Articles by Grist staff

Global Warming — It’s Infectious

Environmental change linked to spread of infectious diseases If the catastrophic flooding, drought, and weather-related calamities associated with global warming don’t kill you, exotic infectious diseases might step up to do the job, a new report released by the U.N. suggests. It found that changes to the environment — such as deforestation, urban growth, mining, […]

Exhausted

Old diesel engines kill more than 20,000 Americans a year Particulate pollution generated by old diesel engines is killing more people per year than drunk driving, said a report released yesterday. Using data and methodologies from the U.S. EPA, the Clean Air Task Force and a coalition of public health groups found that more than […]

Sturm Und Stang

Nun’s murder spurs Amazon protections Outrage over the Feb. 12 murder of nun and Amazon defender Dorothy Stang has finally catalyzed Brazil’s government to protect the forest Stang worked for decades to save. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in addition to once again pulling logging permits he had restored just a week before […]

Nary a Drop to Divert

Rash of water-rights lawsuits in California worries conservationists A series of water-rights lawsuits in California — one of which is headed for the U.S. Supreme Court tomorrow — has conservation activists worried about what Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is calling a backdoor assault on the Endangered Species Act. At issue are contracts between farmers and […]