Those who would like to see humanity take action to reduce the harmful effects of global warming have had a frustrating couple of months, due in part to over-reaching by those urging action. Skeptics and deniers had a field day when, for instance, Al Gore claimed the Arctic could be ice-free in the summer inContinue reading “Global warming skeptics see a couple of trees, miss forest”
Monthly Archives: February 2010
The problem with global warming
It's the wrong phrase, as "gentleman cartoonist" Keith Knight so wittily demonstrates: Or, as Barry Goldwater might say, extremism in defense of weather is no vice.
Antarctic ice in broad-scale retreat: USGS
According to the USGS, the Antarctic ice shelves contain about 91% of the world's frozen water. So news that they are melting across the full extent of the planet's coldest continent, and have been steadily since l949 because of global warming, is not great news, despite what deniers such as George Will call the "tantrums"Continue reading “Antarctic ice in broad-scale retreat: USGS”
The hamburger of the future?
A prize-winning image from a Science magazine visualization competition: An explanation from Science: "…marine scientist Jennifer Jacquet of the University of British Columbia in Canada and digital artist Dave Beck's illustration uses this absurd, grotesque image to make their point: Overfishing and climate change have significant consequences for marine ecosystems. As the numbers of largerContinue reading “The hamburger of the future?”
Environment gets 1.5% of news coverage in 2009
That's according to the Pew Center for Excellence in Journalism: Global warming gets most of the press that goes to the environment. (When was the last time you saw a headline that mentioned habitat?) But all the environmental news put together adds up to only about 1.5% of the total news in 2009. ToContinue reading “Environment gets 1.5% of news coverage in 2009”
Our galactic neighbor, seen as never before
Science fans and Internet junkies no doubt have been caught glimpses of the latest set of images from NASA's astonishingly far-sighted WISE (Wide Infrared Survey Explorer) mission. Here's my personal fave: our closest galactic neighbor, Andromeda. Although about 2.5 million light years from our sun, this galaxy is actually bigger than the Milky Way, expertsContinue reading “Our galactic neighbor, seen as never before”
Fog fading in NorCal: redwoods threatened?
According to a just-released study by UC Berkeley researchers, based primarily on airport cloudbank measurements, fog in summer is less prevalent in Northern California over the last hundred years, down by about a third, which could threaten the beautiful, iconic redwoods of the northern California Coast. A couple of qualifications; first, as the new studyContinue reading “Fog fading in NorCal: redwoods threatened?”
The world boiled down to a drop
From a nice (if much too short) interview with the great new poet Vera [corrected] Pavlova: There’s a line in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God that reads: “She didn’t realize she was the world and the heavens boiled down to a drop.” Your poems feel that way to me—tiny verses withContinue reading “The world boiled down to a drop”
Paging Dr. Mamet…Paging Dr. Mamet…
The most dominating dramatist of the last twenty or so years in this country is surely David Mamet, whose most seen work is probably The Untouchables, but whose outpourings fill shelves and theaters around the country and the English-speaking world. This domination may or may not be good news who care more about character thanContinue reading “Paging Dr. Mamet…Paging Dr. Mamet…”
Dianne Feinstein and Westlands: Secret Sweethearts?
Almost two years ago, the tenacious Lloyd Carter — a former reporter turned water law expert — wrote a public letter to Senate Dianne Feinstein, calling her out for her work on behalf of cotton and almond growers of the so-called Westlands water district of the Central Valley. As he commented on his site, inContinue reading “Dianne Feinstein and Westlands: Secret Sweethearts?”
Kit Stolz 