“Some Like It Hot.” – An Old Disease Arrives Anew.

Mike Magee Naomi Orestes PhD, Professor of the History of Science at Harvard, didn’t mince words as she placed our predicament in context when she said, “If you know your Greek tragedies you know power, hubris, and tragedy go hand in hand. If we don’t address the harmful aspects of human activities, most obviously disruptive […]

We’re All In The Hot Seat Now.

Mike Magee It’s not that easy living in the “Big Easy” these days and co-existing with a world dominated by water concerns. When Times-Picayune gossip columnist Betty Guillaud (as the folklore goes) “coined New Orleans’ undisputed nickname” in the 1960’s, it was a lifestyle eponym meant to favorably contrast life in “The Big Easy” with […]

Super-Human Poison Ivy Is On The Move. Why?

Mike Magee Connecticut loves its’ trees. And no town in Connecticut loves its’ trees more than West Hartford, CT. The town’s borders include an elaborate interconnected reservoir system that does double duty as a focal point for a wide range of nature paths for walkers, runners and cyclists. While walking one path yesterday, I came […]

Aerobiology: The Air Is Alive – And Not In A Good Way!

Mike Magee When Paul Crutzen and his band of happy meteorologic warriors launched the Anthropocene Epoch in 2000, their guiding star was to create a “safe operating space” for humans on the planet Earth. In service of this goal, they identified nine “planetary boundaries” (measures of planetary health) as planning guideposts. Number one, familiar to […]

The Lash of St. Francis Cuts Deep 84 Years Later.

Mike Magee On September 25, 1939, Southern California woke with fear of The Lash of St. Francis or El Cordonazo on the horizon. The term refers to northwestern tracking, cyclone-laden storms that can hit the western shores of Mexico and California most commonly around the Feast of Saint Francis, on October 4th. This one made landfall […]

When It Comes To Water, Weather Matters.

Mike Magee We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one. — Jacques Cousteau When the Simon Pearce restaurant and glass blowing studio flooded on the banks of the Quiche Dam in Vermont during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, it was supposed to be the result of a once in a century […]

“The Power To Part The Red Sea, While Failing To Scale The Ten Commandments.”

Mike Magee A few weeks ago New York Times columnist Tom Friedman wrote, “We Are Opening The Lid On Two Giant Pandoras Boxes.” He was referring to 1) artificial Intelligence (AI) which most agree has the potential to go horribly wrong unless carefully regulated, and 2) global warming leading to water mediated flooding, drought, and […]

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