Category Archives: disaster

State cuts budget for earthquake maps, imperiling CA

For the past few weeks, the LA Times has led in its big Sunday editions with stories revealing how the city of Los Angeles and the state of California have turned a blind eye to seismic risk, despite many urgents warnings from scientists.  To wit:  After the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, California began an ambitious effortContinue reading “State cuts budget for earthquake maps, imperiling CA”

The allure of the apocalypse: Dark Awe

An essay from Steve Almond a couple of weeks ago in the NYTimes Sunday magazine, has been haunting me. As they say in songs, it went something like this: As a form of disposable entertainment, the apocalypse market is booming. The question is why. The obvious answer is that these narratives tap into anxieties, consciousContinue reading “The allure of the apocalypse: Dark Awe”

Cyclone Phailin may be strongest storm ever to hit India

Eric Holthaus tweets an eye-opener: Cyclone Phailin is set to become the strongest India has ever seen http://t.co/mAKhmgwW7g http://t.co/lNgBNOZb0P — Quartz (@qz) October 11, 2013 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js He tells the story with intense power, beginning (interestingly) with the NOAA image.  Yet it's possible he buries the lede, as at the end of the story he casuallyContinue reading “Cyclone Phailin may be strongest storm ever to hit India”

LA Times calls King Coal a liar

The Los Angeles Times has a heckuva team of environmental reporters, including several Pulitzer Prize winners, but as of late, some of the toughest reporting in the paper has come from Neela Banerjee, who in her latest story in politely calls the coal industry and its employees, the miners, liars. It's fascinating to see how sheContinue reading “LA Times calls King Coal a liar”

Dust Bowl II? (Linda Marsa connects the dots)

Writing a good book about global warming is a little bit like trying to catch a whale in a butterfly net. Not only is the beast vast almost beyond human comprehension, but will it stay still? No it won't. Captain Ahab himself at least had a harpoon — a writer has nothing but a fewContinue reading “Dust Bowl II? (Linda Marsa connects the dots)”

Climate change behind the civil war in Syria: Polk

A half-mile from us, a good friend's well has gone almost dry, and we've heard of others on our street experiencing the same dryness. Our well water is increasingly turbid and sandy at times, even though we live near a creek bottom. The drought outlook for California is not good: In contrast, [writes B. Pugh,Continue reading “Climate change behind the civil war in Syria: Polk”

And now here’s Cassandra with the weather report

A passage from Christopher Durang's funny funny play,  Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, the best play of last year, according to the Tony Awards. In this scene, the character from Greek mythology, Cassandra, who is cursed with the gift of prophesy, but also to be never believed, gives a weather report on localContinue reading “And now here’s Cassandra with the weather report”

The Rim fire near Yosmite: Disaster, restoration, or — ?

Haven't posted on the Rim Fire, which has been burning for nearly two weeks on the western slope of the Sierras, not far from Yosemite National Park. Big destructive fires trouble me, and the conventional wisdom on wildfire is that climate change will make matters worse, and, frankly, that's part of the reason I didn'tContinue reading “The Rim fire near Yosmite: Disaster, restoration, or — ?”

Quakes strike fracked oil reserve in Ireland, Gov Says

Here's some news about fracking and earthquakes in Ireland: The largest earthquakes since 1843 have been confirmed by the British Geological Survey in the same area of the Irish Sea that suffered tremors directly linked to shale gas fracking. The two quakes occurred on Sunday morning with a magnitude 3.2 ML earthquake recorded at 10.58am, preceded byContinue reading “Quakes strike fracked oil reserve in Ireland, Gov Says”