Historian of environment/climate/disaster/cities/culture. Also public history & urban/enviro/recreation public policy. UCLA Bruin. Book: The Frontier of Leisure: SoCal and the Shaping of Modern America; writing on climate & history in US & North America.
“Let’s not forget that behind these numbers are real people who died too soon. We must take urgent action to adapt our homes, care settings, and infrastructure, while doubling down on global efforts to reach net zero and stop temperatures rising further.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...
England on track for record heat-related deaths this summer, official data showsUKHSA estimates 2,877 fatalities during heatwaves in May and June, almost twice that recorded in 2025 seasonwww.theguardian.comThe 1877 El Niño, one of the deadliest weather events ever, killed perhaps 3% of global population in famines caused in part by the British empire prioritizing crop exports over feeding people. The one brewing now may be even bigger, just as US global food aid disappears. youtu.be/69o-8Mtd3Kc?...
A SUPER El Niño Triggered History’s DEADLIEST Disaster. THIS One Might Be Worse.YouTube video by PBS Terrayoutu.beIn the 1800s French “wetlands considered unhealthy and unproductive were drained and replaced with pine forest” for timber and resin. Now it’s burning: "This isn't a fire in a natural forest. It’s a fire in a forest that was planted there to support industrial activity." www.cbc.ca/news/world/h...
A human-made forest is at the centre of France's raging wildfires | CBC NewsScientists say climate change is driving the extraordinary fire conditions gripping western Europe, but that the scale of those fires cannot be understood without looking at how humans drastically cha...www.cbc.caGift article: “We’ve never seen anything like it,” said Roger Peuron, 89, a retired engineer born before World War II, who was driven out of his home by the approaching flames. He could have been speaking for millions of people across Europe.” www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/w...
Summer of Heat, Fires and Storms Is a Reckoning for Europe on Climate (Gift Article)The continent is experiencing some of its biggest fires and highest temperatures ever. Residents are fleeing, leaders are struggling to respond and “it will get worse,” one climate expert said.www.nytimes.comGift article. The consequences of Ohio importing vast amounts of toxic fracking wastewater: “Four wells just outside Marietta, population 13,000, are permitted to inject a combined 840,000 gallons of brine daily within two miles of the city’s drinking water aquifer.” www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/c...
In Ohio, Toxic Wastewater Is Bubbling Up Out of the Ground (Gift Article)The state is a major importer of fracking wastewater, which gets pumped underground but doesn’t always stay there. The city of Marietta is fighting back.www.nytimes.com“California’s most populous Indigenous nation works to reclaim its homelands, a mission inscribed in its constitution. The Yurok Tribe has so far regained 60,000 acres — about 12% — of its 500,000-acre ancestral territory, which stretches along the North Coast and the Klamath River.”
Los Angeles TimesCalifornia redwoods gateway is returned to Indigenous tribe. 'That's healing our people too'
Fire effects last long after the smoke clears: “While living and economic conditions have improved since the fires, many people in Maui are still struggling with health concerns such as poorer lung functions, higher blood pressure and mental health challenges.” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
Past fires suggest effects of Europe and North America wildfires may linger for yearsThree years after Maui wildfires many still struggle with ‘biological, emotional and social consequences’, study sayswww.theguardian.com“As the appalling impact of this summer’s wildfires vividly illustrates, the notion that climate measures are a kind of optional add-on, appropriate only when times are good, is wildly at odds with the developing reality.”
Guardian EnvironmentThe Guardian view on Europe’s wildfires: politics must catch up with the new reality | Editorial
The passing of a giant of African American, L.A., California, and US modern art: “I had this Aunt Jemima, and I wanted to put a rifle and a grenade under her skirts. I wanted to empower her. I wanted to make her a warrior. I wanted people to know that Black people wouldn’t be enslaved by that.”
Los Angeles TimesPioneering L.A. assemblage artist Betye Saar, who ‘liberated’ Aunt Jemima, dies days before her 100th birthday https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2026-07-27/betye-saar-dead-artist-assemblage-aunt-jemima-99?utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky_
Gift article. Broadway still follows the Lenape’s Wickquasgeck trail…its “angle enabled the formation of public spaces like Union Square, Madison Square and Times Square, public spaces that served as meeting grounds for the country’s social movements.” www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Glimpses of New York City’s History Are Still Visible. Here’s Where to Look. (Gift Article)Traces of New York’s layered histories can be found scattered throughout its contemporary urban landscape.www.nytimes.com“Although the federal plan aims to slow the decline of Lake Powell, it may not be enough to prevent the loss of hydropower at Glen Canyon Dam... And there are no guarantees the states won’t be forced to take more dramatic action within the next two years.”
Ian JamesCalifornia, Arizona and Nevada have avoided the harshest water cutbacks the Trump administration could have imposed over the next two years to deal with the Colorado River crisis. Federal officials have agreed with much of the states’ water-saving proposal. www.latimes.com/environment/...
“The blazes are the latest episode in a summer of wildfires that threaten to burn an unprecedented expanse of land. Europe has endured heatwaves since the spring, fuelled by the climate crisis, including the hottest-ever June, leaving vegetation tinder dry.” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
Firefighters in France battle to prevent huge blaze from approaching BordeauxEfforts to contain wildfire that has consumed an area of four times the size of Paris impeded by windy conditionswww.theguardian.com“The main cause of worsening fires in Canada is not mismanagement – most Canadian forests are remote and haven’t been managed at all, unlike the US – but instead a warming climate that has made large and extreme wildfires more common.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Scientists decry Trump’s ‘blame game’ after he claims Canada ‘poisoning’ US airTrump told Mark Carney ‘you got to stop these fires from coming in’ as experts say wildfires symptom of climate crisiswww.theguardian.com“Spain declared a national emergency, the first time the country has ever done so over a wildfire. France’s evacuations constituted “probably” the biggest peacetime evacuation the country has ever seen, its interior minister said.” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
More than 250,000 people flee wildfires in France and SpainHundreds of firefighters battle blazes as strong winds drive fires towards Bordeaux and smoke prompts health warnings in Madridwww.theguardian.com“The spring…one of the only reliable bodies of water for 100 miles, is vital for wildlife and humans who have lived here for millennia. The specialness of A’al Vaipia cannot be overstated…it has been a home, gathering place and sacred site for water and ceremonies since time immemorial.”
Guardian Environment‘Total chaos’: the biological wonderland threatened by Trump’s border wall
“In Southern California, cliffs could erode more than 130 feet by the end of the century, and the consequences of erosion have already proved to be severe on major roads, railways and other critical infrastructure,” and have caused 25 deaths on California beaches. www.latimes.com/environment/...
Scientists crack the code on predicting California's deadly cliff collapsesScientists at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography found that it is possible to predict a coastal landslide hours, sometimes days, before it happens.www.latimes.comFederal disaster relief as a tool for political coercion: “Congress never gave DHS or FEMA authority to rewrite state election law, require cooperation with federal immigration agents, or terminate federal funding streams at any time and for any reason.”
Los Angeles TimesCalifornia, other states sue Trump administration for 'unlawful' conditions on disaster grants
“The five tribes previously represented on the signs made up the Bears Ears Commission, which was established by President Barack Obama,” and disbanded by Trump. “The seals were a recognition of the Bears Ears Commission, which has been disbanded and terminated.” www.sltrib.com/news/environ...
Days after slashing Bears Ears, Trump administration removes tribal seals from monument signsPresident Donald Trump shrank Bears Ears by 91% and disbanded a tribal-led commission. Now, the BLM is removing tribal seals from remaining monument signs.www.sltrib.com“For decades, so much water has been taken that the river seldom meets the sea in Mexico, and its delta, once filled with lush wetlands and forests, has shriveled to dry riverbed. In the last 27 years, the river has shrunk dramatically…global warming is intensifying the extremely dry conditions.”
Ian JamesLake Mead and Lake Powell have fallen to their lowest combined levels on record, a grim milestone in the Colorado River's deepening crisis www.latimes.com/environment/...