Articles by Grist staff

Glow Figure

Health fallout from Chernobyl less severe than expected The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power-plant accident has yielded much less harm to human health than initially anticipated. According to a new report prepared for the U.N. by more than 100 experts, Chernobyl will ultimately cause about 4,000 deaths, primarily from cancer — a lot, they concede, but […]

Lesley Marcus Carlson, cofounder of Carbonfund, answers questions

Lesley Marcus Carlson. With what environmental organization are you affiliated? I am the president of Carbonfund.org. What does your organization do? Very simply, we make it easy and affordable for individuals or businesses to reduce their climate footprints to zero. We help people understand their impact on the climate and mitigate it by supporting energy […]

That’s Why We Have to Assassinate Them

Foreign officials offer policy critiques — and aid — in Katrina’s wake International politicians and pundits are pointing to possible links between global warming and Hurricane Katrina and criticizing the environmental policies of the Bush administration. German Environment Minister Juergen Trittin caught heat from colleagues for the Tuesday timing — but not the substance — […]

The Big Greasy

New Orleans floodwaters a stew of sewage and toxic chemicals Toxic chemicals contaminating the New Orleans floodwaters may be less of a short-term health hazard than plain ol’ poop. Federal officials have declared a public health emergency for the Gulf Coast, fearing that viruses and bacteria from sewage in the floodwaters could cause a major […]