In her recently published book, The Rambunctious Garden, Emma Marris blithely whirled readers through a whole new world of ideas about conservation. She wants us to give up on the notion of a pristine world untouched by man, and accept nature's half-wild state today — as long as we are half-wild ourselves. Along the way, she introducesContinue reading “The “monstering” of tamarisk: How the government “found” water for a big copper producer in wartime by vilifying a plant”
Category Archives: thinking out loud
“Sheepwrecked” in Yosemite, Santa Cruz I., and the UK
140 years ago sheep were devastating the slopes and meadows of the Sierras and John Muir launched an effort — which took decades — to remove them. He wrote: It is impossible to conceive of a devastation more universal than is produced among the plants of the Sierra by sheep…The greass is eaten close andContinue reading ““Sheepwrecked” in Yosemite, Santa Cruz I., and the UK”
Driest year in the state’s instrumental record: California
Versions of this story now appear every couple of weeks in newspapers in California. This one comes from the SF Chronicle: Thirsty California may get a smidgen of rain this coming week, but it is not likely to change what, so far, has been the driest calendar year in recorded history. No rain at all fellContinue reading “Driest year in the state’s instrumental record: California”
What Google and John Muir have in common: Connection
Much attention has been focused in recent weeks on a mysterious barge floating off Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. On Monday the LA Times ran on the top of the front page a remarkably thin story written in the first person about the mystery of this barge, a Google effort. By the time oneContinue reading “What Google and John Muir have in common: Connection”
A changing California: Lyell Glacier melting away
Climb it before it melts away, suggests Barney Brantingham of Santa Barbara's Independent: "(In the 30-plus years since my son Barclay and I trekked Mount Lyell’s snowy flanks, it’s been melting, not as fast as a vanilla ice cream cone in the summer Sierra sun, but melting. Lyell Glacier’s retreat has speeded up since 2000, says YosemiteContinue reading “A changing California: Lyell Glacier melting away”
A look at precipitation anomalies from this month’s data
PRISM, which graphically displays climate data as part of a new "risk management' effort from the USDA, has introduced a new site that allows us amateurs to see what is going on, including (if so chosen) anomalous climate behaviors. Here's this month's anomalous precipitation, charted: SoCal had a smidge of rain, but so far doesn'tContinue reading “A look at precipitation anomalies from this month’s data”
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”
Maybe the biggest question about climate change
We know a lot about climate change. As the IPCC says (for instance) in the just-released fifth assessment, we have "high confidence" that not only is the climate changing, but that our species has caused this change. But on a key question — how much methane and CO2 will be released by the vanishing of permafrostContinue reading “Maybe the biggest question about climate change”
Amaranth: An answer to climate change in Mexico
Strange but true: the grain that supported the Aztec empire, amaranth, also turns out to be a grain far better suited than corn for the heat waves of climate change in Mexico. As we've seen in recent years with heat waves in the Midwest, during pollination corn can be set back badly by heat waves.Continue reading “Amaranth: An answer to climate change in Mexico”
Edward Hopper’s mom, drawn by Edward Hopper
From a fascinating exhibit at the Whitney Museum, here's a drawing by the great American realist of his mother. The curators mentioned in a note on the wall that Hopper was considered by his peers at art school, including Rockwell Kent, to be literally the best in his class at drawing. He used this talentContinue reading “Edward Hopper’s mom, drawn by Edward Hopper”
Kit Stolz 