A decade ago, I was able to get away from a terrible flood that killed more than 500 people in the southern India city of Chennai (formerly known as Madras). The bus taking me from the city barely managed to avoid rising water slowly but inexorably engulfing the roads.My escape was only possible because I had been tracking the movement of a cyclone that had brought the deluge. That flood was not unusual. Once known for its light cotton fabric designs known by the Madras name and most popular in … [Read more...]
The trouble with the political push for climate change activism
The lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, as the old song goes, have shoved their way into the fall. And with them, the political push for climate change activism chucked kids out of the classroom and into the streets this past Friday (not that they needed a reason to cut class, especially in nice weather). Not to be outdone by the shouting students, this past Monday, adults from around the globe with their own dreams of climate utopia (and excuse to cut work and party in a fab city), descended … [Read more...]
A Warming Solution that Just Might Work—But Not as Planned?
Los Angeles has a new solution to climate change: painting streets white. Well, not quite a solution to climate change. What it really addresses is what's called the "urban heat island" (UHI) effect. Cities and towns, with lots of blacktop streets, absorb more energy from sunlight than rural areas, so their ambient air temperatures (especially at night) are warmer. Los Angeles will paint its streets white to reduce its UHI. It might actually work, though with all those black rubber tires … [Read more...]
