Articles by Grist staff

You're Soaking in It

Iowa’s 132 lakes are among the water bodies most polluted with fertilizers in the world, according to a study by Iowa State University. Researcher John Downing took three rounds of samples from each of the lakes last summer, and the results turned up heavy concentrations of nitrates and phosphorus, both common ingredients in farm and […]

Blairingly Obvious

U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair dedicated more than $146 million toward the development of renewable energy sources yesterday, in an apparent appeal for the green vote in the upcoming election this May. In a speech to the World Wildlife Fund, Blair said, “We can only succeed if we make tackling climate change a commercial opportunity.” […]

Ghana With the Wind

Effective and affordable ways to curb climate change exist — what’s uncertain is whether governments have the political will to implement them. So says the latest study by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was released yesterday in Accra, Ghana. A key step will be to reduce the world’s reliance on oil and […]

By Poplar Demand

Plants may prove to be the most cost-effective and safe tool to clean up toxic sites, scientists say. In a process dubbed “phytoremediation,” plants like sunflower, clover, and mustard have been shown to absorb and break down such harmful chemicals as arsenic, zinc, uranium, and lead. “A stand of poplars is a self-assembling, solar-powered, pump-and-treat […]