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”
Category Archives: Ventura County
The Republican response to climate change: Luckovich
It's been unbearably hot and dry this week, as is not unusually the case in this part of Southern California in early September…but could the extreme dryness of the state be contributing to our heat wave? An attribution study — looking at the possible contribution from climate change to extreme weather events –from the AmericanContinue reading “The Republican response to climate change: Luckovich”
The plan to set off earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault
Published this week a story in the VCReporter on fracking and earthquakes. Much of this story is specific to Ventura County, but the opening I think is pretty darn universal. (Certainly for Californians it's memorable.) Think it's almost a "once upon a time" story, although of a scientific sort. From the days when we thoughtContinue reading “The plan to set off earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault”
Shale oil: Overhyped?
Two weeks ago at a conference on fracking in Agoura, an industry analyst named Gordon Pickering told about 150 geologically sophisticated insiders that natural gas companies are seeing rapid rates of decline in production in the Bakken formation in North Dakota. "It's requiring more and more drilling, and becoming increasingly energy intensive," he said. "TheContinue reading “Shale oil: Overhyped?”
Global weirding 2013: same temp in Ojai as in Greenland
In Greenland this week, temperatures reached an all-time high: 80F. The temperature in Ojai (in Southern California) today: 80F. WTF? In Greenland, the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) gently suggested that climate change might have something to do with the high temperatures. As reported by Jason Samenow for the Washington Post: The DMI says the warmthContinue reading “Global weirding 2013: same temp in Ojai as in Greenland”
How to save the California condor: Earth Island Institute
Back in the 1980's, the population of the California Condor plummeted to a mere 22 birds. Wildlife advocates and officials had to make a choice: allow the population to wink out, or capture all the birds and put them in a breeding program. David Phillips, director of the Earth Island Institute, ruminates out loud aboutContinue reading “How to save the California condor: Earth Island Institute”
Snow disappearing from Southern California mountains
Don't expect to see pictures below much in the future. From the LA Times: A UCLA study released Friday projects a significant decline in snowfall on the ranges that provide a dramatic backdrop to urban Southern California. By mid-century, the amount of snow draping the mountains could decrease 30% to 40%, researchers say. If greenhouseContinue reading “Snow disappearing from Southern California mountains”
Santa Ana winds, Ventura County, and fire: 2013
A couple of weeks ago I published a long story about climate change in Ventura County today but didn't mention shifts in the timng of Santa Ana winds. This despite the fact that from talking to Alex Hall of UCLA, a couple of years ago, I knew that evidence suggests that Santa Ana winds nowContinue reading “Santa Ana winds, Ventura County, and fire: 2013”
Alice Waters comes to Ojai for Food for Thought
Alice Waters, famous for Chez Panisse, the restaurant, and for her many cookbooks, brought her own wise self to a celebration of the tenth year of Food for Thought, friends Dave White and Jim Churchill's effort to bring gardens, fresh food, and more to the schoolchildren of Ojai. Wonderful produce (produced in the schoolyards) alongContinue reading “Alice Waters comes to Ojai for Food for Thought”
Climate change and VC: the good, the bad, and the odd
From my Earth Day cover story from the Ventura County Reporter: California does not need fear hurricanes, but it does every few years face El Niño, an oceanic shift that drives unimaginably vast amounts of water across the Pacific and up against the coasts of North and South America, raising the sea level by asContinue reading “Climate change and VC: the good, the bad, and the odd”
Kit Stolz 