Deborah Byrd, of the ever-changing EarthSky radio program and science site, posts a wonderful animation of what the current storm hitting California looks like from moderately high pressure. Technical difficulties with the gif force me to post a still from the animation, but still you can see the rotation of the winds up against theContinue reading “What it takes to move an atmospheric river: two images”
Author Archives: Kit Stolz
What it looks like when a big atmospheric river hits CA
When an atmospheric river reaches California it's often a beautiful sight, especially in an infrared image drawm from NASA's AIRS satellite, explored in depth in this backgrounder from the Sacramento Bee: The exciting part is that — according to Duane Waliser, a lead scientist at the NASA-backed Jet Propulsion Lab — five-day forecasts of these "PineappleContinue reading “What it looks like when a big atmospheric river hits CA”
Hyperactivity linked to moms taking Tylenol-type painkilers
On the front page of the Los Angeles Times, Melissa Healy tells a story of a huge study in Scandanavia that shows that the active ingredient in Tylenol and Excedrine and many other over-the-counter medicines is an endocrine disruptor plausibly linked to hyperactivity and other developmental disorders. Healy makes a strong case simply by quoting theContinue reading “Hyperactivity linked to moms taking Tylenol-type painkilers”
Facing Drought Together: The Ojai Retreat 3/9/2014
Bill O'Brien, a civil engineer, Victoria Loorz, a pastor, myself, and Ulrich Brugger, who directs The Ojai Retreat, are putting together a public conversation which we hope will help motivate people of the Ojai Valley to take a serious look at our drought and what we can do about it. We also intend toContinue reading “Facing Drought Together: The Ojai Retreat 3/9/2014”
Happy Birthday, Mr. Adams, and thank you —
Expect your images will live about as long as Yosemite Valley: “To the complaint, 'There are no people in these photographs,' I respond, There are always two people: the photographer and the viewer.” ― Ansel Adams
A little good news — rain! — for CA next week?
So suggests the probabilistic outlook from NOAA: Doesn't look so good for SoCal, unfortunately. From Matt Weiser at the Sacramento Bee. John Fleck at the Albuquerque Journal suggests reporters watching 6-10 outlooks for rain are drought-obsessed. Weiser cheerfully admits it (on Twitter).
Scariest drought image of the year (to date)
From a tree-ring scientist, Ed Cook, what has to be the scariest drought image for the West. Click to enlarge. Via Andrew Revkin's tumblr blog.
Leading British scientist links warming to flooding
In this country, scientists have been historically averse to link weather disasters — such as flooding caused by huge storms — to climate change. The scientific cliche is well-known: No single meteorological event can be caused by climate change. A leading theorist of climate communications, Naomi Oreskes of UC San Diego argues that the generalContinue reading “Leading British scientist links warming to flooding”
A Tale of Two Towns: Can a federal grant make a real change for the poor in Ventura County? | Reporting on Health
For an upcoming fellowship in health reporting at USC's journalism school, I'm working on a couple of long-form stories. This is the first of them — a look at how a federal grant aims to balance the scales of health for poor people in Ventura County. Hope it's of interest. A Tale of Two Towns:Continue reading “A Tale of Two Towns: Can a federal grant make a real change for the poor in Ventura County? | Reporting on Health”
Ojai has the oldest population in Ventura County: Study
Sometimes the news you would like to cover is not the news you encounter in a day at work — but it's still news. Here's just such a fact which tumbled, unannounced, from a 127-page assessment of Ventura County's overall health by its healthcare agency, in a major report released in December (2013), whose fundingContinue reading “Ojai has the oldest population in Ventura County: Study”
Kit Stolz 