Yours truly doesn’t profess to *know* anything about genetically modified organisms (GMOs), not having researched the subject, although he thinks the chasm between the reporting and the fear cannot be overlooked. (Notably this New Yorker story from last year, called Seeds of Doubt, in which Michael Specter politely and almost apologetically reported that a slewContinue reading “GMOs: a week of ironies and surprises”
Category Archives: thinking out loud
CA leading on climate as well as water: LA Times
Yesterday the NYTimes’ lead op-ed in the Sunday Review was about how California is Winning the Drought (as discussed here a couple of days ago) from a respected author on water issues. Today the lead op-ed in the editorial pages of the LATimes comes from a well-known expert on drought, who argues that California isContinue reading “CA leading on climate as well as water: LA Times”
It’s the fourth year of drought in CA. How are we doing?
It’s the fourth year of drought in California. We’re suffering big fires in Northern California, employment drops and spikes of poverty in the Central Valley, and asking for unprecedented conservation in Southern California. We’re also seeing huge impacts on groundwater and to wildlife statewide. We’re hurting. But is it possible that despite our losses theContinue reading “It’s the fourth year of drought in CA. How are we doing?”
Neolithic Man: As unsustainable as us?
That’s the contention of archaeologist Jim Leary, who leads an excavation of an ancient “henge” (circle) in the UK in the Avebury/Stonehenge region that in its day was ten times the size of Stonehenge, not far away, as quoted in National Geographic. “It was insane, utterly unsustainable,” says Leary. “We tend to think of peopleContinue reading “Neolithic Man: As unsustainable as us?”
Blogging the Pope’s “Praise Be”: on Nature as a book
In Chapter 12 of Pope Francis' encyclical, "Praise Be," in our language, just before he launches into an appeal to all people to come together to save the world, the pontiff brings up the idea of nature as a book. He writes (in a passage that is, may I say, too rich to be truncated): 12.Continue reading “Blogging the Pope’s “Praise Be”: on Nature as a book”
Jefferson and the problem of inequality in a democracy
Earlier this month, the Ojai Chautauqua held a panel discussion on income inequality, with a brilliant and politically diverse group of panelists, phenomenally well-moderated by Dan Schnur of USC. I'll put in a link, but may I say (even as someone associated with the "Ojai Chat") that it really went well, and honestly may be worth your time to watch, ifContinue reading “Jefferson and the problem of inequality in a democracy”
Can Las Vegas grow without limits in a drought?
Abraham Lustgarten, a top-notch reporter for the public interest site Pro Publica, a couple of years ago wrote the toughest story on fracking ever, in my limited experience. Here's the money quote from that piece from 2012: …in interviews, several key experts acknowledged that the idea that injection [of oilfield wastes in underground wells] isContinue reading “Can Las Vegas grow without limits in a drought?”
Global weirding, vol. 9031
A big story from the Associated Press: Torrential downpours in Texas that have whiplashed the region from drought to flooding. A heat wave that has killed more than 1,800 people in India. Record 91-degree readings in Alaska, of all places. A pair of top-of-the-scale typhoons in the Northwest Pacific. And a drought taking hold in the East. "MotherContinue reading “Global weirding, vol. 9031”
From Kennedy Meadows north on the PCT
It's May, and though California only recorded 5% of a normal snowpack, err, 3%, still that turns out to be plenty when climbing from the desert up the Pacific Crest Trail into the mountains, into the high Sierra around Cottonwood Pass and Horseshoe Meadows. I couldn't dawdle through this section, not while trying to keep my nephew Eli Huscher, here seen in a typical pose, in sight:
More on this surprising section of PCT for the curious, bellow the virtual fold:
Not again! Meteorologists abuzz about El Nino in drought
Last year at this time a huge wave of heat was detected propagating as the scientists say through surface waters from east to west across the Pacific. Ultimately a series of such "Kelvin waves" went on to warm much of the tropical Pacific, and waters along the West Coast, resulting in huge changes in sealife.Continue reading “Not again! Meteorologists abuzz about El Nino in drought”
Kit Stolz 