Articles by Grist staff

Where Have All the Wildflowers Gone?

Decline of wildflowers in forests worries scientists Sprawling housing developments, hungry deer, invasive plants, and other threats have sent many forest wildflower species in the U.S. into decline. Scientists say there are limited studies and surveys available on the delicate flowering plants, known as spring ephemerals, because they are only visible above ground for a […]

Pick a Little, Talk a Little

Few new ideas emerge from latest U.N. climate meetings What comes after Kyoto? That was the focus of a 190-nation, two-day seminar convened by the U.N. this week in Bonn, Germany, the first in what’s likely to be a gazillion-step process of figuring out what sort of climate-change treaty should pick up where the Kyoto […]

Everyone Knows It’s Windy

Argentine town may be model for producing hydrogen from wind The people of Pico Truncado in southern Argentina know the power of the wind that whips through their open land; it rips flags to shreds, dumps dust on clothing, and musses hair. But it also provides more than half of the town’s electricity and could […]

U.S. Companies: Working to Keep Europeans Safe

American firms conforming to E.U. chemical regs Though the U.S. was once a global leader in environmental regulation, that is, to put it mildly, no longer true. Now, the real challenge for many U.S. companies is complying with the stringent standards that govern the European Union market — if they want to reach its 460 […]