Category Archives: thinking out loud

Thin ice in the Arctic means cold winters back East?

Put perhaps as simply as possible, that's the speculation among some experts about the cold snowy winters experienced this year in many Northern hemisphere climates, such as New York. Here's the most concise, detailed explanation I've found so far, from Climate Central: Recent scientific studies have shown that the dramatic warming that has been occurringContinue reading “Thin ice in the Arctic means cold winters back East?”

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?”

2010: three or four things not to forget

We can't remember everything. Blessedly. But some things from 2010 are too good to forget:  Why telling the truth about climate change is good politics, from David Roberts:  No matter what derangements currently hold sway over American politics, eventually, reality will out. The crazy weather will get worse, ice fields will melt, agriculture will suffer,Continue reading “2010: three or four things not to forget”

Seeing the stars in the 21st century…or not

Yesterday the Los Angeles Times ran a superb story called A Desert Plea: Let there be darkness about light pollution spreading from the city out into the desert, many many miles away. This is something we noticed when we moved from the city out to the sticks ourselves — in ourselves. Put simply, country people areContinue reading “Seeing the stars in the 21st century…or not”

Where the word “gay” came from

A poorly-named but still charming photo blog focuses on people of the same sex enjoying each other's close company in times gone by, despite the massive taboo against homosexuality back in the day. It's heart-warming, or should be, for everyone who believes in love and friendship.  Included is an old pulp novel cover, which makesContinue reading “Where the word “gay” came from”

How to remember: A poet’s theory

In Patti Smith's wonderful memoir, Just Kids, she is forever referring to the constellation of objects she and her dearest friend, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, found and gathered and treasured together. She writes of a day early in their relationship: One Indian summer day we dressed in our favorite things, me in my beatnik sandals andContinue reading “How to remember: A poet’s theory”

Deal to “fix” the delta collapsing: Dan Walters

In a front-page story last week in the Los Angeles Times, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Bettina Boxall used an oblique structure, gritty detail, and a plethora of conflicting quotes to give a sense of the trouble surrounding a plan to put a massive new straw from the State Water Project into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.  Here'sContinue reading “Deal to “fix” the delta collapsing: Dan Walters”

Frozen in Portland…

James Howard Kunstler, the grim futurist, speaks of Portland, in the present and in the future:  Portland, on the other hand, has turned itself into one of the finest walkable cities in the USA and the Willamette River Valley is one of the most productive farming micro-regions in the world. Human beings will continue to live andContinue reading “Frozen in Portland…”