Author Archives: Harry Katz
Crow Planet
On a recent holiday in Ireland, we encountered several species of birds from the crow family that are quite different from the American Crow we see almost every day at home. The Hooded Crow has a black head but a … Continue reading
Some Assembly Required
Last month, I reviewed The Ends of the World by Peter Brannen. It’s all about the destruction of life through mass extinctions. Fascinating but grim. The book left me with a nagging question, though: after each mass extinction how could … Continue reading
The Ends of the World
You might think a 290-page deep dive into mass extinction would be the most depressing book ever. But The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth’s Past Mass Extinctions by Peter Brannen is … Continue reading
Measuring Greenhouse Gas Emissions
A lot of numbers get tossed around in discussions about climate change. Degrees of warming, meters of sea level rise, square miles burnt or flooded, and most important, tons of greenhouse gases emitted. I like to know exactly what these … Continue reading
Under a White Sky
Whether you believe that God gave man dominion “over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” or that humans have spent the last two hundred thousand years or so winning the Darwinian race, there’s … Continue reading
Held v. Montana: A Landmark Climate Victory
This is worth celebrating. Yesterday in a Montana district court, 16 youths, aged 5 – 22, won a lawsuit against the State of Montana for violating their right to a “clean and healthful environment” under the state constitution. This trial … Continue reading
Timeline of Climate Change Warnings
I’m trying something different in this post: an infographic. Over the last couple of years I’ve been reading a lot about climate change. One thing I’ve learned is that the science of climate change is not new. Scientists have been … Continue reading
The Climate Book
Climate change is happening now. Record-setting heatwaves, devastating forest fires, intense tropical storms and extreme flooding are no longer distant predictions, they’re daily events. In The Climate Book, Swedish environmental activist Geta Thunberg has gathered the expertise of over 100 … Continue reading
Eunice Newton Foote
Today’s Google doodle celebrates the 204th birthday of Eunice Newton Foote. You’ve probably never heard of her, but back in 1856, she was the first person to discover that carbon dioxide absorbed and retained heat in the atmosphere. Today we … Continue reading
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