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Dry_Judgment_9282 t1_j0sme9t wrote

“It’s happened three times this year because of iguanas” in Lake Worth Beach, he said. “That’s down 50% from last year.”

Kudos to the most intentionally funny quote I've ever read in an article.

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GZAofTheMidwest OP t1_j0u71uy wrote

I can see someone with a professionally made graph at a Lake Worth Beach city council meeting taking credit for it, too. "If this trend continues, iguanas should be maintaining our power grid, rather than disrupting it, by 2024."

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Fineous4 t1_j0u7ox8 wrote

As a substation engineer in the north I can say the most common problem is raccoons climbing on top transformers.

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Classic-End-5505 t1_j0xwv3i wrote

The raccoon population has about doubled in recent decades because they do really well with development and suburbanization/ex urbanization. The continent has never had as many raccs as it does now. Booming.

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FireWireBestWire t1_j0srhy1 wrote

So would that mean 5 or 4 last year?

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TheManassaBaller t1_j0szw4f wrote

Probably 5. If it was down from 4 you'd say 33%

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AttackOficcr t1_j0tbq0c wrote

Wouldn't it be 6? 50% down from 6 would be 3 power outages.

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FriendOfDirutti t1_j0tqatx wrote

I’m no math scientist but I’m not sure how these people got 5 or 4.

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outerproduct t1_j0ttbm3 wrote

They went to school in Florida.

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SuddenlyElga t1_j0uvpgv wrote

That will do it. Did you know dinosaurs and Homo sapiens existed at the same time? Only about 4000 years ago. Florida knows.

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AttackOficcr t1_j0tx7bm wrote

Percentages don't work this way, but the thought was probably: (Down 50%, resulting in 3) if reversed is (50% up from 3)=4.5

I'd probably assume the .5 was a brownout caused by iguana and not round up or down if that was the case.

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FriendOfDirutti t1_j0tymqk wrote

Sir, I already told you I wasn’t a math scientist!

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AttackOficcr t1_j0u5yho wrote

Neither am I, bad math is a side gig. Biology is more my interest.

Like how did they not already have this same reptile issue with Floridian snakes crawling into electrical infrastructure?

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SuddenlyElga t1_j0uvtlp wrote

Floridian snakes generally don’t climb.

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AttackOficcr t1_j0v959t wrote

Rough Green snakes ~3 ft, Red corn flakes snakes ~4ft, and Eastern Ratsnakes ~6ft, are all known as good climbers.

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SuddenlyElga t1_j0ws28e wrote

I dunno man. Not doubting you but I always see them on the ground. We have black rat snakes, cute little ring necks, moccasins and cotton mouths around here and all of them are always on the ground. I did see what looked like a rough green on top of a hedge once! That was cool. And I’ve only come across one rattler but he was really pissed about it.

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AttackOficcr t1_j0xtupy wrote

They're often nocturnal, hunting birds or eggs from nests, and I'd guess sleeping in the trees, they don't stand out like a sore thumb.

A quick google search and apparently the Jacksonville area has had recurring snake power outages in 2014-2017 for similar reasons.

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flamboyant-dipshit t1_j0vfz4m wrote

Honestly, having followed this for years: It could mean either one as people are really bad at +/- percents as they are not communicative.

33% less than 6 is 4. 50% more than 4 is 6, but people transcribe them all the time and will say 50% less when they mean 50% more than the smaller number and in their mind the inverse is implied.

I should add, sometimes it's on purpose because "50% is bigger than 33% and I want to make it sound more dramatic". What really annoys me, though, is when you hear "<something we should be worried about> has decreased 115% over the last 3 years!!!" Uhh, no, that's unpossible.

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AttackOficcr t1_j0ycs89 wrote

That can happen when it's a rate of growth going negative.

For example, the population growth rate of a rebounding endangered animal suddenly dipping after an extreme weather event. Like a flock of whooping crane getting caught in a tornado.

If the whooping crane population grew in size 20% last year, but decreased in size by 5% this year. Then the rate of population growth decreased by 125% (the population growth rate went negative).

The same could be said for inflation rates or stock growth rates if a positive trend suddenly reverses.

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Eat-Shit-Bob-Ross t1_j0ustu3 wrote

That’s 24% less than 36% power outages annually. That is down from last year, Hold your applause.

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