Articles by Grist staff

Give It Up

Check your calendars: There’s one month left until the Fourth of July, 17 days until the summer solstice, 12 days until Father’s Day … and just four days left to help keep your favorite online environmental magazine alive and kicking. That’s right; after Friday, you won’t receive any more such pleas asking for your support […]

Taylor-made Destruction

Charles Taylor, the president of Liberia, has spread instability within his nation’s borders and helped foment a brutal civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone. To fund the fighting, he has exploited his country’s natural resources. At first, it was diamonds — but as international scrutiny on the dirty diamond trade has increased, Taylor has been […]

Whale Killers

The killer whale population has declined 20 percent since 1995, and scientists think they’ve found one of the reasons why: whale watchers. The motorized boats that serve whale-watchers disrupt the orcas’ sonar, reducing its efficiency by as much as 99 percent. That means whales have to swim harder and longer to find food; in so […]

Truth Without Consequences

For the first time, the Bush administration has acknowledged, in a report to the U.N., that climate change is most likely caused by human activity and will have far-reaching effects on the American environment. Although the report marks a significant shift in the administration’s rhetoric — Bushies had heretofore maintained the need for more research […]