Articles by Grist staff

The Great White Hopeless

Chinese white dolphin is likely extinct The baiji, a white dolphin found only in China’s Yangtze River, appears to have gone extinct. Lipotes vexillifer has been swimming China’s longest river for some 20 million years, but in the end it was no match for China’s surging economy. In the last few decades, the Yangtze’s shallows […]

Don’t Have a Cow

About 20 percent of farm-animal breeds* are endangered, says FAO Word association time: What comes to mind when you think “endangered animals”? Odd-looking tropical frogs and obscure birds with funny names? Time to adjust your thinking: The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that one in five breeds of farm animal are in danger of […]

Readers talk back about biofuels

  Re: Fill ‘er Up Dear Editor: With all the talk about biofuels, the single most efficient and productive plant is always left out of the equation: hemp! Henry Ford built and fueled a car with it, one acre of it equals four of timber, and you harvest it every year. Before its demonization during […]

I Am Livid, Hear Me Roar

Tired of incessant political intimidation, U.S. scientists speak out Just our luck: the one time we went to the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, the most exciting thing that happened was that geologist photocopying his rocks. But this year, headlines abound. Earlier this week at the event, the Union of Concerned Scientists issued […]