climate impacts Archives

Chat with the Chief: Are You Ready for Climate Emergencies?

by Maggie Maue January 3, 2024

Were you prepared for the storms last winter? Did you have a plan, an emergency kit, or communication plan? This past year has been a quiet one for local climate impacts, but they will return. Are you ready for the next power outage or localized…

Resilience, Yolo County

Like the Hot April Sun: Ken Kirsch Sustainability Story

by Ken Kirsch April 25, 2022

I remember reading Bill McKibben’s book The End of Nature during my lunch breaks while working as a carpenter in San Francisco. I don’t know why I picked up that book. I wasn’t particularly focused on those kind of issues at the time. But I…

Climate Impacts, Cool Davis, Inspiration

Per Capita Davis: We have arrived at a reckoning

by John Mott-Smith February 10, 2021

The word “reckoning” can be used in more than one way. It can be defined as “the action or process of calculating or estimating something,” as in “I reckon that boat won’t float.” For my purposes with this column, it can also be defined as,…

Climate Impacts, Inspiration

Global impact: 10 climate change insights from UC Davis researchers

by Special Contributor July 20, 2018

Climate change means many different things to many different people, but one thing is clear: the issue touches virtually every aspect of the planet’s natural capital and affects society’s ability to solve pressing issues related to human health, the economy, and ecosystem sustainability. Research at…

Climate Impacts, UC Davis

Per Capita Davis: Words matter when describing this crisis

by John Mott-Smith March 31, 2017

By John Mott-Smith From page A8 | March 01, 2017 I was watching a news show the other day and a reporter asked an elected representative in Congress if he believed in climate change. The somewhat smart-alecky response was, “Sure I do, the climate changes…

Climate Impacts

International Antarctic Expedition 2015

by Lynne Nittler March 20, 2015

EcoWatch is chronicling the International Antarctic Expedition 2015 led by Robert Swan, a polar explorer and environmentalist. The trip began March 13 and will end March 25. Robert Swan was the first man ever to walk unsupported to both the South Pole (in 1984) and the…

Climate Impacts

Per capita Davis: Take a look in the mirror

by John Mott-Smith November 11, 2013

This column by JohnMott-Smith, a member of Cool Davis, is reprinted with thanks to the Davis Enterprise. When we look in the mirror, we see ourselves. Or, more precisely, we see ourselves backwards: my left arm looks like the right arm of the impostor in…

Climate Impacts

Per capita Davis: Cows, wind and airplanes

by John Mott-Smith November 8, 2012

This column by John Mott-Smith, a member of Cool Davis, is cross-posted from the Davis Enterprise although it has been reordered slightly to emphasise our locality. I wrote recently about wind energy in Yolo County, and a reader emailed to ask if I knew anything…

Energy, Inspiration, Transportation