The best essay on our very stable genius from last year, it is clear to me now, came from The Atlantic and Adam Serwer: The Cruelty is the Point. Let me quote the “nut graph” as they say in journalism, the simplest possible outline of the argument to be made in the piece. The crueltyContinue reading “Performative Cruelty in the Presidency”
Category Archives: climate
Don’t Push Me Because I’m Close to the Edge: 2019
A generation ago Grandmaster Flash had a huge hit with The Message, with a chorus that went like this: Don’t push me ’cause I’m close to the edge I’m trying not to lose my head It’s like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder How I keep from going under That was 1982, twenty-seven years ago,Continue reading “Don’t Push Me Because I’m Close to the Edge: 2019”
Climate change hits ag in Ventura County
Proud to have published this story recently in a prominent Ventura County publication. With the help of Ben Hatchett of the Desert Research Institute, we showed I think that avocados, though now a substantial part of Ventura County agriculture, will in the not-too-distant future be a much more risky proposition…but that other crops, such asContinue reading “Climate change hits ag in Ventura County”
Black Friday climate assessment: Katherine Hayhoe vs. Donald Trump on The World
The extraordinary Fourth National Climate Assessment, released by thirteen federal agencies coordinated by the US Global Change Research Program, established by Congress decades ago, came out last Friday. On the day after Thanksgiving, the notorious Black Friday. For some reason. Ironically, if this excellent interview and breaking news segment on the assessment on The WorldContinue reading “Black Friday climate assessment: Katherine Hayhoe vs. Donald Trump on The World”
Could SoCal become unliveable due to climate change?
From the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released (for some reason) on the day after Thanksgiving by the Trump administration. Folks, I’ve just started reading the Southwest section, but I must say, for SoCal and other hot places in California, in particular, this looks like very bad news. Under the higher scenario (RCP8.5), climate models project an 8.6°FContinue reading “Could SoCal become unliveable due to climate change?”
The Blob is back: Will the RRR return? What about drought in CA?
This decade, the worst drought in California’s recorded history happened in large part due to a formidable ridge of high pressure off the shores of the Pacific Northwest in 2012 that persisted for years in the winter months. This bumped the winter jetstream that brings us low pressure systems and precipitation to the north and awayContinue reading “The Blob is back: Will the RRR return? What about drought in CA?”
Climate change polarizes an election in Ojai
Ojai, California is a little town with a lot of big opinions. This fall an election between a long-standing incumbent and a self-educated water wonk has stirred up a good deal of controversy. Here’s my attempt to report on the issues for the Ventura County Reporter. My focus was to give the candidates a chanceContinue reading “Climate change polarizes an election in Ojai”
Insurers see new risks, markets w/climate change
From the Wall Street Journal, a new series debuts today: The Price of Climate Insurers’ most immediate climate peril is water. More heat means more moisture held in the atmosphere and greater precipitation. Melting ice is pushing up sea levels. A 2013 study in the journal Nature projected average flood losses for the world’s 136Continue reading “Insurers see new risks, markets w/climate change”
Trump admin expects 7 degrees warming
In an obscure government report this week, the Trump administration forecasts global temperatures will rise an average of seven degrees around the world by 2100. As the Washington Post, which broke the story, put it: Last month, deep in a 500-page environmental impact statement, the Trump administration made a startling assumption: On its current course, theContinue reading “Trump admin expects 7 degrees warming”
Puttering about in a Small Land (Philip K. Dick book review)
Ojai through the eyes of a great American writer Philip K. Dick, now widely considered the most brilliant of all science fiction writers, wrote hundreds of extraordinarily imaginative stories and forty-four novels, and — like an innovative artist who only becomes famous after his death — in recent years has had his work splashed acrossContinue reading “Puttering about in a Small Land (Philip K. Dick book review)”
Kit Stolz 