Kevin Krajick, Author at State of the Planet - Page 3 of 33

Kevin Krajick is the Earth Institute's senior editor for science news. He grew up in the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley of upstate New York, where he worked at his high-school newspaper. He started his professional career as a reporter covering crime, police and prisons across the United States. He has since reported from all 50 U.S. states and 30-some countries, writing about science, medicine, immigration and other subjects. His work has been featured in National Geographic, Newsweek, The New Yorker, Science, Smithsonian and many other publications. He was a 1981 finalist for the National Magazine Award for Public Service for his reporting on organized crime's links to the toxic waste-disposal industry. He is two-time winner of the American Geophysical Union's Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism, and his work has been featured repeatedly in the yearly book "Best American Science and Nature Writing." His widely praised 2001 book "Barren Lands" is the true account of how two prospectors discovered diamonds in Canada's remote far north. Krajick holds degrees in comparative literature and journalism from Columbia University. He lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with his wife and a tiny white dog.

Recent Posts

She Led Scientists Advising New York on Climate Change. Did the City Listen?

Cynthia Rosenzweig co-chaired the New York City Panel on Climate Change, an expert body advising the mayor, from its inception four years before Hurricane Sandy, and well after. Here, she assesses what was learned, and done, before and after.

by |October 29, 2022

The ‘Cassandra of the Subways’ on Hurricane Sandy, Ten Years Later

Klaus Jacob predicted for years how the New York City subways would flood in a superstorm. Finally, authorities began to listen, but long-term preventive action came too little, too late.

by |October 21, 2022

New York City’s Former Top Climate Official on the Lessons of Hurricane Sandy

Engineer Daniel Zarrilli advised both the Bloomberg and deBlasio administrations in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. He is now a special advisor on sustainability and climate to Columbia University.

by |October 20, 2022

A Climate and Weather Expert on What We Know About Giant Storms Since Sandy

A scientist and writer reflects on the links between climate and extreme weather, New York City’s preparedness, and the role of the media in informing the public.

by |October 19, 2022
a raccoon in a cage

Scientists Are Mapping New York City Wildlife. And We Don’t Mean Rats, Squirrels or Pigeons.

Raccoons, coyotes, possums and other wild mammals are becoming more common in the country’s most densely populated city. New research aims to map their populations and habits in hopes of decreasing conflicts with humans.

by |September 12, 2022

How Is Climate Change Affecting Ocean Waters and Ecosystems?

Biological oceanographer Hugh Ducklow describes decades of work in far-flung places to understand the evolving ecology of the oceans. The picture is not always clear.

by |August 29, 2022

Scientists Say a Shipwreck Off Patagonia Is a Long-Lost 1850s Rhode Island Whaler

In 1858, a sailing ship left Warren, R.I., to hunt the globe for whales, and never returned. Where did it end up? Researchers from the southern and northern hemispheres joined to investigate.

by |August 24, 2022

Científicos afirman que un naufragio en la costa de Patagonia es un ballenero norteamericano perdido en 1859

En 1858, un velero partió de una ciudad costera del noreste de Estados Unidos para cazar ballenas alrededor del mundo y nunca regresó. ¿Dónde terminó? Investigadores de los hemisferios sur y norte se unieron para dar respuesta a este misterio.

by |August 24, 2022

Balancing Act: Can Precariously Perched Boulders Signal New York’s Earthquake Risk?

Long ago, melting glaciers dropped giant boulders onto surfaces in the New York City exurbs, and many seem to remain in their original, delicately balanced positions. Can they be used to judge the maximum sizes of past earthquakes?

by |July 21, 2022

Dinosaurs Took Over Amid Ice, Not Warmth, Says a New Study of Ancient Mass Extinction

There is new evidence that ancient high latitudes, to which early dinosaurs were largely relegated, regularly froze over, and that the creatures adapted—an apparent key to their later dominance.

by |July 1, 2022