And from the beginning of February 2021, the United States also appeared several times in succession to cool down, the scope of nearly the entire central region. In fact, this is not the first Time in recent years the United States suffered a severe cold wave, in January 2019 the entire Great Lakes region, the average temperature fell to -34 ℃ to -40 ℃, many municipalities have a record low temperature.
Accompanied by high winds, the body temperature was much lower
(Super cold wave in early 2021)▼
Perhaps only Russians are accustomed to this
(Moscow, Feb. 13, 2021)
(Photo: shutterstock)▼
North America’s Great Lakes on Jan. 27, 2019, with bone-chilling cold
(Photo: NASA)▼
This year’s cold snap has brought record low temperatures to many parts of the U.S., with areas hit hard by the cold snap even including the southern U.S. state of Texas near the Gulf of Mexico.
Two years apart, the same key factor is behind the three cold snaps across the eastern and western hemispheres – the polar vortex.
Texas under a cold snap (latitude equivalent to Hubei, China)
(Satellite image: NOAA)▼
The new Home of the polar vortex
Different latitudes of the Earth receive different amounts of solar radiation, with lower latitudes receiving direct solar radiation, high temperatures and low surface air pressure, while higher latitudes have lower temperatures and high surface air pressure, yet lower pressure near the stratosphere, which leads to a huge, cold vortex high above the poles.
The vortex can take the extremely cold and dense air at the poles and lead it all the way to the stratosphere above, like an invisible elastic rope “binding” the cold air and confining it to the polar regions.
This is the equivalent of a seal, albeit a less secure one▼
The South Pole has a polar vortex, and the South Pole has a more stable vortex center, usually near the South Pole, because of the existence of the more regular Antarctic continent, surrounded by the ocean. The Arctic vortex is relatively long and narrow, with centers in northern Siberia and over Baffin Island, because of the irregular distribution of land, the North Pole is located in the Arctic Ocean, and the thermal difference between land and sea leads to colder temperatures on land in winter.
The South Pole is on land and the North Pole is at sea
The environment around the Arctic Ocean is also much more complex▼
Influenced by the difference in air pressure between the high and low latitudes of the Earth, the greater the temperature difference between the poles and the equator, the more stable the polar vortex will be, and the more it will lock cold air in the poles. However, in recent years, the water temperature in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Ocean has increased, and the Arctic vortex has begun to split. Under the combined influence of ocean currents and atmospheric circulation, the warm air from the south will move north, “squeezing” the cold Arctic air mass, even “squeezing” it out of multiple centers and moving south in an unstable situation.
It is equivalent to splitting several North Sea Dragon King
Each southward is a big cold wave
(Photo: NOAA)▼
Baffin Island, the center of the Arctic cold vortex in the Western Hemisphere, is located in northeastern Canada. It is separated from the United States only by Hudson Bay, the Hudson Coastal Plain and the Great Lakes, and the terrain is flat, which does not effectively prevent cold waves from moving south.
This is where the Appalachian Mountains come into play
(Cold wave moving south in January 2019)
(Photo: NOAA)▼
As climate change has become increasingly evident in recent years, Arctic sea ice continues to decline and the Arctic cold vortex has become unstable, with the center of the cold vortex over Baffin Island often moving south to the surrounding areas of the five continents and the northeastern United States to wreak havoc on populated areas of North America. The Central Great Plains of the United States is also low-lying, which is conducive to the further southward movement of cold waves, cold air is often able to run through the United States, the United States naturally suffer from it.
That is, in front of the North Sea Dragon King stationed on Baffin Island
From Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico, there is almost no danger to defend
The cold air can flow freely over the north-south Mississippi River
(Bottom image: shutterstock) ▼
Each time the cold vortex arrives, the temperature drop across the United States is also very exaggerated. In January, the lowest temperature it created in Beijing was -19°C, while the cold wave around the Great Lakes was affected by -30°C at every turn. The southward cold vortex in addition to bringing low temperatures, but also with the Hudson Bay and the Great Lakes moisture collision, resulting in large-scale snowfall, road icing, freezing rain and other secondary disasters, for transportation, power supply, agriculture and bring great pressure.
Low temperature U.S. on the morning of Feb. 19
The temperature in the graph should read Fahrenheit, 1 degree Fahrenheit is equivalent to -17.22 degrees Celsius
-10 degrees Fahrenheit, equivalent to -23 degrees Celsius, quite cold
(Photo: NOAA)▼
In other words, the cold vortex brings not only “cold” but also “freezing” to the United States.
The United States is also rare in the scope of this cold wave, from the St. Lawrence River at the Canadian border to the Rio Grande River at the Mexican border, the United States mainland territory from north to south nearly 2,000 miles of the vast land by the cold wave through, generally encountered cooling. 154 million Americans may be affected by the cold wave, located in the plains of Alabama, Oklahoma, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas have been affected by the cold wave. Mississippi and Texas have issued emergency declarations.
The equivalent of Texas can be the same temperature as Alaska
A free experience of the Arctic
(North American temperatures on Feb. 15, photo: NASA) ▼
Energy crisis in extremely cold climate
In recent days, a cold snap wrapped in moisture has brought 15-30 centimeters of snow to parts of the northern United States from Arkansas to northern New York, and to the south in Texas. When strong winds whipped up the snow, pedestrian vision would be seriously affected, and icy roads made the safety of driving greatly reduced, in just a few days, there were 15 people died in traffic accidents.
I thought it was spring, but I never thought it would be winter again
(Texas – McKinney, photo: shutterstock)▼
Cactus says: Who am I, where am I, what is this
(Austin, Texas, photo: shutterstock)▼
The storm not only brought traffic-impairing snow to the Northeast and Midwest next to the Great Lakes, it also led to record low temperatures in hundreds of cities. People had to hide in their homes and cozy up with heaters for a few moments. However, when the residents of hundreds of cities want to “cozy up” at the same time, energy demand has exponentially increased.
Especially given the urbanization of America’s suburbs, where each home requires more fuel to heat than an apartment building, the pressure on the energy supply that comes from gathering sand into a tower cannot be underestimated.
Energy-heavy Texas says no pressure, as much fuel as it needs▼
At such a critical moment, many energy supply and transportation companies have dropped the ball.
In recent years the U.S. Crude Oil self-sufficiency rate oil fluctuations rise, however, this cold wave led to some oil wells can only be temporarily closed, has made the energy security limp one foot. In addition, the United States gradually pay attention to environmental issues, natural gas heaters become an important heating apparatus, yet the central region has seen a large number of natural gas pipelines are frozen and cracked.
The Russians are not surprised by such weather conditions.
For Americans, it’s a surprise.
(Photo: shutterstock)▼
Not only is there a shortage of primary energy, but electricity, the foundation of modern society, is also in serious supply trouble. Some states have pushed hard for clean energy, making wind turbines an important source of electricity, yet freezing rain has frozen wind turbines, greatly affecting the efficiency of wind power.
The combination of these adverse factors has led to massive power outages in at least 14 states, with 5.1 million Americans experiencing power outages as of Feb. 15.
Texas has a developed economy and a large population. Not only is it home to many energy-consuming industrial, mining, and refining companies, but it has also become a new population inflow area because of its favorable investment climate, which has attracted many technology companies fleeing Silicon Valley in recent years, and its daily power consumption is enormous.
Texas has a famous oil and gas belt
There is no shortage of energy or electricity for a long time, and the use of it is also a big hand
(Photo: https://eaglefordshale.com/) ▼▼▼
Just because it is located in the central region, affected by this cold snap, 70% of the population lives in the area that may be affected by the cold snap, Texas became the hardest hit by this major power outage. The statewide power supply was momentarily reduced by 40%, and wholesale electricity prices soared to $9,000 per megawatt hour, reaching the maximum limit price.
However, judging from the 2.3 million power outages that Texas residents have suffered in the past few days, I’m afraid that people are unable to buy electricity even if they have the money.
Texas-Houston Power Outage
(Top: Feb. 7, Bottom: Feb. 16, Photo: NASA) ▼
Structural problems exposed by the storm
Power outages not only mean power outages themselves, but also water and internet outages. Although Texas tried to secure its tap water supply with intermittent power outages in the face of power shortages, the hours of water outages themselves have caused many water pipes to freeze and even crack. Many Texans once lived a traditional Puritan Life of heating by fireplace and sharing a water source among several households.
Texas seems particularly powerless in the face of the cold snap sneak attack, related to its peculiarities. The Lone Star State has long considered itself a quasi-state and prides itself on the state’s ability to control the power grid. Attempts to consolidate the U.S. power grid during Roosevelt’s New Deal, but Texas was not involved, led to a three-part grid on U.S. soil today: the Western grid, the Eastern grid and the Texas grid.
In addition to these three, North America has the Alaska grid and the Quebec grid
The largest are the eastern and western
(Photo: wikipedia)▼
Independence has allowed for greater flexibility in the layout of the Texas grid, avoiding excessive federal intervention and keeping electricity prices low for a long time. But it has not come without a price. In the face of a major natural disaster, the weak Texas grid stands alone while the East and West grids struggle to lend a helping hand.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the independent organization that operates the Texas power grid, is theoretically an independent organization run by experts and engineers who are supposed to safeguard Texas’ power supply, yet they were clearly ill-prepared for the cold snap and are significantly behind in their efforts to respond and return to capacity.
The electricity for more than 20 million people is guaranteed by them
(Photo: wikipedia)▼
Without comparison, no harm was done. Outside of the 90% of the power supply controlled by the Texas grid, the remaining 10% of the network that was powered under the coordination of the East and West grids was soon restored to power supply order one after another. To add to the public’s outrage, the ERCOT chairman lives in Michigan and the vice chairman lives in California, completely untouched by the mess. The Texas governor is in talks with the state legislature to prepare an investigation into the organization next week, setting off an important reform of the U.S. energy sector that is not yet known.
The most important thing right now is to solve the people’s electricity difficulties. Texas’ chief energy regulator has called an emergency meeting to prepare for a statewide distribution of natural gas, prioritizing gas supplies to hospitals, schools, churches and homes, and curbing gas consumption in the industrial sector. The state also deployed National Guard troops to conduct welfare checks to dispatch resources.
It was also an opportunity for the U.S. Southern University to have a snowball fight…
(Photo: shutterstock)▼
In an effort to reduce the potential for deaths from cooling temperatures, homeless shelters have also been added around the country. These are certainly warming gestures in the cold, but they do little to change the energy-starved environment, and humans, seemingly technologically advanced, are still powerless in the face of dramatic environmental change. And the cold wave is still not over, the Kentucky Secretary of Transportation said on the 15th that it will face three more storms in seven days.
It’s still important to buy home supplies
(Photo: shutterstock)▼
The summer is getting hotter, the fall is full of mountain fires, and the winter is colder than ever.
The game of great powers and the confrontation of nations seem to be the main theme of the 20th century, but the two cold waves that span the globe at the beginning of the 21st have the same cause, the same global heat and cold. Perhaps on top of the supreme game of nations, there is an increasingly difficult to avoid the problem of human survival environment.
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