The future of forests
Giant Sequoias at Redwood Mountain, Kings Canyon National Park, CA, in the largest grove of this species. Photo courtesy of John Evarts, Cachuma Press
Ronald M. Lanner has explored the forests of the Western United States for 50 years. In the course of this, and in devoting five of his six books to the region’s trees, he has revealed that no where else on the planet has the same diversity of conifers, be it the oldest (bristlecone pines) or the tallest (redwoods) or the biggest (sequoias).
So Chance of Rain asked environment reporter Ilsa Setziol to interview Lanner on the future of the region’s timbered ranges in the face of climate change. Her discussion with the author of “The Pinon Pine,” “Trees of the Great Basin,” “The Conifers of California,” “Made for Each Other: A Symbiosis of Birds and Pines,” and “The Bristlecone Book…
‘Charismatic megafauna’ arrive in Copenhagen
For the Guardian's climate conference feature Copenhagen in pictures: Day 9, click on the body-builder turned actor and politician with the persistent tan that prompted LA Times columnist Steve Lopez to wonder if the governor of California had been "dipped in a bucket of Tang."
Until today, Copenhagen’s most famous citizen was a girl with a fishy tail sitting on a rock, reports the Guardian’s John Vidal. No more. The day saw the big beasts of the green jungle arrive — what ecologists would term the “charismatic megafauna,” intent on adding their weight and lustre to the struggling climate negotiation.
First up was “Governator” Arnold Schwarzenegger, who arrived at the conference centre with 10 men in black with wires sprouting from their ears, a phalanx of cameramen and a perma-tan. Lesser beasts, like mere ministers, diplomats, UN chiefs and state governors, bowed before him.
“Arnie is a climate activist …
Central Valley groundwater mining detected from space
Approximate location of maximum subsidence in the United States identified by research efforts of Dr. Joseph F. Poland (pictured). Signs on pole show approximate altitude of land surface in 1925, 1955, and 1977. The site is in the San Joaquin Valley southwest of Mendota, California. Source: USGS. Click on the image to be taken to a groundwater subsidence fact sheet.
PASADENA, California — New space observations reveal that since October 2003, the aquifers for California’s primary agricultural region — the Central Valley — and its major mountain water source — the Sierra Nevadas — have lost nearly enough water combined to fill Lake Mead, America’s largest reservoir, reports the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. To keep reading the JPL news release, click here.
Legislation that would have required monitoring of groundwater in the Central Valley was gutted at the last minute from the raft of water bills passed by the …
The week that was, 12/6-12/2009
A man watches an animated projection showing the different acidity levels of the ocean. Photograph: Miguel Villagran/Getty Images. Click on the image to be taken to the London Guardian's "Copenhagen in pictures: Day two."
Most of us aren’t chemists, but it’s not hard to understand that a more acidic ocean will change what can live there. — Dave Kubiak, retired teacher and fisherman from Kodiak, Alaska, “Increasingly acidic ocean threatens fish,” Alaska Daily News, December 9, 2009
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The Dry Garden: Capturing the spirit of LA’s streams
Contemporary map of the Ballona Creek watershed with overlay of 1902 streams and wetlands. Source: "Seeking Streams" by Jessica Hall et al, 606 Studio, Cal Poly Pomona.
WHEN it snows in the mountains and rains in the basin, Jessica Hall thinks of the lost streams of Los Angeles. In fact, she thinks of them all the time. For the last nine years, the 41-year-old garden designer has been retracing the paths of the native creeks, streams and springs that once ran wild before they were filled in and paved for homes.
In the process, Hall has come to believe that the best town planning and landscape design principles for the future may lie in understanding the habits of the watercourses of the past.
Those who missed the profile of Hall last August by Times staff writer Hector Tobar have a treat in store reading about how Hall tracked down Sacatela …
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