Brad Plumer andA record-breaking winter storm has devastated Texas this week, crippling the state’s electric grid and triggering rolling blackouts that have left millions of Texans without power amid dangerously cold temperatures. Whether or not global warming helped cause this week’s winter storm, there’s a broader lesson there. One of the hardest things about dealing with climate change is that our modern infrastructure was built with historical weather conditions in mind. But, of course, those conditions are now changing rapidly, and the past is no longer a good guide to the future. Texas had never experienced winter weather quite this severe, at least not in modern memory, and the state’s power system was ill-prepared to deal with the frigid conditions.

Source: New York Times February 17, 2021 18:11 UTC