In the aftermath of the hurricane, came complaints about hype: Was Hurricane Irene a disappointment? Media analyst Howard Kurtz says yes. After all, Irene wasn't even a hurricane when it made landfall in NYC. Other New Yorkers are equally dismissive: A NYC gossip site called Irene The Sudden Sex Celebrity without Much Bang. Scallywag wrote: Continue reading “Hurricane Irene disappoints jaded New Yorkers”
Category Archives: disaster
How to handle a hurricane: Katherine Hepburn
Back when stars were stars, and knew how to deal. From Roger Ebert's ever-surprising Journal and Twitter feed. [Note: pick taken after the l938 hurricane that devastated Long Island.]
Jeff Masters: Irene on track to hit New York City
Dr. Jeff Masters: Irene is forecast to move to the northwest, passing over the northwest Bahamas by Thursday evening, then curving to the northeast. Irene then makes landfall in the US near or at the Outer Banks Saturday afternoon, then traveling along the mid-Atlantic coastline of the US. Sunday, Irene may make secondary landfall anywhereContinue reading “Jeff Masters: Irene on track to hit New York City”
How Healthy are Our Oceans?
My cover story, this week in the VCReporter. I especially liked that both a commercial fisherman and a devout sports fisherman praised government regulators for maintaining the fisheries in SoCal: Both commercial fishermen and sport fishermen agree [that the fisheries are in decent shape]. “I think it’s doing pretty good,” said Pete DuPuy, who hasContinue reading “How Healthy are Our Oceans?”
Los Angeles Times fires climate reporter at work in Arctic
Just when you think the Los Angeles Times can't stoop any lower…they fire their climate change reporter while she's on a story in the Arctic. Yes, while camping in the snow. Believe it or don't. Here's how Margot Roosevelt relayed the story, from her farewell to her colleagues, via the LA Observer: It was aContinue reading “Los Angeles Times fires climate reporter at work in Arctic”
Ghost forests of the 21st century
Some have wanted to label the pika, a charming little mountain creature, as the first species likely to be driven to extinction by climate change, but a typically excellent story by Elizabeth Shogren of National Public Radio lays out a much more horrifying possibility: the whitebark pine. SHOGREN: Do you think it's a forgone conclusionContinue reading “Ghost forests of the 21st century”
McKibben/Toles: Ignore the climate/disaster connection!
It's long been my contention that environmental writers, artists, and speakers have to access the full range of human emotion to make the case for the urgency of action needed to preserve our existing climate — even bitterness, if necessary. Science and earnest appeals to reason simply aren't enough. So it's good, in a rhetoricalContinue reading “McKibben/Toles: Ignore the climate/disaster connection!”
The Seven Steps of Global Warming (a primer for deniers, by Toles)
According to Wunderblog's Jeff Masters. this month we've seen $2 billion damage on the Mississippi, a diastrous 300-year flood in Alberta, and flooding in Colombia the likes of which has never been seen. He quotes Colombia's president, Juan Manuel Santos, who after 500+ deaths, said, "the tragedy the country is going through has no precedents in ourContinue reading “The Seven Steps of Global Warming (a primer for deniers, by Toles)”
Diablo Canyon for Dummies (by Steve Brodner)
Though I'm not crazy about web videos, this is a real charmer, and a good primer about Diablo Canyon, which supplies much of central CA with power. http://www.slatev.com/media/swfs/SlateGroupPlayer.swf < Because both a local Republican and a Democratic Congressperson have made an issue of PG&E's amazing lack of competence regarding this plant, PG&E has put offContinue reading “Diablo Canyon for Dummies (by Steve Brodner)”
Earthquake forces us to “fight back” against Nature
This past week Ted Rall's Sleeper Agent made fun of those who would blame environmentalists for the deadly earthquake and tsunami in Japan. You might be asking yourself: Who would do such a thing/ And even a man had such an impulse, how could it possibly be done? How could you blame environmentalists, who reflexively recoilContinue reading “Earthquake forces us to “fight back” against Nature”
Kit Stolz 