As the California Supreme Court wrote, “CEQA does not require an agency to consider the impact of existing conditions on future project users.”
Mukta Patil
Mukta Patil is a freelance science writer based in the Bay Area. She loves the California poppy, Muir Woods, and Pacifica.
Meet An Ancient, Amazing Fish in Need of an Image Makeover
April 20, 2022 •
Cape Horn is a concrete and earth-filled dam on the upper Eel River in Mendocino County. About 140 miles north of San Francisco, the dam was built in 1907 and blocks the waters of the Eel to form the Van … Read more
A Pervasive Invasive: the Argentine Ant
April 3, 2022 •
The Argentine ant is likely the most successful invasive species in California. But a 30-year dataset from Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve suggests they’re not invincible.
This Tropical Weather Phenomenon Can Have a Big Influence on California Rain and Snow, But Key Connections Remain a Mystery
March 21, 2022 •
In a famous experiment in the early 1960s, the mathematician and meteorologist Edward Lorenz was running computer simulations of weather patterns, trying to see how they changed when he changed variables like wind or temperature at the start. One day, … Read more
Living with Fire
June 23, 2021 •
There’s no option to live without fire in California, and setting small, controlled fires could help keep the large, unruly ones at bay. But what would an increase in controlled burns actually look like, and how would they impact our open spaces, wildlife, air, and water?
City and Regional Goals Clash as Newark Pushes Ahead With Low-Density Housing in A Bayshore Flood Zone
March 9, 2021 •
Can, or should, regional agencies intervene in a city’s development decision?
With Whales at Record Numbers off the California Coast, Scientists Try to Help Ships Avoid Them
July 1, 2020 •
With big ships still moving regularly through the Northern California marine sanctuaries, whales are at risk.
Can AI Read Scientific Literature to Help Save Animals Like Otters?
March 25, 2020 •
When Kyle Van Houtan, the chief scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, first began publishing research in the 1990s, he had to physically mail a typed manuscript in an envelope to a scientific journal, with a copy for each reviewer. … Read more