Rice climate scientists say more freezes to come
Winter Storm Enzo, which brought snow to Houston and halted operations at Rice Tuesday Jan. 21, may suggest similar weather events to come in the future. As a result of climate change, students can expect warmer Decembers and sudden frigid weather, Office of Sustainability executive director Richard Johnson said.
“You get the prospect that Rice students will wear shorts and t-shirts more frequently in the winter, and, yet, have opportunities for a snowball fight on Founders Court,” Johnson, an environmental studies professor, wrote in an email to the Thresher.
Like Winter Storm Uri, which struck Houston in 2021, Winter Storm Enzo resulted from an arctic air mass traveling southward and interacting with low-pressure systems in the Gulf of Mexico. Increasing temperatures in the Arctic regions may worsen this phenomenon by weakening the polar jet stream, a band of fast-moving winds acting as a barrier to contain the air in the North Pole known as the polar vortex. With the jet stream weakened, frigid air could surge to lower latitudes, Johnson said.
Student Association Environmental Commission co-chair Audrey Arroyave said that the storm was unexpected for students.
“I’m from the Houston area, so I grew up seeing … severe weather, and this was nothing like anything I’ve ever seen,” Arroyave, a Lovett College senior, said. “I think a lot of students kind of resonated with that because school was canceled so far ahead of time compared to previous years … Everyone was shocked by how serious this seems and how much snowfall we got.”
Houston’s infrastructure is not designed to support extreme weather events due to climate change, Johnson said.
“For many, Winter Storm Enzo was simply a fun snow day,” Johnson wrote. “Had we received several inches of ice instead of snow, the negative impacts would likely have been far greater, and we’d be thinking about what just happened in a different way.”
Rice Climate Association president Bryan Mendoza said there have been improvements since Winter Storm Uri in 2021, which caused power outages for 1.4 million people in the Houston area.
“I think [the storms] will get worse, but we are getting more resilient,” Mendoza, a Lovett senior, said. “I think Rice had a pretty good response … [Housing and Dining] didn’t salt, but they sanded the staircases around campus so people didn’t slip in that.”
The Incident Management Team also wrapped pipes and helped gather food and supplies according to Beth Leaver, executive director of Housing and Dining.
“Our on-site first responder maintenance teams play a crucial role in mitigating immediate concerns and collaborating with the facilities team to ensure all buildings remain fully operational,” Leaver wrote in an email to the Thresher.
Johnson said Rice has been investing in improving energy infrastructure to reduce the likelihood of power outages, and that social infrastructure is also important when facing climate change.
“How do we help each other to weather such events?” Johnson wrote. “Especially those without a lot of resources … [who] suddenly have gone without power for an extended period and had to throw away their perishable food or had to live in a motel for a week, or worse still, if they don’t have a home to begin with?”
Mendoza said that the Rice campus and surrounding areas are relatively shielded from the effects of storms compared to underprivileged areas.
“In general, Rice and surrounding neighborhoods shouldn’t worry too much,” Mendoza said. “It’s more so lower-income communities that should worry.”
Arroyave said Rice should take an assertive role in impacting energy policies that can influence climate change.
“I think Rice definitely has a big role in being a leading institution in Houston, and especially Houston being the energy capital and energy being a cause for [climate change],” Arroyave said. “There just needs to be more of a combined effort and with the support of [administration] as far as policies, as far as clean energy, as far as encouraging that and making that more public.”
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