Saturday, September 30, 2017

"Communicating climate change through poetry" (Yale Climate Connections Interview)

Image graphic: Created by David McCarthy (Hawk on Wire book cover and promo video screen capture).
Thanks to Yale Climate Connections for an interview.

Thanks also to Ross Cagenello for a Fomite Author Spotlight interview.

Update: I received notice Hawk on Wire was chosen from over 1,500 books as a 2018 Montaigne Medal Finalist sponsored by Eric Hoffer Awards ("awarded to the most thought-provoking books").  The results of that contest will be announced about May 14, 2018. 

I appreciate great book reviews at Amsterdam Quarterly, and Plumwood Mountain: An Australian Journal of Ecopoetry and Ecopoetics. I received emails that other reviews of my book are on the way.

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, and Weather in Washington, D. C.

Last night in class someone asked if climate change caused recent hurricanes. Scientists agree the answer is no.  Instead, scientists note, climate change influences hurricane damage in three ways: 1) sea-level rise means higher storm surges are possible; 2) increased moisture produces higher floods; and 3) storm intensity increases from added heat energy.  Looking at data, it's obvious these scientists make sense.  However, in Washington D.C. acceptance of reality of climate breakdown seems to be like this giraffe YouTube with most in the first three stages. Of course, acceptance must be followed by meaningful action.

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Thoughts and Prayers for the People of Florida

The Guardian has some of the best coverage of Hurricane Irma updates.  The video on top of their page shows damage in the Caribbean islands.

I'm not sure why my blog is getting thousands of visits from Russia, but thanks.  I appreciate your interest. One of my favorite films is Burnt by the Sun by Russian director and screenwriter Nikita Mikhalkov and Azerbaijani screenwriter Rustam Ibragimbekov.  In the United States, the film received an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1995.

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

The Black Knight and Climate Change

It looks like the planet has had enough of us, or maybe most of us.  Those crying climate scientists are starting to make sense.  As one noted in a radio interview in the above-linked article, "I love the oceans, [ . . . ] I feel passionately about what we are doing to them and I’m worried that they will be irreversibly damaged."  As someone who has spent over 1000 days at sea, many as a commercial/charter/whale watching captain, I can relate.  Look around. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia has parts looking like sun-bleached deer antlers.  Harvey in Houston. Irma on the way (185 mph winds at this time). My blog post below.  Montana, British Columbia, Oregon fires. Regarding climate change, world leaders are acting like the stubborn knight in Monty Python's The Holy Grail fighting King Arthur (in this case, Earth).