Evicted by Climate Change in San Francisco

  The Bay Area is a hard place to live. Ocean fog makes the summers notoriously frigid, you may be attacked by rogue circus acrobats at any moment, and for some reason there is just poop everywhere. Everywhere. To make matters worse, housing costs have sky-rocketed to the point where mega-wealthy renters paying $10,000/month are … Read more

The hungry little caterpillar will destroy us all: climate change and importance of timing.

My first year of graduate school, I set out to complete an independent field project in the hill country of Western Massachusetts. In all my clever, pre-doctoral planning, I did not account for an unexpected outbreak of the hungry, hungry tent-caterpillar that summer. These caterpillars completely took over the forests of the Berkshires, consuming any … Read more

Give me chocolate or give me death! The effect of climate change of cocoa.

There are few things people take more seriously in their personal lives than chocolate. I realize you think I am being facetious, but think about your childhood, think about Christmas, think about your pregnancy or your wife’s pregnancy or getting dumped or getting promoted or your birthdays or retirement parties. Think about them and then … Read more

Saving the planet, one fart at a time

Recently, Mark Bittman, minimalist chef-turned-novice-food-advocate published an opinion piece in the New York Times regarding his personal challenges digesting milk. In his article he attempted to dissuade Americans from consuming milk, because according to him it’s not so good for us and we haven’t evolved to drink it. For all his citations and quotes, it … Read more

Ye Olde Biowarfare: how climate change is affecting hallucinogens (Part 1)

Growing up in New England, you are living, breathing and eating American history. The place where you picnicked with your grandparents as a kid? That was the birthplace of the American Revolution. That graveyard you snuck into as a teenager on Halloween? That’s where Mother Goose is buried. That naked sex beach you “stumbled upon” … Read more