These graphs were posted without data points highlighted here last week in part because the governor of California called for additional fire staffing due to the state’s severe drought and I was curious if a correlation existed between low than average precipitation and fire: The Governor’s drought State of Emergency directed CAL FIRE to “hireContinue reading “The relationship between fire and drought in California 1987-2012”
Category Archives: environment
Looking for a relationship…between Precipitation and Fire in California
With limited rainfall and moisture levels already resembling the state’s peak fire season, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) has hired 125 supplemental firefighters in Northern California and extended seasonal firefighting forces in Southern California due to dry winter conditions. The Governor’s drought State of Emergency directed CAL FIRE to “hireContinue reading “Looking for a relationship…between Precipitation and Fire in California”
A Drop in the Bucket: California’s Drought
We Californians have had a pleasant climate these past few months. During the clear spell here in Lake County where I live, temperatures had even been in the seventies—tee-shirt and shorts weather. So far, the winter weather has been, by any standard, stunningly spectacular. One of the most stunning things about this winter is itsContinue reading “A Drop in the Bucket: California’s Drought”
EFSA drafts acceptable exposure to BPA
The European Food and Safety Agency (EFSA) has just released a 500 page report on the risks of bisphenol A (BPA) and given its opinion to what is a safe level of daily ingestion. Risk Bites has distilled their report into a video of less than five minutes. (Here is a link to Risk BitesContinue reading “EFSA drafts acceptable exposure to BPA”
Today’s “agricultural system” is “unsustainable.”
Here is a redacted sentence from a recent, on the whole, thoughtful essay: We oppose X because we oppose the unsustainable agricultural system they serve. Please tell me how today’s “agricultural system” is “unsustainable.” And how is it less sustainable than the agriculture practiced 100 or 1000 or 10000 years ago? Related articles What IContinue reading “Today’s “agricultural system” is “unsustainable.””
What is Comparative Advantage?
Had a good exchange in the comments section (and on Twitter) yesterday about David Ricardo’s Law of Comparative Advantage. My point in writing “Eat. Pray. Lovin’ It.” was to illustrate that people have always liked to pick up quickly prepared food. Workers willingly trade their money to save the expense (time and money and hassle)Continue reading “What is Comparative Advantage?”
Eat, Pray, Lovin’ It
On our way to the airport on the island of Bali (in Indonesia) we passed a McDonald’s restaurant. To some, McDonald’s represents the evil of corporations and their homogenization of the world, and its cultures, into one giant strip mall—McDonaldization. To me, McDonald’s represents what one writer calls “Ricardo’s Magic Trick.” We were returning homeContinue reading “Eat, Pray, Lovin’ It”
Give a hoot. Don’t shoot!
“The spotted owl is the poster boy on how to use the Endangered Species Act to accomplish a goal beyond the species itself and how things can get messed up.” Ban Nock writing in the Daily Kos The U.S. Department of the Interior has taken aim at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s iconic Woodsy Owl,Continue reading “Give a hoot. Don’t shoot!”
The Bet
The United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development‘s Brundtland Report (1987), Our Common Future, defined sustainable development‘s path as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” It sounds simple. But how do we judge “the ability of future generationsContinue reading “The Bet”
Guest Commentary: National Wildland Fire Management Policy and Firefighter Deaths…more rhetoric, no solutions
This is a version of an Op-Ed by Kenn & Susan McCarty that appeared in the Lake County Record-Bee. Susan is a 16-year wildland firefighter veteran and a former United States Forest Service Hotshot Firefighter. Kenn is a 33-year fire service veteran and is presently a fire hand crew supervisor for the California Department ofContinue reading “Guest Commentary: National Wildland Fire Management Policy and Firefighter Deaths…more rhetoric, no solutions”
Nullius in Verba 