As Texas faces another winter storm, can it prevent a ‘failure on all fronts’?

A cold front has brought freezing rain and snow to Texas. Photograph: Chris Rusanowsky/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock

As many Texans endure another harsh cold snap this week when a winter storm hits the state, some 50,000 people have been hit by power outages in a grim reminder of last year’s big freeze in the state.

While this week’s experience will probably not rival the 2021 winter storm that ​left much of Texas in darkness and was responsible for several hundred deaths, it is a test for the state’s capacity to handle the challenges of more severe weather as a result of the ongoing global climate crisis.