Articles by Grist staff

And the Wind Cries Scary

Pacific Northwest ocean dead zone getting larger Researchers believe global warming is behind a recurring low-oxygen “dead zone” in the Pacific Northwest ocean. Triggered by north winds, a process called upwelling encourages the growth of phytoplankton blooms; when the water calms, the phytoplankton die for lack of nutrients, sink to the bottom, and rot, using […]

Cotton a Trap

GM cotton doesn’t cut pesticide use long term, new research indicates Biotech giant Monsanto touts its genetically modified cotton seed — spliced with the bollworm-killing Bt toxin — as money- and earth-saving, because it lowers the need for pesticide use. Funny story about that: a new study found that cotton farmers using the seed soon […]

Readers talk back about Wal-Mart, vegetarian jokes, hope for the future, and more

  Re: The Writing on the Wal-Mart Dear Editor: First let me say, I love Grist and appreciate the work you do and, mostly, enjoy the irreverent humor with which you do it. However, being a staunch liberal Protestant, a devoted environmentalist, and an ardent Democrat living in a deeply red state, I found your […]

They Weren’t Kidding About the “Future” Part

Feds move forward with clean coal plant — kind of The U.S. government is moving ahead with FutureGen, a $1 billion demonstration clean coal plant — and by “moving ahead,” we mean they’ve decided that it will be built on one of four sites in either Texas or Illinois. The final siting decision will be […]