Published this week a story in the VCReporter on fracking and earthquakes. Much of this story is specific to Ventura County, but the opening I think is pretty darn universal. (Certainly for Californians it's memorable.) Think it's almost a "once upon a time" story, although of a scientific sort. From the days when we thoughtContinue reading “The plan to set off earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault”
Category Archives: disaster
The Cheyenne vs. the white man’s theory of tornadoes
A spectacular NYTimes magazine story on Oklahoma's "weather god" of tornadoes, meteorologist and television forecaster Gary England, included this fascinating nugget from writer Sam Anderson: I kept remembering something Gary England told me in his office. One big regret, he said, is that although he grew up surrounded by Cheyenne people in Seiling, he neverContinue reading “The Cheyenne vs. the white man’s theory of tornadoes”
Fun is a disaster that couldn’t really happen: Sharknado
So says the director of the instantly notorious Sharknado: Anthony C. Ferrante, the director of "Sharknado," studied the raining-animal phenomenon after he came up with the title "Sharknado," but kept hard science at bay, referencing one blood-soaked scene where a character uses a chainsaw to cut himself out of a shark that swallows him wholeContinue reading “Fun is a disaster that couldn’t really happen: Sharknado”
How much of our climate change fear real? (Achenbach)
Joel Achenbach is a super-popular writer for the Washington Post who happens to be interested in science-y developments such as climate change, asteroids, and disasters. He's also a man with a giant pen, or, perhaps these days, keyboard. He can write! So refreshing in science, may I say. His latest thinking out loud, from thisContinue reading “How much of our climate change fear real? (Achenbach)”
19 firefighters in Arizona killed in wildfire/heat wave
Global warming casulties? Story at the top of the front page of the New York Times doesn't mention the heat wave, which drovetemperatures to 120 degrees in Phoenix, nor any possible link to global warming, but does note that since 1955, a total of 21 firefighters have died battling fires in Arizona. Which means thisContinue reading “19 firefighters in Arizona killed in wildfire/heat wave”
Vorticity: Sandy turns on New York and New Jersey
Superstorm Sandy as seen in graphics based on the storm: Spooky beautiful. [Fascinating post by Andrew Freedman with great videos from Mel Shapiro and team.] In the vernacular, Shapiro remarked to an interviewer at the US funded research station NCAR: Then, a few hours before landfall, Sandy began a sharp curve toward the west, moving toward the heartContinue reading “Vorticity: Sandy turns on New York and New Jersey”
Santa Ana winds, Ventura County, and fire: 2013
A couple of weeks ago I published a long story about climate change in Ventura County today but didn't mention shifts in the timng of Santa Ana winds. This despite the fact that from talking to Alex Hall of UCLA, a couple of years ago, I knew that evidence suggests that Santa Ana winds nowContinue reading “Santa Ana winds, Ventura County, and fire: 2013”
The Wind from Nowhere: the first natural disaster novel?
J.G. Ballard, although slotted as a science-fiction writer, is in some senses a writer who has lost all faith, in God or man. Perhaps it's natural, then, that he was one of the first (perhaps the first) to write a novel about a natural disaster that overtakes the world: The Wind from Nowhere. What's fascinatingContinue reading “The Wind from Nowhere: the first natural disaster novel?”
Why you don’t want to be drinking cyanobacteria: ALS
This story by a writing mentor, Wendee Nicole, just won a best science story of the year award from the Society of Journalists and Authors. It's horrifying (but fascinating too) to think that a bacteria could be paralyzing people, or giving them Alzheimer's, and the revelation of that story; well, it's jaw-dropping. A small sample:Continue reading “Why you don’t want to be drinking cyanobacteria: ALS”
Contrarian environmentalist: George Monbiot on nuclear
The case for nuclear power. from Fred Pearce, following the lead of George Monbiot at The Guardian: "The problem is the same in the energy debate. Many environmentalists who argue, as I do, that climate change is probably the big overarching issue facing humanity in the 21st century, nonetheless often refuse to recognize that nuclearContinue reading “Contrarian environmentalist: George Monbiot on nuclear”
Kit Stolz 