Richard Seager’s new paper on Georgia drought has been well-covered by Cornelia Dean in the New York Times, and I’ll let her make its central point: that Atlanta’s problems “resulted from population growth more than rainfall patterns.” Seager and his colleagues point out something that I banged away on a bit a couple of years …
Borrowing a page from Emily Green’s book, I’m trying (again) a sporadic roundup of some of the interesting water things I’ve been reading: Henry Brean on the potential effect of the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s pumping plans on Great Basin National Park: “I’d like them to know that we’re extremely concerned — very concerned — …
I love Jon Stewart’s television program, but it’s rare that he does a subject of direct relevance to my little blogoworld. But last week, he did water. Specifically, a look at a Fox News discussion of the complex public policy questions surrounding California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs …
Unbeknownst to me, Thursday was the centennial of the first electricity flowing from the generators at Roosevelt Dam, arguably the first great dam of the modern era in the West. Located 60 miles up the Salt River from Phoenix, it was the highest dam in the world when it was built, according to Donald Worster’s …
Michael Tobis believes the prevalence of bunk on the issue of climate change is “one of the principal characteristics of our time,” and that the media’s failure to effectively counter said bunk is a fundamental failing that stands in the way of action on climate change. As I said in a previous discussion of this …
Water wonks: I’m spending a few days in and around Phoenix later this month. Any suggestions for water infrastructure tourism?
Back in the 1970s, Congress asked the Bureau of Reclamation to study the feasibility of extending a water line across western New Mexico to carry water from the San Juan River to Gallup, New Mexico. Gallup’s a desert city, dependent on a limited aquifer. Gallup sits on the edge of the Navajo Reservation. The Navajos …
Continue reading ‘Navajo-Gallup Water Project Moves Several Inches Forward’ »
Two of my favorite climate scientist-communicators recently posted on the risks of overstating. First is Simon Donner on Ketsana, the tropical storm that devastated the Philippines: The climate policy talks in “nearby” Thailand have led to a number of sloppy media reports and climate activist statements about the role of climate change in Ketsana. For …
In early 2008, I did some inquiries on the data underlying Albuquerque’s “green” claims and we published what I found in the newspaper. With a mayoral election underway and the city pushing forward on a “Climate Action Plan”, it seemed like a good time to revisit the issue. The results: When Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez …
Continue reading ‘Stuff I Wrote Elsewhere: ABQ Greenhouse Update’ »
Where I’d be Oct. 22-23 if I had plane fare, registration fees and a few free days (none of which I have): Water and Land for Renewable Energy in the Southwest.