US Needs to Do More to Prepare for Dangerous Weather, Experts Say
2021-02-20
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1Many places across the United States have faced extremely cold and dangerous winter weather in recent days.
2This includes states like Texas and Oklahoma, where such severe winter storms are uncommon.
3The lack of planning and preparation by leaders in those areas left locals without heat, water, gasoline and other critical services for many days.
4At least 20 people have died this week.
5Experts warn that deadly weather will be hitting the U.S. more often, and that the country needs to get better at dealing with it.
6This week's storms fit a pattern of worsening extremes under climate change.
7They also demonstrate that local, state and federal officials have failed to do enough to prepare communities for extreme and dangerous weather.
8"This is a different kind of storm,″ said Kendra Clements.
9She is one of several businesspeople in Oklahoma City who opened their buildings to shelter homeless people.
10Some of them came in with frostbite, hypothermia and ice in their hair.
11The storms served as a predictor of what social service providers and governments say will be increasing needs among the nation's poorest people as climate and natural disasters worsen.
12Other Americans are at risk as well. Power supplies of all kinds failed in the extreme cold, including natural gas-fired power plants that went offline in icy conditions.
13Some wind turbines froze and stopped working.
14The crisis has raised concern for power systems throughout the country.
15As climate change worsens, such severe conditions will become more common.
16Sara Eftekharnejad is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Syracuse University in New York.
17She called the week's storms "an anomaly," or unusual and unexpected.
18But such anomalies, she said, are likely to happen more often as a result of climate change.
19"There probably needs to be better planning, because we're starting to see more extreme weather events across the country," she said.
20That could be in the form of severe cold like in Texas or intense heat waves like the one California experienced last year that fueled deadly wildfires.
21Michael Craig is a professor of energy systems at the University of Michigan.
22He said the events in California and Texas show that "what we have now is not going to do it in the face of climate change. It's only going to get worse from here."
23In Texas, wind power is a growing source of electricity.
24But most wind turbines operating there are not designed for very cold weather.
25Making small changes to wind turbines is one step needed to deal with climate change, said Roy McCann.
26He teaches electrical engineering at the University of Arkansas.
27Some Republican politicians, including Texas Governor Greg Abbott, have tried to blame wind and solar power for the massive outages.
28However, traditional power plants, which depend mostly on natural gas, provide the majority of power in Texas. They were the larger problem.
29Joshua Rhodes is a researcher on energy issues at the University of Texas.
30"The entire system," he said, "was overwhelmed."
31I'm Ashley Thompson.
1Many places across the United States have faced extremely cold and dangerous winter weather in recent days. This includes states like Texas and Oklahoma, where such severe winter storms are uncommon. 2The lack of planning and preparation by leaders in those areas left locals without heat, water, gasoline and other critical services for many days. At least 20 people have died this week. 3Experts warn that deadly weather will be hitting the U.S. more often, and that the country needs to get better at dealing with it. 4This week's storms fit a pattern of worsening extremes under climate change. They also demonstrate that local, state and federal officials have failed to do enough to prepare communities for extreme and dangerous weather. 5"This is a different kind of storm,″ said Kendra Clements. She is one of several businesspeople in Oklahoma City who opened their buildings to shelter homeless people. Some of them came in with frostbite, hypothermia and ice in their hair. 6The storms served as a predictor of what social service providers and governments say will be increasing needs among the nation's poorest people as climate and natural disasters worsen. 7Other Americans are at risk as well. Power supplies of all kinds failed in the extreme cold, including natural gas-fired power plants that went offline in icy conditions. Some wind turbines froze and stopped working. 8The crisis has raised concern for power systems throughout the country. As climate change worsens, such severe conditions will become more common. 9Sara Eftekharnejad is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Syracuse University in New York. She called the week's storms "an anomaly," or unusual and unexpected. But such anomalies, she said, are likely to happen more often as a result of climate change. 10"There probably needs to be better planning, because we're starting to see more extreme weather events across the country," she said. That could be in the form of severe cold like in Texas or intense heat waves like the one California experienced last year that fueled deadly wildfires. 11Michael Craig is a professor of energy systems at the University of Michigan. He said the events in California and Texas show that "what we have now is not going to do it in the face of climate change. It's only going to get worse from here." 12In Texas, wind power is a growing source of electricity. But most wind turbines operating there are not designed for very cold weather. Making small changes to wind turbines is one step needed to deal with climate change, said Roy McCann. He teaches electrical engineering at the University of Arkansas. 13Some Republican politicians, including Texas Governor Greg Abbott, have tried to blame wind and solar power for the massive outages. However, traditional power plants, which depend mostly on natural gas, provide the majority of power in Texas. They were the larger problem. 14Joshua Rhodes is a researcher on energy issues at the University of Texas. "The entire system," he said, "was overwhelmed." 15I'm Ashley Thompson. 16The Associated Press reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. 17_____________________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19pattern - n. something that happens in a regular and repeated way 20frostbite - n. a condition in which part of your body (such as your fingers or toes) freezes or almost freezes 21hypothermia - n. a condition in which the temperature of your body is very low 22(wind) turbine - n. a tall structure that has large blades attached to an engine and that is used to produce electricity