Ask Umbra

Grist’s destination for advice on life during climate change. Est. 2002

Past Umbra

  • Umbra on trusting scientists

    Hi Umbra, We’ve had some bizarre weather in New England, and more and more people are wondering if it’s due to global warming. On NBC News, they had a 30-year veteran of NOAA state flatly that it’s not global warming, it’s El Niño. As a greenie/leftie I got angry, thinking here goes the MSM denying […]

    Ask Umbra® Ask Umbra

  • Umbra on tree planting

    Dear Umbra, My wife recently heard a program on NPR where an expert on global warming said that planting trees in the Northern Hemisphere plays a negligible role in fighting global warming, while playing a significant role in the Southern Hemisphere. Do you have any light to shed on this? Randy Cunningham, Confused Tree-Hugger Cleveland, […]

    Ask Umbra® Ask Umbra

  • Umbra on burning trash

    Dear Umbra, We recycle and compost as best we can, but we are still left every week with some trash. Up to this point we’ve dutifully hauled it to the local dump, which then trucks it away to some landfill. My husband has recently discovered that, since we live outside of city limits, we are […]

    Ask Umbra® Ask Umbra

  • Umbra on eco-choices

    Dear Umbra, While I usually love your column, I have to take issue with encouraging people to eat sushi. This is the second “green” site I have seen that proposes the solution to overfishing is to eat different fish. Saying “of course you can continue to eat at sushi restaurants without feeling guilty” amounts to […]

    Ask Umbra® Ask Umbra

  • Umbra on the promise of ethanol

    Dear Umbra, Lately I’ve been struggling with the idea of ethanol as a green fuel. It seems to be getting a lot of attention in the government and media, and it is being touted as the answer to this country’s petroleum woes (see GM’s “Live Green, Go Yellow” campaign). But from what I’ve read, ethanol […]

    Ask Umbra® Ask Umbra