• Energy

Biden Administration Highlights Climate Change In Texas Freeze Response

• climate change
• disaster
• energy
• extreme weather
• freeze
• Polar Vortex
• Texas

The Texas freeze and subsequent blackouts have given the Biden administration the chance to show the country how it will handle natural disasters, and they’ve already done one thing much differently than the Trump administration: acknowledged the role of climate change. And now, due to surge pricing, Texans are facing utility bills in the thousands of dollars for what little heat they got.

Why This Matters: The Biden administration wasted no time declaring an emergency and stating it would review preparation for future storms.

• Climate Change

Polar Vortex, A Wrench in the Gears of Climate Denial

• climate change
• Polar Vortex
• Texas storm

The polar vortex that hit much of the country, and created dire conditions in Texas this week, seems antithetical to the warming brought on by climate change. Yet, a warming planet is ultimately creating more extreme weather events that hit suddenly and leave vast regions completely unprepared for the effects. The Arctic (the origin of […]

• Weather

Snowstorms Shut Down Power, Delay Vaccines Across Southern U.S.

• Arctic
• cold
• COVID vaccines
• ice
• Polar Vortex
• power outages
• snow

After snowstorms swept across the South this week, 14 states are expecting power outages, frozen roads, and dangerous conditions. Hundreds of millions will be impacted by the storm.  Millions will be experiencing rolling blackouts in the coming days due to stress on the Southwest Power Pool (SPP).

Why This Matters: Although it might seem that this polar vortex is an exception to global temperature rise, research says that erratic, far-reaching polar systems like the one we’re seeing now can be directly related to warming temperatures in the Arctic.

• Weather

BRRRR – Global Warming Could Cause Polar Vortex to Blast the U.S. With Cold Air

• Arctic
• climate change
• jet stream
• Polar Vortex
• science
• snow

Above the North Pole, a polar vortex — a swirling flurry of cold air — could cause weeks of frigid weather in the Eastern United States, Northern Europe, and East Asia according to forecasters. Snow blanketed Spain over the weekend, dumping nearly two feet of snow on Madrid — the most snow in the last 50 years there.  Madrid

Why this Matters:  While many associate global warming with hotter weather, climate change can also cause harsher, more snowy winters.

• Animals

One cool thing: puppies and warm beaches

• dogs
• Polar Vortex
• rescue dogs
• tropical
• vacation

Does the Arctic weather have you dreaming of trip to warmer weather? Well look no further than Potcake Place K-9 Rescue, a registered nonprofit charity located in the Turks and Caicos Islands, in the Grace Bay area of Providenciales. According to The DoDo, while you’re vacationing and enjoying the sand and the sun, you can also pop […]

• Water

More snow, more salt, more problems

• freezing
• Polar Vortex
• road salt
• rock salt
• snow
• winter storm

Just as one storm passed last weekend, here in D.C. (as well as across central and eastern parts of the country) we’re expected to get more winter weather. As USA Today reported, a pair of winter storms will dump snow and ice across the central and eastern U.S. over the next several days, with the second storm a potential blockbuster in some spots, with a foot of snow possible. However, with snow comes road salt to help it melt and prevent ice from forming. The downside of melting snow with rock salt is that when the snow melts most of that salt makes its way into waterways where it can harm aquatic species should enough of it accumulate. As CNN explained, salt can also change the way the water mixes and lead to the formation of salty pockets near the bottom of lakes, creating biological dead zones.