Particuarly Dangerous Situation. For example, from today, via Jeff Masters: A dangerous day in ChicagoMost of Illinois, including Chicago, has been placed under a special "PDS" Tornado Watch: a "Particularly Dangerous Situation." Severe thunderstorms spawning tornado warnings have already erupted over Southern Wisconsin and Western Illinois as of 10:15 am CST. Severe thunderstorms are likely to sweepContinue reading “New National Weather Service term for extreme weather”
Author Archives: Kit Stolz
“Sheepwrecked” in Yosemite, Santa Cruz I., and the UK
140 years ago sheep were devastating the slopes and meadows of the Sierras and John Muir launched an effort — which took decades — to remove them. He wrote: It is impossible to conceive of a devastation more universal than is produced among the plants of the Sierra by sheep…The greass is eaten close andContinue reading ““Sheepwrecked” in Yosemite, Santa Cruz I., and the UK”
What the heck happened with Super Typhoon Haiyan?
After the strongest hurricane ever hits, it's natural to ask what happened. What made this storm so strong? Climatologists have ideas on the subject. Eli Rabbet looks at a graph from the NOAA Environmental Visulaization Lab. Darkness indicates warmth in the ocean, fuel for a potential hurricane. Here's the commentary from the lab at the time: TheContinue reading “What the heck happened with Super Typhoon Haiyan?”
How the poor go from food stamps to “food swamps”
All year the Washington Post has been running a series on food stamps that will drop your jaw, but probably the best of all has been this report from South Texas called Too Much of Too Little: McAllen, Tex. — They were already running late for a doctor’s appointment, but first the Salas family hurried intoContinue reading “How the poor go from food stamps to “food swamps””
Driest year in the state’s instrumental record: California
Versions of this story now appear every couple of weeks in newspapers in California. This one comes from the SF Chronicle: Thirsty California may get a smidgen of rain this coming week, but it is not likely to change what, so far, has been the driest calendar year in recorded history. No rain at all fellContinue reading “Driest year in the state’s instrumental record: California”
So many great Tenn Williams productions, so little time.
10 Williams still rules, sez the Los Angeles Times, writing of the new Broadway production of "The Glass Menagerie": NEW YORK — The revival of "The Glass Menagerie" that has Broadway abuzz boasts two-time Tony winner Cherry Jones in the role of the Southern gothic matriarch Amanda Wingfield, among the greatest parts in the repertoireContinue reading “So many great Tenn Williams productions, so little time.”
Deniers scoff at Typhoon Yolanda (aka Haiyan)
From the New York Times: CEBU, Philippines — One of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded now appears to have devastated cities, towns and fishing villages with heavy loss of life when it played a deadly form of hopscotch across the islands of the central Philippines on Friday. The first and most vocal city to cryContinue reading “Deniers scoff at Typhoon Yolanda (aka Haiyan)”
What Google and John Muir have in common: Connection
Much attention has been focused in recent weeks on a mysterious barge floating off Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. On Monday the LA Times ran on the top of the front page a remarkably thin story written in the first person about the mystery of this barge, a Google effort. By the time oneContinue reading “What Google and John Muir have in common: Connection”
Toles: Did you see how bad the Chinese air is?
Another of Toles' thoughtful sketches: All of us share the same air, live under one sky.
Could this climate ad have tipped the VA Gov race?
Tea Party/GOP candidate Ken Cuccinelli, as Attorney General, spent over $600k of state of Virginia funds on what the Washington Post called a "witch hunt" directed against Michael Mann, a highly reputable scientist. Mann's crime? He crunched global temperature numbers into a graph that shows soaring temperatures over the last hundred years that made clearContinue reading “Could this climate ad have tipped the VA Gov race?”
Kit Stolz 