A crowd of geologists inspect a rock outcrop in a railroad siding. Some small railcars are stopped on the tracks. Green grass in the foreground, trees along the skyline with a clear blue sky above.

A unique geology field trip by train. Exploring the rocks of the Sierra foothills along the Amador Central Railroad. I learned a lot about the Ione kaolinite, deep weathering in the Eocene, oxisols, plus some neat volcanic rocks and lots Mehrten Formation bowling balls.

#geology #California

In fairness, I think the word 'easily' is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that statement. I agree that we have all the technologies we need, but the infrastructure build-out needed is daunting. So we should be careful not to underestimate the scale of the effort to achieve net-zero.

Just after sunset. Golden horizon, scattered clouds above in a darkening sky

I photographed the same, beautiful evening.

Explore the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rocky Mountains with Geotripper! June 18-July 2, 2026 Grand Tetons National Park, Wyoming Be forewarned. This post is a TRAP! It is designed to draw you in, weaken your defenses, and cause y...

geotripper.blogspot.com/2026/03/expl... Want to get away from it all? How about some of the most spectacular geology on the planet? Join us this summer in the Pacific Northwest, along with Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks! Our first informational meeting is on Monday March 23rd.

The Colorado River Crisis is Here States fail to reach a deal; Lake Powell Deadpool appears imminent

The impasse among the states is pushing Glen Canyon Dam closer to the brink. "Aridification is rendering the dam obsolete, at least as a water storage savings account," @landdesk.bsky.social writes: www.landdesk.org/p/the-colora...

Close up view of the surface of a granitic rock with many black rectangular crystals in a white matrix. A hand points to a crystal to provide scale.

Some remarkable granitic rip-rap on the south breakwater of the entrance to Moss Landing harbor in Monterey Bay. This was a thick layer of black tourmaline.

#geology #california

Heretic! It can only be:

Given that it's inevitable that fossil fuels are replaced at some point, then any delay of any fossil fuel project is beneficial.

California, a hellish place to live.

If policy change is 90% of the solution and personal change is 10% then which should you put the most effort into? Also realizing that demanding personal change can be counter productive with a large segment of the population that doesn't agree and will then oppose policy change.

I feel we're talking past each other. Yes, you can choose not to support these companies, but in reality, the choices you can PERSONALLY make do NOT affect the vast majority of fossil fuel uses and ghg emissions. That is what the blue list tries to convey. The green list is what to do about that.

This is exactly the type of fossil fuel propaganda (that many fall for) I was originally responding to. Yes, in terms of things you can 'personally' do it's one of the biggest. It's just that the basic premise is wrong, individuals are not the main source of ghg, corporations and government are.

Yes, all of that is true, but even if you magically fixed it all tomorrow it wouldn't significantly reduce emissions.

That is not to say a planet without cars wouldn't be a better place, even if remissions weren't a factor. But if you're worried about ghg then cars are not the biggest problem.

Where Do Emissions Come From? 4 Charts Explain Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Sector Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are rapidly warming the planet. But where do they come from? WRI experts explain which sectors emit the most GHGs.

Globally, which is what the atmosphere cares about, transportation by road is about 12% of emissions. Cars represent about half of that, so around 6%. So work on that, but don't let it distract you from the other 94%, which is the point I'm trying to make.

But that's the point, emissions due to personal habits are not significant. But focusing attention there is a great distraction from what really has to change. By all means change your own habits if that makes you feel better, but don't think it's a scalable solution to climate change.

Flume Water | Smart Home Water Monitor | Water Leak Detector Take control of your water usage with the Flume Smart Home Water Monitor. Save money on your water bill. Help protect the planet.

If you're worried about water usage I can't recommend the Flume smart water monitor enough. California water is expensive and this helped us find a persistent but intermittent leak that was adding hundreds of dollars to our bill every month. It paid for itself almost immediately.

Whenever you're told to change your individual habits to fight climate change, remember you can't choose: How the concrete in your home and in everything you see is made. How the steel in every car, ship, container, street sign, bridge and building is made. How the plastic in everything you use is made. How your city was built around cars. The fuel used by the ships, trains, trucks and forklifts that move everything. How the electricity you use was generated and delivered to you. How your office, shopping mall or town hall is heated and cooled. How your food is grown, harvested and fertilized. How the land is farmed. How the water you drink and the waste you produce is handled. How the ores and minerals used in everything are mined and processed. Because all of those things make up the vast majority of carbon emissions. But, you will be distracted, and maybe even a bit resentful, and that's the point.

Decisions that affect climate change are made by Government at all levels, and by corporations. Changing your individual habits will have no real effect on climate change. But you can: Vote for people that care. Vote for young people who will live with the consequences of their actions. Be an activist, get to know your representatives and to talk to them. Run for office, local Government has real power to shape the environment. Advocate for renewable energy development, large and small. Fossil fuel fights every project at the local level - become a YIMBY. Make it your career, if you're an engineer or tradesperson build renewable energy. If you're an artist or educator, communicate it. Advocate within your organization for net-zero action. Advocate for increased housing density, bike paths, sidewalks and public transit. Oppose car centric development. Support a carbon tax - it's the best way to use the best bits of capitalism to fight climate change. Remember, it is Government that can affect change at the scale that is meaningful. They don't act because they think we don't care. You have to show them that we do.

100% agree with encouraging people to build better cities. But IMHO it's not the "most powerful" way to reduce emissions. It helps, but it is a small part of total emissions. Moreover, the tactic of framing the energy transition as personal sacrifice is a favorite of the fossil fuel industry.

Welcome to California

Sutton Hoo treasures reveal ancient global connections - with Sue Brunning | Curator’s Corner S10 E7 YouTube video by The British Museum

Good video from the British Museum about the source of garnets in the Saxon Sutton Hoo hoard.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=65d2...

I blogged about it: open.substack.com/pub/zakpodmo...

Letter to the Editor: Solving Waterford's traffic problems - Opinion - Waterford News & Star A key aspect of improving our city centre is to look at how successful cities thrive across the world

Back in my hometown in #Ireland for Christmas. A beautiful place when the Sun is shining, but the traffic is woeful. Too many cars trying to navigate a medieval city streets burdened with suburban sprawl. Ireland has learned all the wrong urban planning lessons. But there are voices of reason.

Don't we see almost intact glacial polish on Granodiorite surfaces in the Sierra? Wouldn't this suggest that there's been minimal weathering over several thousand years?

7: Is Water for Fighting Over? - Water Matters! Guest: John FleckA decade ago, the Utton Center's Writer in Residence John Fleck published his book Water is For Fighting Over and Other Myths About Water in the West, an exploration of water governan...

Ten years on, taking a look back at my book Water is For Fighting Over. What did I get right? Wrong? With my excellent colleague Rin Tara: www.buzzsprout.com/2465964/epis...

In the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Trajan, my legions were attacked by the Calibri in the hills of Helvetica. The canny tribesmen made their assault before we could reach and lay siege to the city of Gentium, thereby rendering useless our trebuchets and high towers. My couriers soon reported that the Calibri, as was their normal habit, had assembled a force of light cavalry, clad in copperplate gothic and armed with arials, while also bearing short onyx used for close-in fighting. They relied on speed and maneuverability in the rough terrain, using their arials to fire flaming caslons into our midst and then retreating. A generation ago, this tactic would have wrought grievous damage. But by the grace of the gods, this was a more modern era, and I was able to deploy a force of heavy infantry, armored in stout verdana and armed with the new garamonds. No cavalry, however fleet, can stand long against a trained force armed with garamonds. So this I say to the fools who have said that our armies have fewer meliors and sylfaens than they have at any time since the war with the Lucida Sans. We have no need of such toys now. Those are the weapons of the old Rome – a century old style. And these are the Times New Roman. posted by kyrademon at 11:33 AM on October 23, 2012.

With the war of fonts heating up and the assendancy of Times New Roman in the State Department, I can't help but post this fantastic and classic comment from Metafilter.

#fonts #typeface #timesnewroman

New report from the Colorado River Research Group: Dancing with Deadpool. It begins: "Conditions on the Colorado River are, to put it bluntly, dire." www.colorado.edu/center/gwc/C...

You can follow along in real time. Currently they are literally in the doldrums.

thefamousproject.io/mapster-wp-m...

The race for the Jules Verne Trophy, awarded to the fastest sailboat to sail around the world, is in progress. The first all-female crew, aboard 'The Famous CIC' are challenging the current record of 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds set by Francis Joyon in 2017.

A Bobcat standing in the middle of a first road checks out the photographer. Dappled sunlight and shadows from a low winter afternoon sun.

Look who I met on a sunny Saturday afternoon hike in Alum Rock Park, San Jose. Bobcats always seem surprised you had the audacity to walk in their patch. He stood there contemplating a response before deciding I wasn't worth it and sauntered off.

#photography #nature #cats

I know this is not the point of your post, but one option for them to consider is to combine their love of science with law. Do their science undergrad, then add a law degree and go into IP law. The best patent attorneys all had STEM degrees.

False alarm, event deleted. That's strange, it's unfortunate they sent an alert to presumably the whole of Northern California for this. But it will be interesting to hear how it happened.