Articles by Grist staff

A Sucker Evolves Every Minute

For the first time, scientists have identified an animal — the pitcher-plant mosquito — that is evolving in response to global warming. Two University of Oregon scientists found that some of the mosquitoes are taking advantage of the longer summers brought about by global warming by delaying their hibernation — a process that is controlled […]

Dragon Slayers

Decades of rapid economic growth have brought China increased wealth, longer lives, and lower infant mortality rates — and spectacular environmental problems. The tiny village of Dragon Range tells the story writ small. In the 1960s, the rural town welcomed nearby factories because the workers there purchased their crops; four decades later, Dragon Range is […]

The Greatest Cape

The Global Environment Facility has awarded $1 million to help preserve a rugged wilderness area in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. In addition to being the largest protected area in the Eastern Cape and the source of 85 percent of drinking water for nearby Port Elizabeth, South Africa, the Baviaanskloof wilderness preserve contains more than 1,100 […]

Summertime, and the Conservin' Was Easy

Summer has passed and dire predictions of blackouts in California as a result of the state’s much-publicized energy crisis have gone unfulfilled. Instead, California now has more power than it can use and leads the country in energy conservation. A whopping third of the state’s ratepayers have taken part in a new state initiative that […]