On his site, science writer Chris Mooney recently posted a fascinating pair of graphs, courtesy of collaborator Matt Nisbet, which chart public interest in global warming. As the years march by, the charts show what happens when scientific reports are released, when politics intervene — and when hurricanes strike, as measured by coverage at theContinue reading ““Storm World” — Understanding Hurricanes Today”
Author Archives: Kit Stolz
Just Lookin’
Don’t often talk about the movies in this space, despite my love for them, but for Barbara Stanwyck, born one hundred years ago today, we must make an exception. And must link to a superb essay by Anthony Lane, that ran earlier this year in The New Yorker. He includes a snatch of dialogue fromContinue reading “Just Lookin’”
Tracking Glaciers, Now and Then
An excellent front-page story in the New York Times looks at the alarmingly rapid retreat of glaciers in India. This is a disaster in the making: although floods are expected in the next couple of decades, then water supplies will rapidly diminish…for one/sixth of the world’s population. According to another first-hand account reporting on theContinue reading “Tracking Glaciers, Now and Then”
Half-Dome: A New Photographic Classic
In Aperture magazine can be found a fascinating interview and a great picture of Half-Dome by a young German photographer named Florian Maier-Aichen. He calls his picture "The Best General View," which is both a reference to a classic photograph from the 19th-century by Carleton Atkins, and also a sly nod to his method, whichContinue reading “Half-Dome: A New Photographic Classic”
Sunday Morning on the Planet: Trees
Especially in this heat, we treasure our trees, soaking up the sun, holding back the clamor from the nearby road, keeping us sane. Here’s a favorite poem for many on the subject by the revered W.S. Merwin, courtesy of Garrison Keillor’s lively Writer’s Almanac: Trees I am looking at trees they may be one ofContinue reading “Sunday Morning on the Planet: Trees”
As Teddy Roosevelt Said (Regarding Climate Change and other Difficult Matters)
"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing." As quoted by his great-grandson Theodore Roosevelt IV, a Republican environmental activist, who was on the scene in Florida this week as Arnold Schwarzenneger joined with Charlie Crist to celebrate the passingContinue reading “As Teddy Roosevelt Said (Regarding Climate Change and other Difficult Matters)”
Patti Smith Reminds Us: A Parallel World
Patti Smith, one of the great rockers of the last thirty years, is on tour in Europe, and takes the time–via her coffeebreak blog–to remind us of something. Hearing the people chanting Gloria in Paris when I faltered. Hearing the people singing like a choir in Oslo to A perfect day. So beautiful and touchingContinue reading “Patti Smith Reminds Us: A Parallel World”
Leading Republican Calls Most Americans “Wimps”
This is really a ThinkProgress item, but for some reason they haven’t run it, so as ol’ B. Dylan would say, I guess it’s up to me. Yesterday John Boehner of Ohio, the House Minority (Republican) leader, accused Senators of both parties opposed to escalating the war of being "wimps," according to The Hill. SinceContinue reading “Leading Republican Calls Most Americans “Wimps””
China Fouls Environment; Tolerates Environmentalists
Fasincating story by Cynthia Larson in The Washington Monthly on China called The Green Leap Forward. Topics for further research: the story came out of a lengthy reporting trip, and has too much content to be reduced to a single point or two, but it has many shocking facts. For one, it claims that onContinue reading “China Fouls Environment; Tolerates Environmentalists”
Bush Administration Wildlife Preserves
From the Union of Concerned Scientists’ editorial cartoon "Science Idol" cartoon contest. More contestants here. (And much more serious reporting, on their climate change report for the Northeast, when I catch up.) But for now:
Kit Stolz 