The Dry Garden: “The tree rings’ tale”
Posted on | December 18, 2009 | 1 Comment
As the United Nations Climate Change Conference concludes in Copenhagen, what is a smart kid to make of the riots? That we’re all going to die — Santa first? That in a few years down the road, discussion of climate is best had wearing a clown’s nose while taunting a Danish policeman?
Let’s hope not. Let’s dream instead that winter solstice on Monday marks brighter days ahead in which the next generation may be armed with the best knowledge of what climate change means and what can be done about it.
And, eh presto, an ideal volume is at hand. A newly released book aimed at young teens, “The Tree Rings’ Tale: Understanding our Changing Climate,” is the work of science writer John Fleck. Although there are other texts out there for children, what sets Fleck’s book apart for Californians is its emphasis on the West. It’s particularly relevant to kids who experience nature in irrigated California gardens, taking them beyond the hose, the reservoirs and the aqueducts to explain the natural systems of the dry West that headlines tell us are under such dire threat. Click here to keep reading this week’s installment of The Dry Garden in the Los Angeles Times.
Tags: chance of rain > Education > Emily Green > water and climate
Final day. Yes we can / No we can’t
Posted on | December 18, 2009 | No Comments
A pelican huddles in a London zoo after a freak snow storm blankets England, including the normally temperate south coast, during the final days of the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen. Click on the image to be taken to the London Guardian for full photo coverage of the blizzard and the wan final day of the climate conference.
The Resnick touch
Posted on | December 17, 2009 | 3 Comments
THE National Academy of Sciences today announced the constitution of an expert committee to review protections afforded fish covered by the Endangered Species Act in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, including Chinook salmon, Delta smelt and green sturgeon.
The assembling of these learned souls at the behest of US Senator Dianne Feinstein and California’s billionaire farming couple Lynda and Stewart Resnick brought to mind an incident that perfectly describes the reach of the Resnicks into institutions that we the people might fondly imagine to be incorruptible.
Click here to keep reading
Tags: chance of rain > Dianne Feinstein > Emily Green > Stewart and Lynda Resnick
The future of forests
Posted on | December 16, 2009 | 1 Comment
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” is not just for those who love trees, but for all who have experienced a moment of awe and wonder in a Western forest.
Update: For the December 1, 2009 paper, “Recent unprecedented tree-ring growth in bristlecone pine at the highest elevations and possible causes” by Salzer et al, vol. 106, no. 48 20348-20353, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, click here.
Tags: chance of rain > conifer forests > Ilsa Setziol > Ronald M. Lanner
‘Charismatic megafauna’ arrive in Copenhagen
Posted on | December 15, 2009 | 1 Comment
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 hero, his words are short, his actions long, he reaches out to all of us. No one has done more for climate, he is an exemplary role model,” scraped Gordon Campbell, the governor of British Columbia, who was chosen to welcome him.
“Dat’s the way I wrote it,” said the green-tied beast with perfect teeth, who recalled he had once been to Copenhagen as a body builder. “Some will say da world will melt and we will all die; but I say this conference is already a success. Copenhagen makes us think differently. We are beginning one of history’s great transitions,” he said, before adding with menace: “I am governor of California and I have the right to brag … I will be back.”
To keep reading the Guardian sketch, click here.
Wherever the governor of British Columbia got his script, it seems unlikely that any Californians were canvassed. To translate the Britishism “scraped:” it is a shortened version of the expression “to bow and scrape,” which means to behave obsequiously.
To switch scenes from a governor who in California is best known for campaigning from Hummer dealerships and whose latest action for the environment was an attempt to overturn protections for collapsing salmon populations, it merits turning the page to an authentic ambassador for the environment. The Guardian links to the full speech delivered today by the Prince of Wales. From the text: “… when it comes to the air we breathe and the water we drink, there are no national boundaries. We all depend on each other – and, crucially, on each other’s actions – for our weather, our food, our water and our energy. These are the ‘tectonic plates’ on which the peace and stability of the international community rest.”
This post has been updated.
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