Many people are blaming climate change for this month’s winter storm, but the evidence behind whether and how climate change produces cold snaps and snowstorms is still unsettled. Winter temperatures in the U.S. are mostly trending warmer – in some cases a lot. That warming may be causing shifts in global weather patterns that cause more intense – albeit fewer – winter storms. 

Your January utility bill is going to be a whopper. Electric rates around the country are rising at just the same time that millions of Americans have had their heaters on full blast during winter storms. Utility companies are paying premium prices for natural gas, so they hiked their rates, and more rate increases may be on the horizon. 

Starting Monday, millions of people worldwide will give up, or try to give up, alcohol for a month in what organizers call “Dry January.” It is not a detox movement or even a campaign to end alcohol consumption, but rather a time when drinkers can stop and evaluate how they consume alcohol. The movement started a decade ago in Britain.