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In mid-February, cold arctic air, usually contained up north in the Earth's jet stream, dipped down into the US.
在二月中旬，通常包含在地球的急流北部的寒冷北极空气，下降到美国。
It's called a polar vortex, and it's pretty common.
这叫做极涡，这很常见。
It's what brings the coldest air to the US during the winter.
正是它在冬天给美国带来了最冷的空气。
What was unusual, is for it to dip as far south as it did.
不同以往的是，它一直向南倾斜。
In Texas, where February is typically fairly warm, temperatures dipped dangerously low.
在二月通常相当温暖的得克萨斯州，气温下降到危险的低点。
And it came with a storm.
暴风雪随之而来。
More than 4 million Texans lost power.
超过400万得州人失去了电力。
Many wouldn't get it back for nearly five days.
很多人已经5天没法回去了。
By then, pipes had frozen.
那时，管道已经结冰了。
People were melting snow for drinking water.
人们把雪融化成水来喝。
And dozens had died from the cold in their cars and in their homes.
有十几人都冻死在了冰冷的车里或家里。
And it was almost even worse.
还有更糟糕的呢。
The state's entire electrical grid was within "seconds and minutes" of a failure that would've lasted months.
该州的整个电网在“几秒钟和几分钟内”就会发生故障，而这种故障可能会持续数月。
But even though this storm hit this huge area, it was really just Texas that had major loss of power.
尽管这场暴风雪袭击了这片广阔的区域，但实际上只有得克萨斯州的电力损失严重。
There's a reason for that.
这是有原因的。
And it should be a warning sign for the rest of the US.
这对美国的其他地区来说应该是个警告。
When you flip your lights on, you're getting your electricity from the power grid.
当你打开电灯时，你的电是从电网来的。
And that grid is getting the electricity from a bunch of different energy systems.
电网从不同的能源系统获取电力。
Like nuclear power plants, or wind farms, or natural gas facilities.
比如核电站、风力发电厂或者天然气工厂。
In the US, these places are generally run by private energy companies, that work with your local power utility, which directs the electricity around the grid and into your home.
在美国，这些地方通常由私人能源公司经营，这些公司与当地的电力公司合作，将电力输送到电网周围和家中。
That power utility is overseen by a government commission, who sets things like prices and safety standards.
这家电力公司由一个政府委员会监管，该委员会负责制定价格和安全标准。
And the grids most Americans are on aren't just big. They're huge.
覆盖到大多数美国人的电网不是很大，而是相当大。
The entire east coast, from Canada to Florida, is on one grid.
整个东海岸，从加拿大到佛罗里达，都在一个电网上。
And the entire west coast is connected in another.
整个西海岸使用另一个电网。
It's kind of a remarkable engineering feat.
这是一项了不起的工程壮举。
It's probably the biggest machine humans have ever built.
它可能是人类建造过的最大的机械设备。
While most power tends to stay local, this grid allows electricity to flow over huge areas, and between states.
虽然大多数电力倾向于保持在本地，但这种电网允许电力在大片地区和州与州之间流动。
Like, in New York City, power comes from energy plants in New York, but also from neighboring states, and even Canada.
比如，在纽约市，电力来自纽约的发电厂，但也来自邻近的州，甚至加拿大。
