Articles by Grist staff

Marsh o’Potamia

Once-vast marshlands being restored in Iraq The marshlands of Iraq, drained nearly dry by Saddam Hussein, are making a surprisingly robust comeback. Seen by some as the inspiration for the biblical Garden of Eden, the lush wetlands once covered nearly 3,600 square miles near the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. Mid-century drainage projects […]

Jack Frost Nippon at Your Nose

Japan will encourage office workers to bundle up for the winter Japan’s summer “Cool Biz” campaign, which encourages office workers to shed their coats and ties and wear lighter clothing so less energy need be spent on air conditioning, has proven such a success that now the nation’s Environment Ministry is plotting to follow it […]

Power Play

Northeast states crafting plan to cut CO2 emissions from power plants The cantankerous Northeast — last seen suing the U.S. EPA over mercury regulations — is at it again. Fed up with the feds, nine states in the region have preliminarily agreed to reduce their carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants. The coalition — organized by […]

Breed Between the Lines

World population heading rapidly toward 7 billion The global population will reach 7 billion by about 2012 and continue to rise for many decades, according to a new report from the Population Reference Bureau, a private research organization. “Almost 99 percent of population growth today and for the foreseeable future will be in … developing […]