Making financial decisions about health insurance can be difficult for people who are unable to understand what's included in their coverage plans.

To consider the long-term challenges of climate change and the short-term impacts of powerful weather cycles like the El Niño Southern Oscillation is to face down a wild tangle of variables. This is especially true in agriculture, where weather and climatic variations affect precipitation, temperature, and the timing of planting and harvesting.

An El Niño winter with warmer temperatures and possibly less precipitation than average could pose a challenge for some Wisconsin recreation and tourism businesses, although many already have been adapting to uncertain winters with less snow.

Historically, Wisconsinites have perceived their capital city as primarily a university and government town and, perhaps more recently, as an aspiring tech-industry center. They're not wrong — government is by far the biggest employer in the Madison area.