From my Earth Day cover story from the Ventura County Reporter: California does not need fear hurricanes, but it does every few years face El Niño, an oceanic shift that drives unimaginably vast amounts of water across the Pacific and up against the coasts of North and South America, raising the sea level by asContinue reading “Climate change and VC: the good, the bad, and the odd”
Author Archives: Kit Stolz
Navy meteorologist convinced that global warming is real
Last weekend I wrote a story about a conference in UCSB on sea level change in the Ventura County Star. To quote Rear Admiral (ret) David Titley, a meterologist who once was a skeptic but now believes in climate change: “I’ve told the Navy and Congress that we should expect a global sea rise between nowContinue reading “Navy meteorologist convinced that global warming is real”
Brower: Wilderness a place to rescue yourself
"For [David] Brower [who led the Sierra Club] wilderness was the place "where man could be alone, where you could rescue your self from what Ortega calls the other — all the extraneities that pile on you too deep." From Nature's Altars, p216 This is my way of saying I'm going to hit the PacificContinue reading “Brower: Wilderness a place to rescue yourself”
From the edge of climate change: Vice (mag) in Venice
A profile of Vice magazine (and its CEO Shane Smith) in The New Yorker concludes with this memorable scene. And yes, this was a report on climate change, from a believer in "environmentalism" — Smith. We took a water taxi through the canals, past crumbling buildings and water-stained walls, and arrived at San Marco justContinue reading “From the edge of climate change: Vice (mag) in Venice”
What makes this New York subway pic so disturbing?
It's a question. I really don't know…but I do think this pic is scary. Is it because we can't tell if this is a man or a woman? Is it because we can't tell if he/she is just surprised, or really angry? Is it the surreal aspect — the fur coat versus the scuzzy subway,Continue reading “What makes this New York subway pic so disturbing?”
Texas-sized drought of 2012: Fluke or global warming?
The extreme drought of 2012, which persists into 2013 in about half the country, was just a fluke, says a massive report by dozens of government scientists, helmed by Martin Hoerling. Hoerling is an expert in general circulation models and projections, specializing in the Southwest, and a believer in global warming. As Seth Borenstein wroteContinue reading “Texas-sized drought of 2012: Fluke or global warming?”
Students confront climate change denying scientist
It's almost impossible to quote this story without snark, but I'm going to try. At Michigan State University, a conservative group sponsored a presentation by a notorious climate change skeptic named Willie Soon, an astrophysicist. A small group of students, 21 in all, showed up to hear him, five of which were affiliated with aContinue reading “Students confront climate change denying scientist”
Fracking in Ventura County: the next oil boom?
Great op-ed from Marianne Ratcliff in today's Star on fracking in Ventura County. How much fracking is going on, and how much more will be going on? Difficult to say. According to her research, most wells in this area have already been fracked — but that's not to say that more couldn't be, or couldn't beContinue reading “Fracking in Ventura County: the next oil boom?”
My heart knows what the wild goose knows: Roger Ebert
A personal fav from among his many entries to the New Yorker's caption contest: (Didn't win but doesn't matter. Roger Ebert lives on.)
Obama quails on Keystone XL: Poll shows why
Looks like Obama intends to back down and let Keystone XL bitumen pipeline go through. From the NY Times: SAN FRANCISCO — Appearing at the home of an outspoken critic of the Keystone XL pipeline, President Obama on Wednesday night told a group of high-dollar donors that the politics of the environment “are tough.” Mr. Obama appears toContinue reading “Obama quails on Keystone XL: Poll shows why”
Kit Stolz 