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Hadley Center and WMO say 2000s comprise hottest decade in recorded history

Last week, I pointed out that the climate story of the decade is that the 2000s are on track to be nearly 0.2°C warmer than the 1990s. The World Meteorological Organization reported today that because humans are altering the climate with greenhouse gas emissions: The ten warmest years on record have occurred since 1997. Global […]

Climate crusader Richard Cizik forced out of evangelical association over gay marriage

We’ve written a good bit over the years about Richard Cizik, who was until a few days ago policy director for the National Association of Evangelicals. (Here’s an interview Amanda did in 2005, a video interview we did earlier this year, a special series I put together on God & the Environment, and lots more.) […]

Journalist interrogates head economist of International Energy Agency

Joe mentioned this the other day, but I want add my voice to the chorus. George Monbiot is in the midst of a kick-ass interview series. This week he met with Fatih Birol, chief economist for the International Energy Agency. The IEA’s new report is substantially more pessimistic about future energy supply than its previous […]

One thousand new species discovered this decade

Watch the slide show to answer the riddle. Check out the dragon centipede and night stalker while you’re at it. No mention of the who-knows-how-many species that have gone extinct in same decade — species that will never be discovered.

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack chosen as Obama’s agriculture secretary

President-elect Barack Obama will nominate former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) to be secretary of agriculture, Democratic sources say. Vilsack has been a big booster of ethanol, including corn-derived ethanol. “I think corn was a great way to start the conversation on renewable fuel,” he said in an interview with Grist last year. “But we […]

Create a ‘Why I heart Grist’ video for Project for Awesome

Do you love Grist? How about making videos? And it’s probably safe to assume you’re OK with awesome-ness, right? Yeah? Well, you’re in luck. Here’s your chance to tell the world why you think Grist is so “intelligent,” “relevant,” and “downright funny” (as it’s been said before). In partnership with YouTube, Hank and John Green […]

NSIDC: Arctic melt passes the point of no return

The U.K.’s Independent reports on a study to be presented Tuesday to the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco by top cryosphere scientists: Scientists have found the first unequivocal evidence that the Arctic region is warming at a faster rate than the rest of the world at least a decade before […]

Normally staid IEA says oil will peak in 2020

Fatih Birol, chief economist to the International Energy Agency, told the U.K.’s Guardian this week: “In terms of non-Opec [countries outside the big oil producers’ cartel],” he replied, “we are expecting that in three, four years’ time the production of conventional oil will come to a plateau, and start to decline. In terms of the […]

Mainstream mags are getting over green

Pop quiz: Mainstream magazines are ditching the whole “green issue” thing in 2009 because: green is soooo 2006, 2007, and 2008 eh, those issues never sold that well they’re incorporating green into stories on a regular basis, so who needs a special issue in these tough economic times, the sweater-belt budget has shriveled up all […]

They all crush ‘clean coal’: Stanford study, part 1

When we last met Stanford professor Mark Jacobson, he was explaining why you shouldn’t buy a diesel car if you care about global warming. His new myth-busting study finds the following “Total CO2-eq of Electricity Sources”: (CSP is concentrated solar power, but I prefer solar baseload to that ambiguous acronym. CCS is carbon capture and […]