Author Archives: Kit Stolz

Needed: Anti-Hysteria Czar

So argues the great Washington Post reporter/columnist Joel Achenbach: Is it my imagination or in recent years has hysteria become the default response to anything even slightly controversial or offensive? So the head of Whole Foods says in an Op-Ed that he doesn't like the health care reform proposals. Liberals are aghast. The company mustContinue reading “Needed: Anti-Hysteria Czar”

The Call You Don’t Want to Get

Remember my article on STD's? This is what it sounds like in real life, from Overheard in New York. The caller is described as a "guy on cell, leaning casually against a fire hydrant": Hey, so, I just got my test results back, and… uh… so I got herpes. So… maybe you should get yourselfContinue reading “The Call You Don’t Want to Get”

The Eroticism of the Sierra Nevada Salamander

Having spent much of the last month in the mountains, forgive me for putting up a few "timeless" posts, as we used to say in the newspaper biz, instead of on what happened yesterday. On my latest journey into the Southern Sierra, I took along a wonderful book called Sierra Nevada: The Naturalist's Companion. BeingContinue reading “The Eroticism of the Sierra Nevada Salamander”

A New Word for Disaster: Pyrocumulus

This century we as a culture have learned words for a lot of what might be called "new disasters" — climactic scenarios rarely if ever experienced on the planet in the past, such as Category Five, Sea Level Rise, and Arctic Amplification. Well, here's another to add to the list: Pyrocumulus. Here's what the pyrocumulusContinue reading “A New Word for Disaster: Pyrocumulus”

An Idyll in the Southern Sierra to a SoCal Hell

We're only talking about 100 miles and 10,000 feet, but my God, the shock I had, going from serenity at Muir Lake to the hell that is Lancaster/Paledale under the plume of the burning of thousands of acres of chaparral.  Here's what I'm calling Muir Beach at the spectacular (and empty) Muir Lake: And here'sContinue reading “An Idyll in the Southern Sierra to a SoCal Hell”

California Drought, As Seen from Space

Via NASA's Terra satellite, which uses a MODIS Spectraradiometer to measure plant growth.   In the Central Valley, the drought is worst in the Westlands water district. Many in the area blame Congress for lack of water, and for the 70,000-80,000 farmworkers reported to be out of work. Interestingly, NASA talks about this in aContinue reading “California Drought, As Seen from Space”