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polar vortex

Jan 27
Love118

Polar Vortex Reality Check

By Energy Rant No Comments
I was triggered a couple of weeks ago by this article in The Wall Street Journal: 2024 Was the Hottest Year. Here Are Climate Trends to Watch in 2025. I’m not debating that 2024 was the hottest year on record. My micro observation is that our winters in the Midwest have become cream puffs compared to 40-50 years ago. Warning, old man—talk straight ahead. A Dismal Winter Indeed, last winter was the mildest I can recall. We had winter for about 15 days, starting with significant snow, followed by frigid temperatures that shattered tough plastics, like my dog Sunny’s Chuck-It…
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Jan 11
Love0
Climate Resistance Blog Post Image

Climate Resilience – Flood, Fire, Ice

By Energy Rant No Comments
A reader last week asked, “What kind of home can withstand fire, hurricanes, floods, heat domes, and polar vortex?” This is a great question. I love the challenge, so here we go. Flooding and Landslides Think ahead and ask yourself, “what if” before or even after buying a property. For example, my first home was built to suit my engineering brain. It is wonderful for heating with a wood stove and is very practical; it is not huge and can be expanded with nice amenities for a family. It is built on the side of a bluff in the great…
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Feb 24
Love0

Years of Dominos Fall in Texas

By Energy Rant No Comments
Last week when the Rant “went to press,” which is to say, when I wrote it Saturday, the arctic blast was merely a cold shot of weather like I have experienced dozens of times. I didn’t start seeing the chaos in the south until Monday. It was an avoidable tragedy caused by many things over many years. Some places lost water supply and wastewater treatment. A colleague sent me the first picture below from a friend in the Dallas area. Here in the Midwest, we might think that’s an innovative way to keep beer cold at a house party. In…
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Feb 17
Love0
STEM

STEM Brilliance for You and Your Kids

By Energy Rant No Comments
It’s been cold here in the Midwest. In ten days in La Crosse, WI, where I am, the average low was -13.7F, average high, 4.3, and the average of averages over the ten days was -4.7F. We smashed one daily record. There have been no all-time lows, but this is a grind. In the middle of this grind, I woke up one morning thinking about greenhouse gases, GHGs. There is very little GHG in this weather because the dominant GHG is water vapor, and below-zero air has almost no capacity to hold water. Then I got to thinking; this is…
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We talk a lot about energy – from the serious to the satirical.

All things energy. That’s our jam.

We talk a lot about energy – from the serious to the satirical.

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