May 27, 2021How to Navigate Stormy, Overheated TimesI was invited to give the Commencement Address at Warren Wilson College and, of course, it ended up virtual. The school is an innovative learning and doing hub bridging academia with issues and culture in the Appalachians. Here’s what I said. …Resilience8 min readResilience8 min read
Apr 16, 2021When a Submarine Sunk our SailboatBy Bill Revkin (written in 2018; published here by his son Andy) I am truly an old salt now, in my 90s, and that allows me to reflect on a remarkable span of activities on and around the sea, both cruising and racing in pleasure boats and stints in the…Sailing7 min readSailing7 min read
Feb 17, 2021Lessons from Lost Cities, Visions of Altered SkiesSince the early days of the pandemic, I’ve hosted hundreds of episodes of Sustain What, my webcast from Columbia’s Climate School exploring constructive paths to take when complexity and consequence collide. …Sustainability3 min readSustainability3 min read
Feb 14, 2020Family statement on the passing, at 79, of Rajendra Pachauri, who led the U.N.’s climate panel through triumphs and challengesI reported on the rise, triumphs, tribulations and troubles of Rajendra K. Pachauri, the longest-serving chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, from 2002 through 2015 for The New York Times. Click here to explore my coverage. He died on Thursday at home in New Delhi at age 79. …Climate Change4 min readClimate Change4 min read
Jan 18, 2020A Selfless Parrot and Australia’s FiresA parable about a fire-dousing bird in the Himalayas holds lessons for humans in this “Pyrocene” century — A friend and Earth Institute colleague, Brighton Kaoma, posted a Buddhist parable on Facebook that prompted me to think about the firefighters and citizen volunteers who’ve spent months trying to protect communities, and species, threatened by the massive wildfires in Australia. The Selfless ParrotAustralia2 min readAustralia2 min read
Jul 4, 2018Thank You, Brain — A Stroke as a GiftSeven years ago, my brain hinted to me that I might be having a stroke. During a rare run in the woods with my super-fit elder son on a hot Fourth of July weekend in 2011, my brain — which I hardly ever think about — gave me a strong…Stroke4 min readStroke4 min read
Jun 17, 2018A Farewell to Ice (a 1995 Climate Warning)This story of mine, about the rapid retreat of iconic glaciers that long defined life in the Swiss Alps, was originally published in Conde Nast Traveler in May, 1995, but is — of course — as relevant as ever. In 1818, the farmers who ranged cattle on the steep mountainsides…Climate Change16 min readClimate Change16 min read
Apr 26, 2018Bob Kates, a Pioneer in Sustainability Science— A Farewell at 89I first got to know the self-described “independent scholar” Bob Kates when I was working on the special “Managing Planet Earth” issue of The New York Times Science Times section in 2002. He was in the opening section of my core story and he was the kicker, as well —…Earth Day3 min readEarth Day3 min read
Jan 10, 2018Humans in a Changing Climate — Science and SolutionsA user-friendly, spin-free, bite-size guide to global warming drawing on three decades of reports from the National Academy of Sciences and other peer-reviewed science. By Andrew Revkin This is a summary of research pointing to a rising, long-lasting and consequential human influence on the climate system and resulting impacts on…Climate Change69 min readClimate Change69 min read
Feb 23, 2017Troubles in a Dammed NationThe Times has produced an excellent visual/story package on America’s aging dams, prompted by California’s close scrape as relentless rain from a series of atmospheric rivers strained the Oroville Dam and spillway. Here’s one factoid: By 2020, 70 percent of the dams in the United States will be more than…Environment2 min readEnvironment2 min read