Author Archives: Kit Stolz

The Beginnings of the IPCC

As you probably know, the last touches on the fourth international survey of climate change by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) are being worked out in Paris. The amount of climate change news this week is simply overwhelming, but science historian Naomi Oreskes points out that scientific commissions have been telling the WhiteContinue reading “The Beginnings of the IPCC”

Rain and Mist in the Trees

This morning at seven I walked out to get the paper. The gentle rain of the night before had stopped; the mist hung white in the trees, for a moment the world stood still. I thought of a wonderful poem by Pattiann Rogers…

In General

This is about no rain in particular,
just any rain, rain sounding on the roof,
any roof, slate or wood, tin or clay
or thatch, any rain among any trees,
rain in soft, soundless accumulation,
gathering rather than falling on the fir
of juniper and cedar, on a lace-community
of cobwebs, rain clicking off the rigid
leaves of oaks or magnolias, any kind
of rain, cold and smelling of ice or rising
again as steam off hot pavements
or stilling dust on country roads in August.
This is about rain as rain possessing
only the attributes of any rain in general.

(con’t)

Neilsey Survey: Those Most Vulnerable to Natural Diasters Fear Global Warming Most

As a journalist and writer-type, I think it is my job to present current issues as cleanly and fairly as possible, and not to concern myself with the "correct" way to "frame" issues. Others see framing as a science, and argue that with proper framing, the public will waken to the issue at hand–global warming–andContinue reading “Neilsey Survey: Those Most Vulnerable to Natural Diasters Fear Global Warming Most”

The Vanishing Glaciers

The World Glacier Monitoring Service reports that the Alps will lose three-quarters of their glaciers this century, due to climate change. Kevin Drum puts it well: For some reason, global warming skeptics are fond of claiming that glaciers aren’t really shrinking. Usually they do this by cherry picking a single glacier somewhere that’s been gainingContinue reading “The Vanishing Glaciers”

Freak January Snowstorm in Northeast, The Onion Reports

This sly story from The Onion is on the top of their "most emailed" list…even though you can find it at the bottom of this week’s front page. Just shows how much people enjoy climate change humor. The obviously Photoshopped image adds a little spice: Northeast Stunned By Freak January Snowfall

“The Serious Challenge of Global Climate Change”

James Fallows, in an interestingly-formatted blow-by-blow reaction to the State of the Union speech in in the Atlantic, points out that when Bush for the first time glanced at the issue of global warming in the SOTU address, noting "the serious challenge of global climate change…" Hey, what’s this? As with universal health care, DemocratsContinue reading ““The Serious Challenge of Global Climate Change””

Signs of the Apocalypse. Or, Dang It’s Cold. And Dry.

Hey, it’s not just me. Freezing in my woodstove-heated office. Trying to keep my turtle Lazarus from hibernating. It’s coyotes slinking into Los Angeles, exactly as we saw last year on the big screen, in the rather unsettling movie Collateral. In truth, coyotes almost never attack, perhaps because they remember what happened to the lastContinue reading “Signs of the Apocalypse. Or, Dang It’s Cold. And Dry.”