何毓琦的个人博客分享 http://blog.sciencenet.cn/u/何毓琦 哈佛(1961-2001) 清华(2001-date)

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Climate Change and Fragility of Modern Civilization (II)

已有 3447 次阅读 2018-3-23 01:46 |个人分类:生活点滴|系统分类:科普集锦

 

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Now that the fourth snow storm in 15 days in the New England area have come and went, Our home was without power and heat for 5 days; No Internet, phone or Wifi for 15 days total. One comes to realize how dependent people are on certain utilities we take for granted in modern civilization. We are reduced to (1) gathering around a fire place for warmth, (2)  eat out for hunger (at least not reduce to hunting), (3) reading to past the time instead of TV viewing for news and entertainment.

Just because in ordinary circumstances, these modern utility are so reliable, the number of service personals needed for maintenance and repair are small (this is the first rule of cost and efficiency from the viewpoint of queueing theory). But when climate disasters, such as 4 major storms in 15 days, hit, severe service delay occurs. This is just one example of the costs of human made climate change. One way or another, we’ll have to pay collectively for our sins.

Shown below are some photos taken during the past 2 weeks.

snow scene through window

Keeping warm

Reparing downed power lines


More snow scenes





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