Winter storms are dangerous, especially under capitalism

The latest figures reported by public health sources claim that over 153 people in the United States have died from the cold since Winter Storm Fern began in mid-January. Two-thirds of the country has been affected by the cold snap that stretched from the Texas border with Mexico to Canada. Among the dead are many houseless people, for whom bitter cold is often a death sentence.

Communities not accustomed to snow received 8 to 12 inches; there was sleet in some parts of the country and in others freezing rain which coated power lines, trees, roofs and roads with up to a half an inch of ice. The ice broke the lines and the trees, leaving tens of million people without power for up to a week.

The connection between Fern and the climate catastrophe is real, even though scientists are arguing about the details.

The Arctic is warming at a rate that is four times faster than the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, which diminishes the temperature difference between the pole and the equator and weakens the jet stream, making it wavier. This allows the normally tight polar vortex to stretch or split, pushing freezing air southward and warmer air northward.

While the east coast has seen sub-zero temperatures, Alaska and the Yukon have had much warmer weather than usual.

Trump’s views on climate change

Speaking to the United Nations in September, President Donald Trump said: “This ‘climate change,’ it’s the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion. All of these predictions made by the United Nations and many others, often for bad reasons, were wrong. They were made by stupid people that have cost their countries fortunes and given those same countries no chance for success.” (PBS, Sept. 25, 2025)

Trump has opened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. He has also disrupted connecting major renewable electricity projects to the grid, claiming the projects represent a security risk, and has continued government subsidies to coal, natural gas and oil used to produce electricity.

However, the UN reported that the cheapest production of electricity in 2025 was from onshore wind, solar and hydropower, which also were the fastest to be built.

How communities dealt with the snow and ice

While some communities like New York City have experience with snow, for the past few decades a heavy snowfall has been followed fairly quickly by warmer weather. That let the communities shovel the snow to the side of the roadway or street, so cars could get by, and cut a few paths at the corners so pedestrians could go from one block to the next until the snow melted.

The sidewalks were left to be cleared by the property owners.

The snowfall from Winter Storm Fern was followed by bitterly cold, subzero temperatures. The paths through the snowpiles at the corners were only a shovel-width wide which made the wheelchairs and walkers used by mobility impaired people as well as most baby carriers nonfunctional. The snow turned to ice and was very difficult to remove.

It was hard for the visually impaired to find these paths and use them.

Intersections with heavy traffic in both directions were a bit more cleared but still waiting pedestrians had to take turns crossing the streets.

Communities, even those where snow is unusual, must pay attention to the needs of all the people who live in them. The problem is that under capitalism, profits of the wealthy come before the basic needs of the masses of people which can have deadly consequences.