Painting by Carl S. Buell
The Hidden Desert
The California desert doesn't give up its secrets readily. To get to know the place, you've got to spend time here: watching, waiting, learning. It's hard to do that from behind the safety glass of a vehicle speeding along the Interstate. But if you leave your car, tighten your shoelaces, walk until you find an interesting spot, and sit there for a while, you just might start to see something good. Natural history writer Chris Clarke has been doing just that for more than two decades, and in The Hidden Desert he shares some of what he's found.
The Hidden Desert:
In November, the California Air Resources Board ruled that according to data from lakebed monitors, the DWP was solely responsible for the horrendous air quality caused by dust blowing off Owens Lake. DWP's response? Get rid of the monitors.
The Hidden Desert:
Here's a Mojave Desert living pro-tip: don't leave your jackalope on the porch in November. If you do, the antelope squirrels will strip off its fur to line their nests.
The Hidden Desert:
Hotter temperatures, the extinction of Joshua trees, more dust storms, and more could become the new normal.
The Hidden Desert:
The controversial Mojave Cross returns to Cima Dome in -- but not in -- the Mojave National Preserve.
The Hidden Desert:
I could only stand there, on the white line in the middle of the two-lane desert road, and hope the oncoming cars saw me in my dark clothing in time to slow and swerve around us.
The Hidden Desert:
The shifting seasons bring changes to the Mojave Desert
The Hidden Desert:
Joshua Tree National Park plans to make it easier for people to leave their cars and see cholla cacti by removing cholla to make more room for cars.
The Hidden Desert:
Keeping your cat inside really is better for everyone concerned: you, your cat, and the wildlife struggling to live outdoors.
The Hidden Desert:
Joshua trees may denote hot deserts in many minds, but the place they live in gets pretty cold as well.
The Hidden Desert:
If you see a woodpeckery-looking woodpecker in the Mojave, it's probably a ladder-backed.
The Hidden Desert:
The world's meteorologists agree: Death Valley holds the record for World's Hottest Place. Sort of.
The Hidden Desert:
Southern Californians had better get used to smelling the Salton Sea, because this week's stench will almost certainly return -- unless we restore the Sea.
The Hidden Desert:
We're approaching pine nut gathering time in the California Deserts.
The Hidden Desert:
Calling it the California Desert is a little like painting a line down the middle of the bedroom you share with your bratty sibling and calling your half "my room."
The Hidden Desert:
Beneath the surface of the desert lies an ecosystem as intricate and diverse as a coral reef.
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A new documentary, "Seeking the Greatest Good," identifies key steps we can take to restore the Earth -- and ourselves.
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