Name: 德克薩斯州的電力災難是美國的一個警告信號。 (Texas's power disaster is a warning sign for the US)
Uploaded: 2021-03-04T18:05:29.000Z
Duration: 7 min 6 s

usually contained up north in the Earth's jet stream,

通常包含在地球噴氣流的北部。

It's called a polar vortex, and it's pretty common.

It's what brings the coldest air to the US during the winter.

是它給美國冬季帶來了最冷的空氣。

What was unusual, is for it to dip as far south as it did.

不尋常的是，它竟然如此南下。

In Texas, where February is typically fairly warm, temperatures dipped dangerously low.

在德州，2月份通常相當溫暖，但氣溫卻低得危險。

Many wouldn't get it back for nearly five days.

By then, pipes had frozen. People were melting snow for drinking water.

那時，管道已經結冰。人們都在融化積雪，以備飲水。

And dozens had died from the cold in their cars and in their homes.

而幾十人因寒冷而死在車內和家中。

The state's entire electrical grid was within “seconds and minutes”

of a failure that would've lasted months.

But even though this storm hit this huge area,

但儘管這場風暴襲擊了這一大片地區。

it was really just Texas that had major loss of power.

其實只是德州出現了重大的斷電。

And it should be a warning sign for the rest of the US.

而這應該是美國其他地區的一個警告信號。

When you flip your lights on, you're getting your electricity from the power grid.

當你打開燈的時候，你的電是來自電網的。

And that grid is getting the electricity from a bunch of different energy systems.

而這個電網從一堆不同的能源系統中獲取電力。

Like nuclear power plants, or wind farms, or natural gas facilities.

比如核電站，或者風電場，或者天然氣設施。

In the US, these places are generally run by private energy companies,

在美國，這些地方一般由私人能源公司經營。

which directs the electricity around the grid and into your home.

它引導電力繞過電網，進入您的家庭。

That power utility is overseen by a government commission,

該電力公司由政府委員會監督。

who sets things like prices and safety standards.

誰來制定價格和安全標準等事情。

And the grids most Americans are on aren't just big. They're huge.

而大多數美國人的電網不僅大。他們是巨大的。

The entire east coast, from Canada to Florida, is on one grid.

整個東海岸，從加拿大到佛羅里達州，都在一個電網上。

And the entire west coast is connected in another.

It's kind of a remarkable engineering feat.

It's probably the biggest machine humans have ever built.

這可能是人類有史以來最大的機器了。

While most power tends to stay local, this grid allows electricity to flow

雖然大多數電力往往停留在在地，但這一電網允許電力流動。

Like, in New York City, power comes from energy plants in New York,

像，在紐約市，電力來自紐約的能源廠。

but also from neighboring states, and even Canada.

但也有來自鄰州，甚至加拿大的。

This huge grid also means that, in emergencies,

這個巨大的格局也意味著，在緊急情況下。

權力可以被引導到需要的地方。

Like in Oklahoma, which was also hit bad during the February winter storm.

像俄克拉荷馬州，在2月份的冬季風暴中也受到了嚴重的打擊。

They needed more power. And instead of completely losing it,

他們需要更多的力量。而不是完全失去它。

they were able to get electricity from neighboring states through the grid.

他們能夠通過電網從鄰近的州獲得電力。

But it's not so seamless to send it to Texas.

但要送到德州，就不是那麼天衣無縫了。

Texas opted out of the big grids, back when they were being built,

德州選擇退出大電網，早在大電網建設的時候，就已經選擇了。

Since they covered several states, it meant the federal government could regulate them.

由於它們涵蓋了幾個州，這意味著聯邦政府可以對它們進行監管。

It's a very uniquely Texas-type thing to do.

這是一件非常獨特的德州式的事情。

所以德州的大部分地區都在自己的電網上。

It means they don't have to follow the same regulations as the rest of the country,

這意味著他們不必像其他國家一樣遵守同樣的規定。

But it also means when it lost power in the storm,

但這也意味著當它在風暴中失去動力。

it couldn't easily get electricity from other states.

But it wasn't the reason it went dark  in the first place.

Being on its own, Texas has to make all their own power.

作為自己人，德州的力量都要自己做主。

When the storm came, it affected every one.

當暴風雨來臨的時候，影響了每一個人。

Several coal plants stopped operating, as coal piles froze.

由於煤堆結冰，幾家煤廠停止運行。

One of four Texan nuclear plants went offline.

德州四座核電站中的一座停運。

Some wind turbines stopped working in the freezing cold.

一些風力發電機在嚴寒中停止工作。

But the biggest failure, in terms of its magnitude and its impact,

但就其規模和影響而言，是最大的失敗。

Natural gas, which actually contains water vapor, froze in storage wells and pipelines.

實際上含有水蒸氣的天然氣，在儲氣井和管道中結冰。

Every one of these systems failed, in part.

這些系統每一個都失敗了，部分。

And it had nothing to do with the type of energy,

and everything to do with these companies not being prepared for the cold.

而一切都與這些公司沒有做好禦寒的準備有關。

Clearly, you can run an energy system in cold temperatures.

顯然，你可以在低溫下運行能源系統。

There are wind turbines operating in Antarctica,

以及阿拉斯加和阿爾伯塔省的天然氣工廠。

So this is not a technology-specific issue.

所以這不是一個技術上的問題。

It was more a failure to anticipate that this is something

這更多的是沒有預料到這是一件事

that could even occur in Texas at this length and severity,

甚至可能發生在德克薩斯州的這種長度和嚴重性。

and to prepare for extreme cold temperatures.

But it should have been anticipated. Because this has happened in Texas before.

但這應該是在預料之中的。因為這種事以前在德州也發生過。

In 1989, the same kind of arctic storm caused natural gas plants to have the same problems,

1989年，同樣的北極風暴導致天然氣廠出現了同樣的問題。

而同樣的事情，在2011年又發生了。

And both times, federal commissions recommended that utilities

而這兩次，聯邦委員會都建議公用事業部門

"ensure reliability in extreme weather conditions."

"確保在極端天氣條件下的可靠性"。

And specifically, for the state government

to create winterization standards for these energy sources.

The Texas utility commission did make those standards -- but also made them voluntary.

德州公用事業委員會確實制定了這些標準 -- -- 但也是自願的。

Private companies like these don't have an incentive to spend their money

這樣的民營企業沒有動力去花錢了

preparing for unpredictable and infrequent events without being required to.

為不可預知和不經常發生的事件做好準備，而不需要這樣做；

But this problem is not limited to Texas.

The particular vulnerability to the extreme cold may be a uniquely Texas thing.

特別容易受到極寒天氣的影響，這可能是德州獨有的事情。

But I think what it shows, is you need to check your blind spots.

但我覺得這說明，你需要檢查你的盲點。

This is a chart of the last 40 years of severe weather disasters in the US.

這是美國過去40年惡劣天氣災害的圖表。

Here's the Texas winter storm in 1989, and the one in 2011.

這是1989年的德州冬季風暴，還有2011年的那場。

These costly disasters are becoming more frequent --

這些代價高昂的災害正變得越來越頻繁 -- --

not just in Texas, but nationally, and globally.

不僅僅是在德克薩斯，而是在全國乃至全球。

Most of this grid was built 60-70 years ago,

這個電網大部分是60-70年前建成的。

And some studies point to nearly 100 facilities, like power plants,

而有研究指出，發電廠等近100個設施。

in immediate danger of flooding and storm surges.

處於洪水和風暴潮的直接危險之中。