI students. Read More
OC’s Wealthiest: Henry Samueli
The Orange County Business Journal -
Henry Samueli and his wife, Susan, said in June that they are donating an additional $50 million to the University of California, Irvine. Their latest gift is for engineering-focused research aimed at improving health, the environment and society as a whole, and will lead to the creation of three new multidisciplinary research institutes at the existing Henry Samueli School of Engineering. [Subscription required, you can request an electronic copy of the article by sending an email to communications@uci.edu.] Read More