AS THE CLIMATE WARMS, TENS OF THOUSANDS OF LAKES MAY SPEND WINTERS ICE FREE
The first global estimate of how many lakes are likely to lose winter ice cover as the climate warms is not cheery.
THE WEATHER OF THE FUTURE
I have just read The Weather of the Future: Heat Waves, Extreme Storms, and Other Scenes from a Climate-Changed Planet by Heidi Cullen, and I want everyone to read it. I’ve been following climate change closely and writing about its local impact for a while now. (see my posts: 6 […]
A SOLAR TOURIST SEES HER FIRST EVACUATED TUBES
Last Saturday was a day I wait for all year long – The American Solar Energy Society (ASES) National Solar Tour . This great event happens every October, so put the first Saturday of October on your calendar for next year if you want to know more about what solar […]
6 SITES YOU SHOULD BE READING ON CLIMATE CHANGE
The most e-mailed article in the NYT yesterday wasPaul Krugman’s “Who Cooked the Planet?” He calls 2010 the year in which all hope of action to limit climate change died, and notes that ironically the first half of this year has been the “hottest such stretch on record.” He blames […]
THE TOUGH AND TENDER WORLD OF LICHEN
There is a low mist in the wood – It is a good day to study lichens Henry D. Thoreau January is Bark Appreciation Month. It’s the time when the earthy gray blue and ochre patches of lichen become vivid accent colors. Snowshoeing in Governor Dodge Park last Sunday, I […]
PUSH SOLAR PANEL COSTS DOWN
We don’t have to rip our mountains apart to power our toasters. A terawatt is equal to one trillion watts, and the sun hits earth with 20 TW. Our biggest power plants produce puny gigawatts of power a small fraction of the terawatts that the sun is bathing the earth […]
CLIMATE CHANGE IN MY BACK YARD
When we see the video of polar bears pacing on a shrinking ice flow, we feel both empathy for the poor brutes and relief that the warming poles and their grisly realities are a long way from us. I have been guilty of the smug feeling that, here in Wisconsin, […]
TEMPTING APPLES FROM ANTIQUE ORCHARDS
Michael Pollan’s breakout book (and PBS special) Botany of Desire starts with the saga of the apple. He calls the apple as important as the axe and the plow to the pioneers. They were not valued as a sweet, crunchy snack but as liquid refreshment. Apples were the easiest source […]
Climate Change: What Experts Expect for the Upper Midwest
I’m hosting far-flung family from Seattle, Houston and Albany this week, so I’m going to post a link today to an article I wrote for the July/August issue of The Organic Broadcaster It begins: We’ve all read the headlines trumpeting the destructive potential of global warming, filled with phrases like […]
Idle Thoughts — Turn the Damned Thing Off!
Because I don’t live on my land yet, I have to drive there, and I am painfully aware of the gas I’m burning up. It’s one of those shades-of-green things. I feel the work I’m doing on my 44 acres is good for the planet, but that good is sooted […]
Digging in the Driftless 