The Environmental Working Group brought out a report recently that definitively showed the high cost of meat. Not the cost in the store, but to the planet, and to our health. (Indeed, the one statistic I wish the report had that it didn't would be the full calf-to-plate cost of meat.) Much remarked was theContinue reading “Socrates, Environmental Working Group: Eat Less Meat!”
Category Archives: subjects for further research
Weird CA weather linked to Arctic Oscillation, global warming
Forecaster extraordinaire Bill Patzert makes the connection, in a story in the Sac Bee: This year, the blame [for the weird weather in California] falls on a complex interaction between La Niña and another phenomenon called a negative Arctic oscillation, Patzert and others said. La Niña is marked by a cooling of equatorial waters inContinue reading “Weird CA weather linked to Arctic Oscillation, global warming”
When I am among trees, by Mary Oliver
When I am among the trees,especially the willows and the honey locust,equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,they give off such hints of gladness,I would almost say that they save me, and daily. I am so distant from the hope of myself,in which I have goodness, and discernment,and never hurry through the worldbut walkContinue reading “When I am among trees, by Mary Oliver”
What does the GOP really want in the budget showdown?
According to TPM, the sticking point in the budget stalemate is not a number of billions cut from the overall budget, but funding for family planning, not to mention preventing the EPA and other agencies from protecting the nation's natural health. According to OMB Watch, the GOP has attached riders restricting everything from funding of WhiteContinue reading “What does the GOP really want in the budget showdown?”
How to understand the unemployment numbers
A slight fall in the number of new jobless claims has thrilled Wall Street. This is great news, and as I wrote in a long economic story a couple of weeks ago, there is reason to think a recovery is on the way. But for perspective, lets look at the unemployment numbers geographically, courtesy ofContinue reading “How to understand the unemployment numbers”
Scary graph of the week: Employment falls off a cliff
No wonder these times feel hard… via The Vantage Point
Are frequent fliers to blame for extreme weather delays?
The dull factual scientific answer to Alissa Walker's provocative question is: Probably not. Or: Not yet. After all, even climatologists who spend a great deal of time discussing global warming in the media, such as Gavin Schmidt of Real Climate, are not ready to attribute the cold couple of weeks we had recently to rippleContinue reading “Are frequent fliers to blame for extreme weather delays?”
Acceleration of drought in Mexico accelerating illegal immigration?
That's the startling argument advanced by Thomas Elias in today's Ventura County Star: a new study published in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences appears to establish a coming (and possibly a present) link between global warming and illegal immigration from Mexico,..the study led by atmospheric science Prof. Michael Oppenheimer of Princeton UniversityContinue reading “Acceleration of drought in Mexico accelerating illegal immigration?”
Into the Fossil Intensive future: When could we reach 4C?
It's possible the world will not manage to mitigate emissions of greenhouse gases, and instead stomp on the fossil fuels and speed up global warming. That's what it looks like right now, with the black diamonds below representing observed emissions, and tracking towards the upper end of estimates: Today the world's oldest continuously operating scientific body, theContinue reading “Into the Fossil Intensive future: When could we reach 4C?”
Did Jerry Brown endorse a peripheral canal yesterday?
Or did the AP botch the story? A University of the Pacific professor who blogs at Valley Economy wants to know. It's a great question. Here's the sentence from the Brown website that the AP read as an endorsement of the "alternative conveyance," also known in the past as the peripheral canal. Support conveyance andContinue reading “Did Jerry Brown endorse a peripheral canal yesterday?”
Kit Stolz 