Monthly Archives: November 2016

Carpe diem. Gratias tibi. Starbucks may have switched to its holiday cups. Christmas and Hannukah decorations may be in all the store windows. Annual letters from friends are starting to fill our mailboxes (joining the catalogs that have been flooding … Continue reading →

“To thine own self be true” – Shakespeare (Polonius’ advice to Hamlet) “Plans are nothing. Planning is everything” – Dwight D. Eisenhower Periodic, fair, and open elections define any representative democracy, and the United States is no exception. For all … Continue reading →

As documented so far in this LOTRW mini-series, environmental intelligence from the past several weeks has told us that: when it comes to hurricanes and other extremes, what matters is vulnerability; air pollution isn’t just causing momentary health hazards, but … Continue reading →

As always, Thanksgiving promises a cornucopia. But this year the bounty is more than the abundant dinner-table spread. It extends to food for thought. News and social media have issued an abundance of material on how to talk with friends … Continue reading →

The post that immediately follows says a bit about the history of Thanksgiving, picking up the thread in 1621 with the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags. They gave thanks together for a successful harvest. But giving thanks for harvest is a … Continue reading →

“When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water.” – Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1746 The November 5, 2016 print edition of The Economist included Liquidity Crisis, an article on water scarcity, making three crisp points: As … Continue reading →

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket! Age-old investment advice dating at least to the 17th century. Do put all your eggs in one basket – but then watch the basket. – attributed, variously, to Mark Twain and Andrew … Continue reading →

We know that air pollution, which takes many forms, including fine particulates, poses risks for all life on earth. But the recent environmental intelligence, in the form of last month’s UNICEF report, Clear the Air for Children, developed by Nicholas … Continue reading →

The previous three LOTRW posts took up the topic of environmental intelligence – addressing, tangentially, the state of the environmental intelligence community itself. The first provided a snapshot of the collaboration between NOAA and the larger Weather Enterprise. The second … Continue reading →

Start with this: environmental intelligence[1] faces two big challenges in the 21st century. The first is scientific/technical. The second is social. Both are profound[2]. The scientific challenge: Do we want a safer, more prosperous, more secure future that will endure … Continue reading →