Monthly Archives: August 2013

When agencies attack: Interior vs. State on Keystone XL

As another excellent story from Neela Banerjee in the Los Angeles Times makes clear, w the Department of Interior thinks the State Department is just ignoring its concerns on wildlife issues on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project. Reading only slightly between the lines, Interior looked at State's "it's not going to be a problem"Continue reading “When agencies attack: Interior vs. State on Keystone XL”

Los Angeles: Soon to be a walker’s paradise?

It's not true, as a Missing Person used to shriek back in l982, that nobody walks in L.A. In 2013, lots of people walk in L.A. For fun and exercise. Heck, Los Angeles could be "a walker's paradise!" Well, hasn't happened yet, but it actually could, and walking itself has become cool. In the nick ofContinue reading “Los Angeles: Soon to be a walker’s paradise?”

Wildlife Conservation: Huge owls need huge trees

Sometimes news about wildlife and habitat isn't surprising, but worth resposting anyhow, for its own sake, just as species are worth saving for their own sake. Here's an example, a news release today from the Wildlife Conservation Society: A study spearheaded by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of Minnesota has shown that theContinue reading “Wildlife Conservation: Huge owls need huge trees”

Meet the heat: 21st century to be hot, hotter, and hottest

From a new set of projections in Environmental Research Letters: "Climate change is set to trigger more frequent and severe heat waves in the next 30 years regardless of the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) we emit into the atmosphere, a new study has shown. Extreme heat waves such as those that hit the USContinue reading “Meet the heat: 21st century to be hot, hotter, and hottest”

The Cheyenne vs. the white man’s theory of tornadoes

A spectacular NYTimes magazine story on Oklahoma's "weather god" of tornadoes, meteorologist and television forecaster Gary England, included this fascinating nugget from writer Sam Anderson:  I kept remembering something Gary England told me in his office. One big regret, he said, is that although he grew up surrounded by Cheyenne people in Seiling, he neverContinue reading “The Cheyenne vs. the white man’s theory of tornadoes”

The l970’s in one image: Tripper

At the National Archives is a selection of a jaw-dropping collection of photos of the l970's courtesy of, believe it or not, the Environmental Protection Agency. Yes, inspired by the famous WPA Farm Security Administration project, the EPA hired veteran photographers to document the agency, the nation, and the times, in the Documerica project (l971-1977).Continue reading “The l970’s in one image: Tripper”

“The wets will get wetter, the dries drier” for New York City

In the climatologists at work file, here's Dorothy Peteet exploring a marsh about twenty miles north of New York City, taking core samples from the past to extract pollen records, and discovering that during the Medieval Warm Period, what eventually become NYC endured a 500-year drought.  Peteet is on the hunt for pollen. She dredgesContinue reading ““The wets will get wetter, the dries drier” for New York City”

The recession still isn’t over, and here’s proof

The indefatiguable Dylan Matthews for Wonkblog finds a stunning graph: Writes Matthews: The core issue here is that the unemployment rate only counts people actively looking for work. That means there are two ways to leave the ranks of the unemployed. One way — the good way — is to get a job. The other way isContinue reading “The recession still isn’t over, and here’s proof”

Scientific language for non-scientists: climate change x10

Deborah Byrd, founder of the great EarthSky network, has always had an ear for the language as well as an eye on the sky, and writes this week of two climate change studies, both of which found that the change was happening ten times faster than in the past…in fact, faster than in the pastContinue reading “Scientific language for non-scientists: climate change x10”